The BB King “King of the Blues” guitarist and singer BB King has died aged 89.
Any body who knows of BB King knows Lucille because the master Blues man talked about his guitar frequently and wrote a song about it. Musically he’s known for his hits Lucille, Sweet Black Angel and Rock Me Baby. He died in his sleep in Las Vegas.
King was born in Mississippi and was a farmhand before he pursued his calling. He began performing in the 1940s, going on to influence a generation of musicians, and working with Eric Clapton and U2.
BB King ranked as the third greatest guitarist of all time at his career high and was celebrated around the world. In recent months he had been suffering ill health. He suffered from diabetes over the years and can be seen in commercials promoting diabetes management.He was recently taken to hospital with a diabetes-related illness.
King was awarded his 15th Grammy award in 2009 for his album One Kind Favor. He was also inducted into both the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
As ratings go, Rolling Stone magazine placed him behind Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. And until recent months , King performed in at least 100 concerts a year.
‘Blues Vocals that touched the Heart’
Coming from the same space in different time King melded together both jazz and blues on his beloved guitar, a Gibson ES-344 he lovingly called “Lucille”. And Lucille was definitely his mistress.
In the early part of his career, he played to exclusively Black audiences, however his soulful blues and brilliant talent reached pass the racial divide. Music is the language that transcends culture and language barriers and his music saw him embraced by a much broader fanbase as time went on – touring Europe and topping the charts.
Respected by the Beatles, younger musicians such as Clapton and Steve Miller, who admired his work, introduced him to a new generation of fans in the late ’60s with hits like The Thrill is Gone.
Albums such as Live at County Cook Jail and BB King in London followed. Then his career was reignited in the late 1980s when he duetted with U2 on When Love Comes To Town.
At the turn of the millennium, at aged 75, he once more achieved major commercial success with the Eric Clapton collaboration Riding With the King.
“King’s is now the name most synonymous with the blues, much as Louis Armstrong’s once was with jazz,” critic Francis Davis wrote in his 1995 book The History of the Blues. “You don’t have to be a blues fan to have heard of King.” And even if you haven’t heard him you have indirectly because his music is integrated into the music of so many others.
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