B. B. King

{{short description|American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter (1925–2015)}} {{Use American English|date=October 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | image = Bbking.jpg | caption = King in 1984 | birth_name = Riley B. King | birth_date = {{birth date|1925|9|16}} | birth_place = near Itta Bena, Mississippi, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2015|5|14|1925|9|16}} | death_place = Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | genre = {{hlist|Electric blues<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/bb-king-defined-the-electric-blues-on-his-own-terms-1925-2015|title=B.B. King Defined the Electric Blues on His Own Terms|author=Scapelliti, Christopher|date=May 15, 2015|work=Guitar World|access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref>|Delta blues<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.redandblack.com/variety/b-b-king-returns-with-aged-sounds/article_b4600ae2-ae77-5795-9240-78d0bb587f01.html|title=B.B. King returns with aged sounds|author=Burleson, Ryan|date=September 15, 2008|publisher=The Red & Black|accessdate=January 5, 2025}}</ref>|Memphis blues<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/b-b-kings-10-greatest-songs-171484/you-upset-me-baby-1954-176779/|title=B.B. King's 10 Greatest Songs|last1=Harris |first1=Keith |last2=Wolk |first2=Douglas|date=May 15, 2015|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=January 5, 2025}}</ref>|{{nowrap|rhythm and blues<ref name="blues bridge">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-bb-king-appreciation-20150516-column.html|title=Appreciation: B.B. King built a bridge to the blues for the world|author=Roberts, Rabdall|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=May 15, 2015|access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref>}}|{{nowrap|blues rock<ref>{{cite book|first= Ulrich |last = Adelt |title= Blues Music in the Sixties: A Story in Black and White |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Wvu4TKTboYUC&pg=PA24 |year= 2010 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wvu4TKTboYUC&pg=PA24&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false 24] and 26 |publisher= Rutgers University Press |isbn= 978-0-8135-4750-3}}</ref>}}|rock and roll<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/soundcheck/segments/documentary-b-b-king|title=A New Documentary Honors the Life and Music of B.B. King|date=June 5, 2014|publisher=WNYC|accessdate=January 5, 2025}}</ref>|soul<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/05/15/406969376/b-b-king-and-the-majesty-of-the-blues|title=B.B. King And The Majesty Of The Blues|author=Neal, Mark Anthony|date=May 16, 2015|publisher=NPR|access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref>|gospel<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/gospel-and-the-blues|title=Gospel and the Blues|website=msbluestrail.org}}</ref> |occupation = {{hlist|Singer|guitarist|songwriter|record producer}} }} | occupation = {{hlist|Musician|singer|songwriter|record producer}} | instrument = {{hlist|Guitar|vocals}} | years_active = 1942–2014 | label = {{flatlist| * RPM * Crown * Kent * ABC * BluesWay * MCA * Geffen }} | website = {{url|bbking.com}} }}

'''Riley B. King''' (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as '''B.{{nbsp}}B. King''', was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato, and staccato picking that influenced many later electric guitar blues players.<ref>Komara, Edward M. ''Encyclopedia of the Blues'', Routledge, 2006, p. 385.</ref><ref name="Dahl"/> AllMusic recognized King as "the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century".<ref name="Dahl"/>

King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and is one of the most influential blues musicians in history, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and is referred to as one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King, none of whom are related).<ref name="hal">{{cite web | url=https://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.action?itemid=393017| title=Three Kings of Blues| last=Trovato| first=Steve| publisher=Hal Leonard| access-date=February 17, 2026}}</ref><ref name="gibson">{{cite web | url=http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/3-kings-of-the-blues-1029-2012.aspx| title=3 Kings of the Blues| last=Leonard| first=Michael| publisher=Gibson| access-date=March 12, 2013}}</ref><ref name="cbs">{{cite web | url=http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/2011/04/25/happy-birthday-to-the-velvet-bulldozer-albert-king/| title=Happy Birthday to 'The Velvet Bulldozer' Albert King| date=April 25, 2011|work=WCBS FM| publisher=CBS| access-date=March 12, 2013}}</ref> King performed tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing on average at more than 200 concerts a year into his 70s.<ref name="halloffame" /> In 1956 alone, he appeared at 342 shows.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-blues-guitarist-bb-king-dies-20150514-story.html| work=Los Angeles Times| title=Blues Guitarist B.B. King Dies at 89| date=May 14, 2015| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

Born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, King was attracted to music and taught himself to play guitar, beginning his career in juke joints and on local radio. King later lived and performed in Memphis and Chicago. As his fame grew, he toured the world extensively.

== Early life == Riley B. King was born on September 16, 1925,<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Blues">{{cite encyclopedia | last1=Herzhaft| first1=Gérard|title=B.B. King| encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Blues|year=1997| publisher=University of Arkansas Press| location=Fayetteville, Ark.| isbn=1610751396| pages=108–110| edition=2nd| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOKZKESWys0C&pg=PA108| others=Translated by Brigitte Debord}}</ref> on a cotton plantation in Berclair named Bear Creek in Leflore County near the city of Itta Bena, Mississippi,<ref name="Dahl">{{cite web |last=Dahl |first=Bill |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bb-king-mn0000059156/biography |title=B.B. King |website=AllMusic |access-date=May 31, 2015}}</ref><ref name="hmdb">{{Cite web |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=173997|title=B.B. King Birthplace |publisher=HMdb.org |access-date=October 10, 2022 }}</ref><ref name="jazz"/> the son of sharecroppers Albert and Nora Ella King.<ref name="jazz"/> When he was four years old, his mother left his father for another man, so he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Elnora Farr, in Kilmichael, Mississippi,<ref name="jazz"/> then in Lexington.<ref name="hmdb" /> As a teen, he moved to Indianola which he referred to as his hometown, later working at a cotton gin.<ref name = "Danchin">Sebastian Danchin, ''Blues Boy: The Life and Music of B.B. King'', University Press of Mississippi, 1998, p. 1, {{ISBN|1-57806-017-6}}.</ref>

While young, King sang in the gospel choir at Elkhorn Baptist Church in Kilmichael. He was attracted to the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ because of its music. The local minister performed with a Sears Roebuck Silvertone guitar during services and taught King his first three chords.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/15/how-the-church-gave-b-b-king-the-blues/ |title=How the church gave B.B. King the blues |last1=Silliman |first1=Daniel |date=May 15, 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 2, 2015}}</ref> Flake Cartledge, his employer in Kilmichael, bought him his first guitar for 15 dollars. Cartledge withheld money from King's salary for the next two months until he repaid the debt.<ref>{{cite web|title= B.B. King Biography and Interview |website=achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://www.achievement.org/achiever/b-b-king/#interview}}</ref><ref name="jazz"/>

In November 1941, ''King Biscuit Time'' first aired, broadcasting on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. It was a radio show featuring the Mississippi Delta blues. King listened to it while on break at the plantation. A self-taught guitarist, he then wanted to be a radio musician.<ref name="Defining">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/arts/music/b-b-king-blues-singer-dies-at-89.html| title=B.B. King, Defining Bluesman for Generations, Dies at 89 | work=The New York Times | date=May 15, 2015 | access-date=May 15, 2015 | author=Weiner, Tim}}</ref>

In 1943, King left Kilmichael to work as a tractor driver and play guitar with the Famous St. John's Gospel Singers of Inverness, Mississippi, performing at area churches and on WGRM in Greenwood.<ref name="nvlp3">{{cite web | publisher=National Visionary Leadership Project |title=B.B. King: National Visionary |url=http://www.visionaryproject.org/kingbb/ |access-date=June 3, 2011}}</ref><ref name="ppg070125">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |title=Historical marker placed on Mississippi Blues Trail |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07025/756420-37.stm |date=January 25, 2007 |access-date=June 3, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110604045947/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07025/756420-37.stm| archive-date= June 4, 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> He served in the U.S. Army during World War II but was released after being ruled as "essential to the war economy" based on his experience as a tractor driver.<ref>{{Cite web|title=B.B. King - Lower Mississippi Delta Region (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/locations/lowermsdeltaregion/b-b-king.htm|access-date=October 14, 2023|publisher=National Park Service|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Carroll|first=Ward|date=February 5, 2020|title=BB King was booted out of the Army for being a tractor driver|url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/bb-king-was-booted-out-of-the-army-for-being-a-tractor-driver/|access-date=October 14, 2023|website=We Are The Mighty|language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/24/us/b-b-king-fast-facts/index.html B.B. King Fast Facts] CNN. Retrieved February 22, 2023.</ref>{{Dubious|These three cites agree on the central point, but contradict each other in detail|date=August 2025}}

thumb|upright|Poster of B.{{nbsp}}B. King and Bill Harvey and Orchestra with a photo of King holding his guitar and Evelyn Young playing saxophone

In 1946, he followed his cousin Bukka White to Memphis, Tennessee. White took him in for the next ten months.<ref name="jazz"/> King returned shortly afterward to Mississippi where he better prepared himself for the next visit. Two years later, he returned to West Memphis, Arkansas. He performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM in West Memphis where he began to develop an audience. His appearances led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis and later to a ten minute spot on the Memphis radio station WDIA.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kwemradio.com/BBking.html| publisher=KWEM Radio| title=B.B. King – KWEM 1948| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> The radio spot became so popular that it was expanded and became the ''Sepia Swing Club''.<ref>''Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture''. Edited by Jessie Carney Smith. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California. 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-313-35796-1}}, pp. 805–806.</ref>

He worked at WDIA as a singer and disc jockey where he was given the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to "Blues Boy" and finally to "B.{{nbsp}}B."<ref>Note: "B.{{nbsp}}B." is normally written with periods.</ref><ref>''History of Rock & Roll''. By Thomas E. Larson. Kendall/Hunt, Dubuque, Iowa. 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-7872-9969-9}}, p. 25.</ref><ref name=pc4/> It was there that he first met T-Bone Walker. King said, "Once I'd heard him for the first time, I knew I'd have to have [an electric guitar] myself. 'Had' to have one, short of stealing!"<ref>Dance, Helen Oakley; and B.B. King. ''Stormy Monday'', p. 164.</ref>

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, King was a part of the blues scene on Beale Street. "Beale Street was where it all started for me," he said. He performed with Bobby Bland, Johnny Ace and Earl Forest in a group known as the Beale Streeters.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-16-va-39316-story.html|title=King of the Hill : Up at CityWalk, blues and Delta cuisine spice up B.B. King's new Memphis-style club|last=Wharton|first=David|date=September 16, 1994|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

According to King and Joe Bihari, one of the founders of Modern Records and its subsidiaries, Ike Turner introduced King to the Bihari brothers while he was a talent scout for them.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Soul of the Man: Bobby "Blue" Bland|url=https://archive.org/details/soulmanbobbyblue00farl|url-access=limited|last=Farley|first=Charles|publisher=University Press of Mississippi.|year=2011|isbn=978-1604739190|page=[https://archive.org/details/soulmanbobbyblue00farl/page/n41 31]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The B.B. King Reader: 6 Decades of Commentary|last=Kostelanetz|first=Richard|publisher=Hal Leonard|year=2005|isbn=0-634-09927-2|editor1-last=Kostelanetz|editor1-first=Richard|edition=2nd|location=Milwaukee, WI|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bbkingreader6dec00kost/page/4 4, 7]|editor2-last=Reiswig|editor2-first=Jesse|url=https://archive.org/details/bbkingreader6dec00kost/page/4}}</ref> Before his RPM contract, King had debuted on Bullet Records by issuing the single "Miss Martha King" (1949), which did not chart well. "My very first recordings [in 1949] were for a company out of Nashville called Bullet, the Bullet Record Transcription company," King recalled. "I had horns that very first session. I had Phineas Newborn on piano; his father played drums, and his brother, Calvin, played guitar with me. I had Tuff Green on bass, Ben Branch on tenor sax, his brother, Thomas, on trumpet, and a lady trombone player. The Newborn family were the house band at the famous Plantation Inn in West Memphis."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bluesaccess.com/No_37/bb_talk.html| title=''Blues Access'' Interview| access-date=September 12, 2014}}</ref> In 1949, King began recording songs under contract with Los Angeles-based RPM Records, a subsidiary of Modern. Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records, produced many of King's early recordings.

King assembled his band, the B.B. King Review, under the leadership of Millard Lee. The band initially consisted of native-Houston trumpet player Calvin Owens and Kenneth Sands (also trumpet), Lawrence Burdin (alto saxophone), George Coleman (tenor saxophone),<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/george-coleman-this-gentleman-can-play-george-coleman-by-rj-deluke |title=George Coleman: This Gentleman can PLAY |magazine=All About Jazz |access-date=February 17, 2010}}</ref> Floyd Newman (baritone saxophone), Millard Lee (piano), George Joyner (bass) and Earl Forest and Ted Curry (drums). King hired Onzie Horne, a trained musician, to be an arranger and assist him with his compositions. By his admission, King could not play chords well and always relied on improvisation.<ref>''U2 Rattle and Hum'' DVD, 1988.</ref>

King supported his recordings by touring across the United States with performances in major theaters in cities such as Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, and St. Louis, as well as numerous gigs in small clubs and juke joints in the southern United States. During one show in Twist, Arkansas, a brawl broke out between two men and caused a fire. He left the building with the rest of the crowd but ran back in to get his guitar. He said he later learned that the two men were fighting over a woman named Lucille. He named the guitar Lucille as a reminder not to fight over women, or run into any more burning buildings.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.worldblues.com/bbking/prairie/lucille.html |title=B.B. King: Lucille Speaks |last1=Kerekes |first1=Jim |last2=O'Neill |first2=Dennis |date=January 3, 1997 |archive-date=November 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116041531/http://www.worldblues.com/bbking/prairie/lucille.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Twist AR BB king Marker 1.jpg|thumb|upright|The story of a guitar named Lucille ]]

Following his first ''Billboard'' Rhythm and Blues charted number one, "3 O'Clock Blues" (February 1952),<ref name="sawyer">{{cite web|url=http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=bbking&pageid=icb.page319115|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710183752/http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=bbking&pageid=icb.page319115|work=President and Fellows of Harvard College|title=B.B's Life {{!}} The Life of Riley|first=Charles|last=Sawyer|archive-date=July 10, 2014}}</ref> King became one of the most important names in R&B music in the 1950s, amassing an impressive list of hits<ref name=pc4>{{Pop Chronicles|4|4}}</ref> including "You Know I Love You", "Woke Up This Morning", "Please Love Me", "When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer", "Whole Lotta' Love", "You Upset Me Baby", "Every Day I Have the Blues", "Sneakin' Around", "Ten Long Years", "Bad Luck", "Sweet Little Angel", "On My Word of Honor", and "Please Accept My Love". This led to a significant increase in his weekly earnings, from about $85 to $2,500,<ref>Kostelanetz 1997, p. 146.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lime |first=Harry |date=May 27, 2019 |title=B.B. King : King of the Blues! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzWfDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Lulu.com |page=5 |isbn=9780244487645}}</ref> with appearances at major venues such as the Howard Theater in Washington and the Apollo in New York, as well as touring the "Chitlin' Circuit". 1956 became a record-breaking year, with 342 concerts booked and three recording sessions.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbking.com/bio/| publisher=BBKing.com| access-date=May 15, 2015| title=B.B. King Biography| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828034010/http://www.bbking.com/bio/| archive-date=August 28, 2008| url-status=dead}}</ref> That same year he founded his own record label, Blues Boys Kingdom, with headquarters at Beale Street in Memphis. There, among other projects, he was a producer for artists such as Millard Lee and Levi Seabury.<ref name = "Danchin"/> In 1962, King signed to ABC-Paramount Records, which was later absorbed into MCA Records (which itself was later absorbed into Geffen Records). In November 1964, King recorded the ''Live at the Regal'' album at the Regal Theater.<ref name="sawyer"/> King later said that ''Regal Live'' "is considered by some the best recording I've ever had ... that particular day in Chicago everything came together."<ref name=Kot>{{cite news | first=Greg| last=Kot| work=Chicago Tribune| title=King of the Blues| pages = 1, 5| date = May 16, 2015}}</ref>

From the late 1960s, his new manager, Sid Seidenberg, pushed him into a different type of venue as blues-rock performers like Eric Clapton (once a member of the Yardbirds and Cream) and Paul Butterfield were bringing blues music to appreciative white audiences.<ref>{{cite news | last=McArdle |first=Terence |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/bb-king-mississippi-master-of-the-blues-dies-at-89/2015/05/15/36e7529a-c5da-11df-94e1-c5afa35a9e59_story.html |title=B.B. King, Mississippi-born master of the blues, dies at 89 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date= May 15, 2015|access-date=May 30, 2015}}</ref> King gained further visibility among rock audiences as an opening act on the Rolling Stones' 1969 American Tour.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/b-b-king-dead-89-article-1.2223075| work=Daily News|location=New York| title=B.B. King Dead at 89: Blues guitarist whose sound defined music for generations passes away in sleep| first=Larry| last=McShane| date=May 15, 2015| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> He won a Grammy Award in 1970 for his version of the song "The Thrill Is Gone" <ref>Rees, Dafydd & Crampton, Luke (1991). ''Rock Movers & Shakers'', ABC-CLIO, p. 287. {{ISBN|0-87436-661-5}}.</ref> which was a hit on both the Pop and R&B charts. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine listed it in the number 183 spot in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.sunrecords.com/news/rolling-stone-magazine-lists-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time| agency=Sun Records| title=Rolling Stone Magazine Lists 500 Greatest Songs of All Time| date=July 15, 2010| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

King was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2014.<ref name="halloffame">{{cite web | url=https://rockhall.com/inductees/bb-king/bio/| publisher=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame| title=B.B. King Biography| work=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/blues-icon-bb-king-dead-age-89/story?id=30884850| agency=ABC News| title=Blues Icon B.B. King Dead at Age 89| last=Rothman| first=Michael| date=May 15, 2015| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> In 2004, he was awarded the international Polar Music Prize which is given to artists "in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music."<ref name="Polar Music Prize">{{cite web | url=http://www.polarmusicprize.org/laureates/b-b-king/ |title=B.B. King: Laureate of the Polar Music Prize 2004 |work=Polar Music Prize |access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

From the 1980s to his death in 2015, he maintained a highly visible and active career, appearing on numerous television shows and sometimes performing 300 nights a year. In 1988, he reached a new generation of fans with the single "When Love Comes to Town", a collaborative effort with the Irish band U2 on their ''Rattle and Hum'' album.<ref name="sawyer"/> In December 1997, he performed in the Vatican's fifth annual Christmas concert and presented his trademark guitar "Lucille" to Pope John Paul II.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.itnsource.com/jp/shotlist/RTV/1997/12/18/712180027/?s=*| agency=ITN Source| title=B.B. King Gives His Prized Electric Guitar 'Lucille' to Pope John Paul II During a Private Audience| date=December 18, 1997| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1430832/bb-kings-lucille-to-the-pope-after-vatican-concert/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151221211213/http://www.mtv.com/news/1430832/bb-kings-lucille-to-the-pope-after-vatican-concert/| url-status=dead| archive-date=December 21, 2015| title=BB. King's 'Lucille' to the Pope After Vatican Concert| publisher=MTV News|date=December 19, 1997| access-date=March 6, 2018| language=en}}</ref> In 1998, King appeared in ''The Blues Brothers 2000'', playing the part of the lead singer of the Louisiana Gator Boys along with Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Koko Taylor and Bo Diddley. In 2000, he and Clapton teamed up again to record ''Riding With the King'' which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/15/king-of-the-blues-blues-legend-bb-king-dead-at-age-89.html| agency=KUSI News |title='King of the Blues' blues legend B.B. King dead at age 89 |first=Ken |last=Ritter |date=May 15, 2015 |access-date=May 15, 2015 }}</ref>

Discussing where he took the Blues, from "dirt floor, smoke in the air" joints to grand concert halls, King said the Blues belonged everywhere beautiful music belonged. He successfully worked both sides of the commercial divide, with sophisticated recordings and "raw, raucous" live performances.<ref name=Kot/>

=== 2006–2014 === In 2006, King went on a farewell world tour although he remained active afterward.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/5343853/BB-King-interview-the-last-of-the-great-bluesmen.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519193112/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/5343853/BB-King-interview-the-last-of-the-great-bluesmen.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=May 19, 2009| title=BB King Interview: The Last of the Great Bluesmen| first=Mick| last=Brown| date=May 18, 2009| access-date=May 15, 2015| location=London| work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> The tour was partly supported by Northern Irish guitarist, Gary Moore, with whom King had previously toured and recorded. It started in the United Kingdom and continued with performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival and in Zürich at the Blues at Sunset. During his show in Montreux at the Stravinski Hall, he jammed with Joe Sample, Randy Crawford, David Sanborn, Gladys Knight, Leela James, Andre Beeka, Earl Thomas, Stanley Clarke, John McLaughlin, Barbara Hendricks and George Duke.<ref name="farewells">{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/bb-king-farewells-montreux/2006/07/05/1151778979176.html| title=B.B. King Farewells Montreux| date=July 5, 2006| access-date=May 15, 2015| work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>

[[File:BB King onstage (Toronto, 2007).jpg|thumb|upright|King at Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, in May 2007]]

In June 2006, King was present at a memorial of his first radio broadcast at the Three Deuces Building in Greenwood, Mississippi where the Mississippi Blues Commission erected an official marker as part of the Mississippi Blues Trail. The same month, a groundbreaking was held for a new museum, dedicated to him,<ref name="King museum">{{cite web| url= http://www.bbkingmuseum.org/| title= B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center| publisher= Bbkingmuseum.org| access-date= February 17, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100206121028/http://www.bbkingmuseum.org/| archive-date= February 6, 2010| url-status= dead| df= mdy-all}}</ref> in Indianola, Mississippi.<ref name="Ross">[http://www.americanheritage.com/content/b-b-gets-his-own-museum John F. Ross] "B.B. Gets His Own Museum," ''American Heritage'', Winter 2009.</ref> The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened on September 13, 2008.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/09/bb-king-museum-to-open-in-september.html|work=Paste Magazine| title=B.B. King Museum to open this Saturday| first=Ashley| last=Melzer| date=September 11, 2008| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

In late October 2006, King recorded a concert album and video entitled ''B.B. King: Live'' at his B.B. King Blues Clubs in Nashville and Memphis. The video of the four night production featured his regular band and captured his shows as he performed them nightly around the world. Released in 2008, they were his first performances in more than a decade to be documented with a live album release.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/01/15/bb-king-live-in-your-own-home| agency=IGN| title=B.B. King Live In Your Own Home| date=January 15, 2008| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

In 2007, King played at Eric Clapton's second Crossroads Guitar Festival<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.whereseric.com/eric-clapton-tour/28/07/2007| publisher=Where's Eric!| title=28 July 2007 – Crossroads Guitar Festival| access-date=May 15, 2015| archive-date=March 20, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320084937/http://www.whereseric.com/eric-clapton-tour/28/07/2007| url-status=dead}}</ref> and contributed the songs "Goin' Home", to ''Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino'' (with Ivan Neville's DumpstaPhunk)<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/arts/music/22fats.html| work=The New York Times| title=Stars Join Forces to Salute (and Support) a Rock Legend| date=September 22, 2007| access-date=May 15, 2015| first=Nate| last=Chinen}}</ref> and "One Shoe Blues" to Sandra Boynton's children's album ''Blue Moo'', accompanied by a pair of sock puppets in a music video for the song.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://kaleidoscopepictures.com/portfolio/b-b-king-one-shoe-blues/| publisher=Kaleidoscope Pictures| title=B.B. King – One Shoe Blues| date=March 3, 2015| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

In the summer of 2008, King played at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee where he was given a key to the city.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/2008-06-14-3195550683_x.htm| work=USA Today| title=B.B. King Given Key to the City at Bonnaroo| date=June 14, 2008| access-date=May 15, 2015| first=Jake| last=Coyle}}</ref> Later that year, he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/opening-night-bowl/2008-06-20| publisher=Hollywood Bowl| access-date=May 15, 2015| title=Opening Night at the Bowl| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518101609/http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/opening-night-bowl/2008-06-20| archive-date=May 18, 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Barack Obama singing in the East Room.jpg|left|thumb|upright=.8|President Obama and King singing "Sweet Home Chicago" on February 21, 2012]]

He performed at the Mawazine festival in Rabat, Morocco on May 27, 2010.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bbking.com/events/ |title=Official Site |publisher=B.B. King |access-date=December 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102000142/http://www.bbking.com/events/ |archive-date=January 2, 2012 }}</ref> In June 2010, he played at the Crossroads Guitar Festival with Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, and Eric Clapton.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Reporting_From_Eric_Claptons_Crossroads_Guitar_Festival_2010| work=Premier Guitar| title=Reporting From Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010| date=June 27, 2010| first=Rebecca| last=Dirks| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> He also contributed to Cyndi Lauper's album ''Memphis Blues'', which was released on June 22, 2010.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2010/09/23/the-reverb-interview-cyndi-lauper/21441/| agency=Hey Reverb| title=The Reverb Interview: Cyndi Lauper| first=Ricardo| last=Baca| date=September 23, 2010| access-date=May 15, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518084559/http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2010/09/23/the-reverb-interview-cyndi-lauper/21441/| archive-date=May 18, 2015| url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2011, King played at the Glastonbury Music Festival,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/24/bb-king-glastonbury-2011-review| work=The Guardian| title=B.B. King at Glastonbury 2011 – review| first=Dafydd|last=Goff| date=June 24, 2011| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> and in the Royal Albert Hall in London where he recorded a concert video.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-royal-albert-hall-2011-mw0002308469| website=AllMusic| title=Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2011|first=Steve |last=Leggett| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

''Rolling Stone'' ranked him at No. 6 on its 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.<ref name="roll_100G">{{cite magazine| title = 100 Greatest Guitarists| magazine = Rolling Stone| date = November 23, 2011| access-date = May 15, 2015| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123/b-b-king-20111122| archive-date = September 10, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170910234642/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123/b-b-king-20111122| url-status = dead}}</ref>

On February 21, 2012, King was among the performers of "In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues" during which President Barack Obama sang part of "Sweet Home Chicago".<ref name="barack">{{cite web | title = President Obama Sings 'Sweet Home Chicago' |last= Compton | first =Matt |date =February 22, 2012 |access-date =May 15, 2015| via = National Archives | publisher = White House | url = https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/02/22/president-obama-sings-sweet-home-chicago }}</ref> King recorded for the debut album of rapper and producer Big K.R.I.T. who also hails from Mississippi.<ref>{{cite web | last=Kelley| first=Frannie| title=First Listen: Big K.R.I.T., 'Live From The Underground'| website=NPR.org| url=https://www.npr.org/2012/05/27/153604174/first-listen-big-k-r-i-t-live-from-the-underground|publisher=NPR|date=May 27, 2012| access-date=May 28, 2012}}</ref> On July 5, 2012, King performed a concert at the Byblos International Festival in Lebanon.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.demotix.com/news/1417133/byblos-festival-featured-bb-king-among-others-2012#media-1417127| agency=Demotix| title=Byblos Festival featured B.B. King among others in 2012| date=August 1, 2012| access-date=May 15, 2015| first=Elia| last=Mssawir| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703133629/http://www.demotix.com/news/1417133/byblos-festival-featured-bb-king-among-others-2012#media-1417127| archive-date=July 3, 2015}}</ref>

On May 26, 2013, he appeared at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.<ref name="nola">{{cite web | url=http://www.nola.com/jazzfest/index.ssf/2013/04/bb_king_lived_up_to_his_legend.html| title=B.B. King lived up to his legend at New Orleans Jazz Fest| website=NOLA.com|first=Chris |last=Waddington| date=April 29, 2013| access-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref>

On October 3, 2014, after completing his live performance at the House of Blues in Chicago, a doctor diagnosed King with dehydration and exhaustion and the eight remaining shows of his ongoing tour had to be canceled. King did not reschedule the shows, and the House of Blues show would be the last before he died in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbking.com/2014/10/04/b-b-king-cancels-remaining-8-shows/ |title=B.B. King Cancels Remaining 8 shows |date=October 4, 2014 |website=bbking.com |access-date=May 15, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507064711/http://www.bbking.com/2014/10/04/b-b-king-cancels-remaining-8-shows/ |archive-date=May 7, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="bbking.com tour-update 2014-10-08">{{cite web | url=http://www.bbking.com/2014/10/08/tour-update/ |title=Tour Update |date=October 8, 2014 |website=bbking.com |access-date=May 15, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430052505/http://www.bbking.com/2014/10/08/tour-update/ |archive-date=April 30, 2015 }}</ref>

== Equipment == {{for|more information about King's guitar|Lucille (guitar)}} {{Quote box | quoted = true| bgcolor = #ADD8E6| width = 32em| align = right | quote = When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://wiux.org/blog/2014/11/19/a-little-bit-of-lefty-love/| publisher=WIUX| title=A Little Bit of Lefty Love| last=McMahon|first= Brian| date=November 19, 2014| access-date=May 14, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518080115/http://wiux.org/blog/2014/11/19/a-little-bit-of-lefty-love/| archive-date=2015-05-18| url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

King used equipment characteristic of the different periods he played in. He played guitars made by various manufacturers early in his career. He played a Fender Esquire on most of his recordings with RPM Records.<ref>Burrows, Terry, ''The Complete Book of the Guitar'', p. 111. Carlton Books Limited, 1998, {{ISBN|1-85868-529-X}}.</ref> Later, he was best known for playing variants of the Gibson ES-355.

In the September edition 1995 of ''Vintage Guitar'' magazine, early photos show him playing a Gibson ES-5 through a Fender tweed amp. In reference to the photo, King stated, "Yes; the old Fender amplifiers were the best that were ever made, in my opinion. They had a good sound and they were durable; guys would throw them in the truck and they'd hold up. They had tubes, and they'd get real hot, but they just had a sound that is hard to put into words. The Fender Twin was great, but I have an old Lab Series amp that isn't being made anymore. I fell in love with it because its sound is right between the old Fender amps that we used to have and the Fender Twin. It's what I'm using tonight."<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.vintageguitar.com/20969/bbking/ |first=Willie G.|last=Moseley|title=Remembering B.B. King|work=Vintage Guitar|date=September 1995}}</ref>

[[File:B.B. King in 2009.jpg|upright|thumb|King at the 2009 North Sea Jazz Festival ]]

He moved on from the larger Gibson hollow bodied instruments which were prone to feedback when played at high volumes to various semi-hollow models beginning first with the ES-335 and then on to a deluxe version called the ES-355 which used a stereo option.<ref name="auto"/> In 1980, Gibson Guitar Corporation launched the B.B. King Lucille model, an ES-355 with stereo options, a varitone selector, and fine tuners (neither of which he actually used ) and, at King's direct request, no f-holes to further reduce feedback. In 2005, Gibson made a special run of 80 Gibson Lucilles, referred to as the "80th Birthday Lucille", the first prototype of which they gave him as a birthday gift and which he used thereafter.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.guitarcenterblog.com/?p=746 |title=One Customer's Pawnshop Treasure |publisher=Guitarcenterblog.com |date=December 3, 2009 |access-date=May 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618045219/http://www.guitarcenterblog.com/?p=746 |archive-date=June 18, 2010 }}</ref>

He used a Lab Series L5 2×12" combo amplifier and used this amplifier for a long time. Norlin Industries made them for Gibson in the 1970s and 1980s. Other popular L5 users are Allan Holdsworth and Ty Tabor of King's X. The L5 has an onboard compressor, parametric equalization, and four inputs. King also used a Fender Twin Reverb.<ref name=guitargear>{{cite web | author=Category: Who Plays What |url=http://www.uberproaudio.com/who-plays-what/232-bb-kings-guitar-gear-rig-and-equipment |title=B.B. King's Guitar Gear Rig and Equipment |publisher=Uberproaudio.com |access-date=November 10, 2012}}</ref>

He used his signature model strings "Gibson SEG-BBS B.B. King Signature Electric Guitar Strings" with gauges: 10–13–17p–32w–45w–54w and D'Andrea 351 MD SHL CX (medium 0.71mm, tortoiseshell, celluloid) picks.<ref name=guitargear />

== Blues clubs == [[File:BBKINGSignBealeStreet.JPG|thumb|upright|Sign outside B.B. King's Blues Club on Beale Street, Memphis ]]

In 1991, Beale Street developer John Elkington recruited King to open the original B.B. King's Blues Club in Memphis and in 1994, they launched a second club at Universal Citywalk in Los Angeles. A third club in New York City's Times Square opened in June 2000 but closed on April 29, 2018. Management is looking for a new location in New York City.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbkingblues.com/|title=B.B. King Blues Club & Grill|website=B.B. King Blues Club & Grill|access-date=March 28, 2019}}</ref> Two more clubs opened, at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut in January 2002,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbking.com/bio/ |title=The Official Website |publisher=Bbking.com |date=September 16, 1925 |access-date=February 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828034010/http://www.bbking.com/bio/ |archive-date=August 28, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in Nashville in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4555293-1.html |title=Bb King: King's Clubs: 'good Memories, Good Times' |website=Allbusiness.com |access-date=February 17, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100107042210/http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4555293-1.html| archive-date= January 7, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> Another club opened in Orlando in 2007.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2007/11/30/the-man-himself-opens-new-bb-kings-blues-club/|work=Orlando Sentinel| title=The Man Himself Opens New B.B. King's Blues Club| date=November 30, 2007| access-date=May 15, 2015| first=Jim| last=Abbott}}</ref> A club in West Palm Beach opened in the fall of 2009<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbkingclubs.com/index.php?page=wpbhome |title=West Palm Beach |website=Bbkingclubs.com |access-date=February 17, 2010 |archive-date=July 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707215547/http://www.bbkingclubs.com/index.php?page=wpbhome |url-status=dead }}</ref> and an additional one, based in the Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, opened in the winter of 2009.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/events/2009/sep/09/7150/ | title=Job Fair at B.B. King's Blues Club |website=Lasvegassun.com |date=September 3, 2009 |access-date=February 17, 2010}}</ref> Another opened in the New Orleans French Quarter in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment/2016/03/singing_the_blues_for_bb_king.html |title=B.B. and me: Remembering King of Blues though the years |last=Grunfeld |first=David |date=March 10, 2016 |website=nola.com|access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref>

== Television and other appearances == King made guest appearances on a number of popular television shows including: ''The Cosby Show'', ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', ''The Young and the Restless'', ''General Hospital'', ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', ''Sesame Street'',<ref name="SesameWorkshopNewsletter">{{Cite news | access-date=June 8, 2007 |url=http://www.sesameworkshop.org/aboutus/newsletter_article.php?contentId=108003&type=sesame |title=Sesame Street Beat Newsletter Archive |author=Sesame Workshop| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180403/http://www.sesameworkshop.org/aboutus/newsletter_article.php?contentId=108003&type=sesame |archive-date = September 30, 2007}}</ref> ''Married... with Children'', ''Sanford and Son'' and ''Touched by an Angel''.

From the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s, he appeared in several advertisements for McDonald's.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N-72atWyYg | title=BB King Mcdonald's Commercial 1987 | date=October 20, 2017 | via=YouTube }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=xNI5U0oa5ug | title=McDonalds Australia commercial 1995 featuring Nathan Cavaleri & BB King | date=June 21, 2010 | via=YouTube }}</ref> In the early 2000s he also appeared in a campaign for Burger King.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=9P-DFZ3HOPQ | title=B.B. King | Burger King Eggwich Commercial | date=June 8, 2017 | via=YouTube }}</ref>

In 2000, the children's show ''Between the Lions'' featured a singing character named "B.B. the King of Beasts" based on him.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://enquirer.com/columns/kiese/2000/04/02/jki_pbs_encourages_kids.html| work=Enquirer| title=PBS Encourages Kids to Read Between the Lions| date=April 2, 2000| access-date=May 15, 2015| first=John| last=Kiesewetter}}</ref>

''B.B. King: The Life of Riley'', a feature documentary about him narrated by Morgan Freeman and directed by Jon Brewer, was released on October 15, 2012.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bbking.com/news/ |title=Official Site |website=Bbking.com |access-date=October 16, 2012}}</ref>

His performance at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival<ref>{{cite web|url=https://greenpleasantland.com|title=This Green and Pleasant Land|author=Greene, Bryan|publisher=Poverty and Race Research Action Council|date=June 2017}}</ref> appears in the 2021 music documentary ''Summer of Soul''.

== Personal life == thumb|upright|Early publicity photo of King

King was married twice. His first marriage was to Martha Lee Denton, from November 1946 to 1952, and his second was to Sue Carol Hall, from 1958 to 1966. He attributed their failure to the heavy demands of his 250 performances a year.<ref name="jazz"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.onthisday.com/people/bb-king|title=B.B. King (Blues Musician)|website=OnThisDay.com|access-date=March 28, 2019}}</ref> It is said that he fathered 15 children with several women.<ref name="jazz">{{cite web |url=http://www.jazzandbluesmasters.com/bbking.htm |title=BB King: American Blues Musician, b. 1925 |first=Quincy |last=Troupe |publisher=Jazzandbluesmasters.com |date=June 4, 1958 |access-date=February 17, 2010 |quote=...was born on a cotton plantation, in Itta Bene [sic], Mississippi, just outside the delta town of Indianola. |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217045139/http://www.jazzandbluesmasters.com/bbking.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia of the Blues"/> After his death, three more have come forward, claiming him as their father.<ref name="HR">Johnson, S. Battle Over B.B. King's Fortune. ''The Hollywood Reporter'', June 3, 2016 (No. 17), pp. 61–63.</ref> Neither of his marriages produced children, and biographer Charles Sawyer wrote that doctors found his sperm count too low to conceive children,<ref>Sawyer, C. ''The Arrival of B.B. King: The Authorized Biography''. Doubleday (1984), p. 221. {{ISBN|0385159293}}</ref> but King never disputed paternity of any of the 15 who claimed it and by all accounts was generous in bankrolling college tuitions and establishing trust funds.<ref name="HR"/> In May 2016, the 11 surviving children initiated legal proceedings against his appointed trustee over his estimated $30 million to $40 million estate. Several of them also went public with the allegation that King's business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, had fatally poisoned him. Autopsy results showed no evidence of poisoning. A defamation suit filed by Johnson against the accusing family members (including his own sister, Karen Williams) is pending. Other children have filed lawsuits targeting his music estate, which remains in dispute.<ref name="HR"/>

King was an FAA-certified private pilot and frequently flew to gigs. He learned to fly in 1963 at what was then Chicago Hammond Airport in Lansing, Illinois.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mnblues.com/review/bbking-intv-rw4-00.html |title=Interview with B.B. King |access-date=March 14, 2010 |last=West |first=Rebecca |date=April 20, 2000 |work=Blues on Stage }}</ref><ref>"You and Me with B.B. King." SIRIUS Channel 74. May 12, 2009.</ref> In 1995 his insurance company and manager asked him, at around the age of 70, to fly only with another certified pilot, so he stopped flying.<ref name='Reuters/Billboard 2007-06-29'> {{cite news |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2930832820070630 |title=On the road again, B.B. King preps new album |last=Mitchell |first=Gail |date=June 29, 2007 |work=Reuters }}</ref>

King's favorite singer was Frank Sinatra. In his autobiography, he spoke about how he was a "Sinatra nut" and went to bed every night listening to Sinatra's classic album ''In the Wee Small Hours''. During the 1960s, Sinatra had arranged for King to play at the main clubs in Las Vegas. He credited Sinatra for opening doors to black entertainers who were not given the chance to play in white-dominated venues.<ref>{{cite book |last1=King |first1=B.B. |last2=Ritz |first2=David |author-link2=David Ritz |title=Blues All Around Me |year=2011 |publisher=It Books |page=266 |isbn=978-0062061034}}</ref>

=== Philanthropy and notable campaigns === King recorded ''Live in Cook County Jail'' in September 1970, a time when issues of racism<ref name="Back" /> and class in the prison system were prominent in politics. King co-founded the Foundation for the Advancement of Inmate Rehabilitation and Recreation, tying in his support for prisoners and his interest in prison reform.<ref name="Back">Back, Les. 2015. "How Blue Can You Get? B.B. King, Planetary Humanism and the Blues Behind Bars." ''Theory, Culture & Society'' 32 (7): 274.</ref> He also wanted to use prison performances as a way to preserve music and songs, similar to what Alan Lomax did.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Adelt| first=U.| title=Black, White, and Blue: Racial Politics in B.B. King's Music from the 1960s| journal=Journal of Popular Culture| volume=2}}</ref>

In 2002, he signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in underprivileged public schools throughout the United States. He sat on the organization's honorary board of directors.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.littlekidsrock.org/honorary-board-of-directors/| publisher=Little Kids Rock| title=Honorary Board of Directors| access-date=May 15, 2015| archive-date=May 3, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503070417/http://www.littlekidsrock.org/honorary-board-of-directors/| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Diagnosed with diabetes in 1990,<ref>{{Cite news | title=King of the Blues BB King has Now Been At the Top of the Blues Game for More than 50 years| last=Doughty| first=R.|year=2002| via=Diabetes Forecast}}</ref> King was a high-profile spokesman in the fight against the disease.<ref name="farewells"/><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.mjsbigblog.com/crystal-bowersox-and-bb-king-in-new-diabetes-commercial.htm| agency=MJSBIGBLOG| title=Crystal Bowersox and BB King In New Diabetes Campaign| first=MJ| last=Santilli| date=March 15, 2011| access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> He appeared in several television commercials for OneTouch Ultra, a blood glucose monitoring device, beginning in the early 2000s. ''American Idol'' contestant Crystal Bowersox, who was diagnosed with diabetes at age six, co-starred with King in later commercials.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.diabeteshealth.com/how-b-b-king-avoids-the-diabetes-blues/| title=How B.B. King Avoids the Diabetes Blues | date=November 1, 2005| newspaper=Diabetes Health| language=en-US| access-date=October 20, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809162402/https://www.diabeteshealth.com/how-b-b-king-avoids-the-diabetes-blues/| archive-date=August 9, 2016| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.diabeteshealth.com/crystal-bowersox-striving-to-live-without-limitations/|title=Crystal Bowersox: Striving to Live Without Limitations | date=January 17, 2013| newspaper=Diabetes Health| language=en-US| access-date=October 20, 2016}}</ref>

== Death and funeral == The last eight shows of his 2014 tour were canceled because of health problems caused by complications from high blood pressure and diabetes.<ref name="bbking.com tour-update 2014-10-08"/><ref name="OfficialCOD"/><ref name="cnn._B.B.">{{cite news | title = B.B. King "in home hospice care" | first = Ralph | last = Ellis | publisher = CNN | date = May 2, 2015 | access-date = May 15, 2015 | url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/01/us/bb-king-in-home-hospice-care/}}</ref> On May 14, 2015, at the age of 89,<ref name="Defining"/> King died in his sleep from vascular dementia caused by a series of small strokes as a consequence of his type 2 diabetes.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://time.com/3881679/bb-king-stroke/| magazine=Time| title=B.B. King Died From Mini Strokes, Coroner Says| first=Mandy| last=Oaklander| date=May 16, 2015| access-date=May 26, 2015}}</ref> Two of his daughters alleged that he was deliberately poisoned by two associates trying to induce diabetic shock;<ref name=Poison>{{cite news | last1=Payne| first1=Ed| first2=Kyung| last2=Lah|first3=Dave|last3=Alsup| title=B.B. King was poisoned, two of his daughters claim| url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/26/entertainment/bb-king-death-allegation/|publisher=CNN|date=May 27, 2015| access-date=May 26, 2015}}</ref> an autopsy showed no evidence of that.<ref name="OfficialCOD">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/b-b-king-coroners-report-no-evidence-of-poisoning-20150714| title=B.B. King Coroner's Report: No Evidence of Poisoning| magazine=Rolling Stone|first=Daniel|last=Kreps|date=July 14, 2015| access-date=July 15, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bb-king-not-poisoned-coroner_55a44c29e4b0ecec71bcdd41?| title=Coroner: No Evidence B.B. King Was Poisoned Before Death| date=July 13, 2015| access-date=July 14, 2015| website=HuffPost}}</ref>

King's body was flown to Memphis on May 27, 2015. A funeral procession went down Beale Street with a brass band marching in front of the hearse while playing "When the Saints Go Marching In". Thousands lined the streets to pay their last respects. His body was then driven down Route 61 to his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi.<ref>{{cite magazine | first=Charlotte | last=Alter |url=https://time.com/3902436/bb-king-funeral/ |title=B.B. King Buried in Indianola, Mississippi |magazine=Time |date= May 30, 2015| access-date=May 30, 2015}}</ref> He was laid in repose at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola so people could view his open casket.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.sky.com/story/1492063/music-and-tears-at-bb-king-memphis-procession |title=Music And Tears At BB King Memphis Procession |work=Sky News |access-date=May 30, 2015}}</ref><ref name=news5>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/29171363/beale-street-says-goodbye-to-bb-king |title=Beale Street says goodbye to B.B. King |location= Memphis, Tennessee |publisher=WMC Action News 5 |date=May 15, 2015 |access-date=May 30, 2015}}</ref> The funeral took place at the Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Indianola on May 30.<ref>{{cite web|agency=Associated Press in Indianola, Mississippi |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/30/bb-king-funeral-mississippi |title=BB King's funeral draws hundreds as Obama says country 'has lost a legend' | US news |work=The Guardian |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=May 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/hundreds-gather-to-farewell-bb-king-20150531-ghdbs3.html |title=Hundreds gather to farewell BB King |newspaper=The Age |date=May 31, 2015|access-date=May 31, 2015 |location=Melbourne}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.centredaily.com/2015/05/30/4771962/hundreds-attend-funeral-for-bb.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150715053911/http://www.centredaily.com/2015/05/30/4771962/hundreds-attend-funeral-for-bb.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 15, 2015 |title=Community news from The Centre Daily Times in State College, PA |publisher=centredaily.com |access-date=May 31, 2015 }}</ref> He was buried at the B.B. King Museum.<ref name=news5/>

== Discography == {{Main|B.B. King discography}}

=== Studio albums === {{div col|colwidth=20em}} * ''Singin' the Blues'' (1957)<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=June 10, 1957|title=Reviews and Ratings of New Popular Albums: Rhythm & Blues|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/50s/1957/Billboard%201957-06-10.pdf|magazine=Billboard|pages=32}}</ref> * ''The Blues'' (1958) * ''B.B. King Wails'' (1959) * ''King of the Blues'' (1960) * ''Sings Spirituals'' (1960) * ''The Great B.B. King'' (1960) * ''My Kind of Blues'' (1961) * ''Blues for Me'' (1961) * ''Blues in My Heart'' (1962) * ''Easy Listening Blues'' (1962) * ''B.B. King'' (1963) * ''Mr. Blues'' (1963) * ''Confessin' the Blues'' (1966) * ''Blues on Top of Blues'' (1968) * ''Lucille'' (1968) * ''Live & Well'' (1969) * ''Completely Well'' (1969) * ''Indianola Mississippi Seeds'' (1970) * ''B.B. King in London'' (1971) * ''L.A. Midnight'' (1972) * ''Guess Who'' (1972) * ''To Know You Is to Love You'' (1973) * ''Lucille Talks Back'' (1975) * ''King Size'' (1977) * ''Midnight Believer'' (1978) * ''Take It Home'' (1979) * ''There Must Be a Better World Somewhere'' (1981) * ''Love Me Tender'' (1982) * ''Blues 'N' Jazz'' (1983) * ''Six Silver Strings'' (1985) * ''King of the Blues: 1989'' (1988) * ''There Is Always One More Time'' (1991) * ''Blues Summit'' (1993) * ''Lucille & Friends'' (1995) * ''Deuces Wild'' (1997) * ''Blues on the Bayou'' (1998) * ''Let the Good Times Roll'' (1999) * ''Makin' Love Is Good for You'' (2000) * ''Riding with the King'' (2000, with Eric Clapton) * ''A Christmas Celebration of Hope'' (2001) * ''Reflections'' (2003) * ''B.B. King & Friends: 80'' (2005) * ''One Kind Favor'' (2008) {{div col end}}

== Accolades == === Awards and nominations === Years reflect the year in which the Grammy was awarded, for music released in the previous year. {| class="wikitable" |- ! colspan=4| Grammy Awards |- ! Year ! Category ! Work ! Result |- |1970 | Best Male R&B Vocal Performance | "The Thrill Is Gone" |{{Won}} |- |1981 | Best R&B Instrumental Performance | "When I'm Wrong" |{{nom}} |- |1982 | Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording | "There Must Be a Better World Somewhere" |{{won}} |- |1983 | Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals | "Street Life" |{{nom}} |- |1984 | rowspan=3| Best Traditional Blues Recording | ''Blues 'n Jazz'' |{{won}} |- |1986 | ''My Guitar Sings the Blues'' |{{won}} |- |1991 | ''Live at San Quentin'' |{{won}} |- |1991 | Best Country Collaboration with Vocals | "Waiting on the Light to Change" |{{nom}} |- |1992 | rowspan=2| Best Traditional Blues Album | ''Live at the Apollo'' |{{won}} |- |1994 | ''Blues Summit'' |{{won}} |- |1995 | Best Country Collaboration with Vocals | "Patches" |{{nom}} |- |1997 | Best Rock Instrumental Performance | "SRV Shuffle" |{{won}} |- |1999 | Best Contemporary Blues Album | ''Deuces Wild'' |{{nom}} |- |2000 | Best Traditional Blues Album | ''Blues on the Bayou'' |{{won}} |- |2001 | Best Traditional Blues Album | ''Riding with the King'' |{{won}} |- |2001 | Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals | "Is You Is or Is You Ain't (My Baby)" |{{won}} |- |2003 | Best Traditional Blues Album | ''A Christmas Celebration of Hope'' |{{won}} |- |2003 | Best Pop Instrumental Performance | "Auld Lang Syne" |{{won}} |- |2005 | Best Traditional R&B Performance | "Sinner's Prayer" (with Ray Charles) |{{nom}} |- |2006 | Best Traditional Blues Album | ''B. B. King & Friends: 80'' |{{won}} |- |2009 | Best Traditional Blues Album | ''One Kind Favor'' |{{won}} |}

'''Other awards''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Association ! Category ! Work ! Result |- |1995 | Country Music Association | Album of the Year | ''Rhythm, Country and Blues'' ("Patches" with George Jones) |{{nom}} |- |2002 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special | ''Sesame Street'' |{{nom}} |}

[[File:B.B. King Presidential Medal of Freedom.jpg|thumb|upright|King receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush, December 2006]]

=== Additional honors === * Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Tougaloo College (1973)<ref>{{Cite journal|date=September 29, 1973|title=B.B. King to Receive Honorary Doctorate|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/73/RW-1973-09-29.pdf|journal=Record World|pages=37}}</ref> * Honorary Doctor of Music by Yale University (1977)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://secretary.yale.edu/programs-services/honorary-degrees/since-1702?field_degrees_value=All&field_year_value=1977&keys | title=Honorary Degrees Since 1702: 1977 | publisher=Yale University | access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> * Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame (1980)<ref>{{cite web| url = https://rockhall.com/inductees/bb-king/timeline/ | title= B.B. King [Timeline] | work= Rock & Roll Hall of Fame | publisher= The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | access-date= April 6, 2015| quote=1980: B.B. King is inducted into the first class of the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.}}</ref> * Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music (1985)<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 11, 2013|title=Music legends receive honorary degrees at Berklee|url=https://www.wcvb.com/article/music-legends-king-nelson-and-lennox-receive-honorary-degrees/8181742|access-date=October 14, 2023|publisher=WCVB|language=en}}</ref> * Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1987)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bb-king| title=B.B. King| access-date=September 12, 2014}}</ref> * Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1987)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Awards/Lifetime_Awards/ |title=Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Winners |publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |date=February 8, 2009 |access-date=February 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206071832/http://www2.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Awards/Lifetime_Awards/ |archive-date=February 6, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * The National Medal of Arts (1990)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html |title=List of National Medal of Arts Recipients |publisher=Nea.gov |access-date=February 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302211928/http://www.nea.gov/honors/Medals/medalists_year.html |archive-date=March 2, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * The National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA (1991)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1991|title=NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1991 |website=arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927122211/https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1991 |archive-date=September 27, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:BB King pick.jpg|thumb|upright|Commemorative guitar pick honoring "B.B. King Day" in Portland, Maine]]

* The Kennedy Center Honors – given to recognize "the lifelong accomplishments and extraordinary talents of our nation's most prestigious artists" (1995)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3696&source_type=A |title=Kennedy Center Records |publisher=Kennedy-center.org |date=September 16, 1925 |access-date=February 17, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805183322/http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3696&source_type=A |archive-date=August 5, 2009 }}</ref> * Grammy Hall of Fame Award for "The Thrill is Gone" – given to recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance" (1998)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY%5FAwards/Winners/ |title=Grammy Database |publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |date=February 8, 2009 |access-date=February 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213175336/http://www2.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/ |archive-date=February 13, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * The Library of Congress awarded him the Living Legend Medal for his lifetime of contributions to America's diverse cultural heritage (2000)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0005/livleg.html |title=Living Legends: Americans Honored for Creative Contributions |author= |date=May 2000 |website=Library of Congress Information Bulletin |access-date=October 19, 2020}}</ref> * The Royal Swedish Academy of Music awarded him the Polar Music Prize for his "significant contributions to the blues" (2004)<ref name="Polar Music Prize"/> * The Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (2004)<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://www.achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#the-arts }}</ref> * The Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President George W. Bush on December 15 (2006)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/two_column_table/Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom_Recipients.htm |title=List of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=February 17, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100222215156/https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/two_column_table/Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom_Recipients.htm| archive-date= February 22, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> * An honorary doctorate in music by Brown University (2007)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2006-07/06-142.html | title=Brown University to Confer Nine Honorary Degrees May 27 |publisher=Brown.edu |date=April 25, 2007|access-date=February 17, 2010}}</ref> * The keys to the city of Portland, Maine (2008)<ref>[http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=188662&ac=PHnws "King of Portland"] {{webarchive | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920180132/http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=188662&ac=PHnws |date=September 20, 2009 }} – ''Portland Press Herald'', May 19, 2008</ref> * A Mississippi Blues Trail marker was added for King to commemorate his birthplace (2008)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.msbluestrail.org/CustomContentRetrieve.aspx?ID=1083611| title=B.B. King Birthplace| last=Mississippi Blues Commission| publisher=msbluestrail.org| access-date=February 2, 2010}}</ref> * ''Time'' named King No. 3 on its list of the 10 best electric guitarists (2009)<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Tyrangiel| first= Josh| url = http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1916544,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090815221408/http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1916544,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 15, 2009 | title=The 10 Greatest Electric-Guitar Players| magazine=Time| date= August 14, 2009| access-date=January 6, 2011}}</ref> * King was awarded the MMP Music Award and inducted into the MMP Hall of Fame by the Mississippi Music Project (2018)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themississippimusicproject.org/mmpmusicawardees.html |title=MMP Music Award & Hall of Fame |author= |year=2020 |website=Mississippi Music Project |access-date=October 3, 2021 |archive-date=October 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003213515/http://www.themississippimusicproject.org/mmpmusicawardees.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> * A Google Doodle celebrated what would have been King's 94th birthday (2019)<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/16/us/bb-king-google-doodle-trnd/index.html |title=Google celebrates birthday of the 'King of the Blues' with an animated video Doodle |first=Douglas |last=Wood |publisher=CNN|date=September 16, 2019|access-date=September 16, 2019}}</ref> * A King Homecoming Festival is held in Indianola, Mississippi during the first week in June every year<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.indianolams.org/blues.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415020024/http://www.indianolams.org/blues.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 15, 2013 |title='The Blues Heritage' Indianola, Mississippi Chamber of Commerce |website=Indianolams.org |access-date=February 17, 2010 }}</ref> * ''Rolling Stone'' named King the 8th greatest guitarist of all time in 2023.<ref>{{Cite magazine |author= |date=October 13, 2023 |title=The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-guitarists-1234814010/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> * King is featured as one of the musicians in Mississippi's Rose Parade float for 2025.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wxxv25.com/visit-mississippi-unveils-2025-rose-parade-float-celebrating-the-birthplace-of-americas-music-and-honoring-mississippis-legendary-kings/|title=Visit Mississippi Unveils 2025 Rose Parade Float, Celebrating the Birthplace of America's Music and Honoring Mississippi's Legendary Kings|author= |work=WXXV News|date=December 7, 2024|access-date=December 8, 2024}}</ref>

== See also == {{Portal|Blues|Mississippi|United States}} * African Americans in Mississippi * B.B. King's Bluesville * Honorific nicknames in popular music * List of nicknames of blues musicians

{{-}} == References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=De Visé |first=Daniel |date=2021 |title=King of the Blues: the Rise and Reign of B.B. King |edition=First |location=New York |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |isbn=9780802158055 |oclc=1261767849}} * {{cite book |last=Sawyer |first=Charles |date=2022 |title=B.B. King: From Indianola to Icon |edition=First |location=Atglen, PA |publisher=Schiffer Books |isbn=9780764363856}}

== External links == {{wikiquote}} {{Commonscat}} * {{Official website}} * {{Discogs artist |37729-BB-King}} * {{IMDb name|0454475}} * [https://guitar.com/king-of-the-blues-a-conversation-with-b-b-king/ B.B. King interview on Guitar.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704093241/https://guitar.com/king-of-the-blues-a-conversation-with-b-b-king/ |date=July 4, 2018 }} * [http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-529-2j6833p160 "Blues Legend B.B. King" episode from ''In Black America'' series], distributed by the American Archive of Public Broadcasting *[http://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/bb-king ''Oral History, B.B. King reflects on his greatest musical influences''. Interview date August 3, 2005, NAMM Oral History Library]

{{B.B. King|state=expanded}} {{Navboxes | title = Awards for B.{{nbsp}}B. King | list = {{Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award}} {{Kennedy Center Honorees 1990s}} {{Polar Music Prize}} {{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}} {{1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}} }} {{Authority control}}

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