At 9:40 p.m. PDT last night, legendary blues musician B. B. King died in his sleep at his Las Vegas home. He was 89.
Born Riley B. King, the son of Mississippi sharecroppers and a farmer himself from the age of fourteen on (his mother died and his father left), King taught himself how to play guitar and fell in love with the Delta blues sound after hearing it on the radio. Ever since that moment in 1941, he was hooked.
King started out as a Memphis radio DJ, which is where he got the nickname Blues Boy King (later shortened to B. B.), but quickly became one of the most sought-after blues musicians in the South, then the country with massive hits including “The Thrill Is Gone,” “You Upset Me Baby,” and “Why I Sing the Blues.” Over the course of his nearly seventy year career, King inspired (and collaborated with) some of rock and roll’s biggest acts like Eric Clapton, U2, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and ZZ Top.
Performing right up until last October, King finally had to put down his guitar Lucille due to complications of his diabetes. He was one of the hardest working men in show business, and undeniably one of the most talented. You will be missed, Mr. King.
