September 16

B.B. King, an American guitarist and singer, was instrumental to the development of blues and an inspiration to generations of popular musicians after him.

Born on September 16, 1925 near Itta Bena, MS, King was reared in the Mississippi Delta, where gospel Christian music in church made an early influence on his singing.

After serving in World War II, Riley B. King settled in Memphis, TN, where he made a living as a disc jockey and taught himself to play the guitar. It was here he was dubbed “The Beale Street Blues Boy.” Shortening his nickname, B.B. cut his first record in 1949, combining the influences of Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Alonzo (Lonnie) Johnson, and Blind Lemon Jefferson into his own inimitable style.

His 1951 hit record “Three O’Clock Blues,” began what became a lifetime of nearly continuous touring throughout the country and beyond. During the 1960s he carried the blues to Russia and South America. Accompanied by his 13-piece band, King often played 300 or more single-night appearances each year.

A long succession of hits — including “Woke Up This Morning”, “Every Day I Have the Blues,” and “Sweet Sixteen” — enhanced his popularity.

In 1964 in Chicago, he recorded the seminal album Live at the Regal, and his 1969 classic, The Thrill Is Gone, won him the first of 15 Grammy Awards. By the late 1960s rock guitarists acknowledged his influence when they introduced King and his guitar, Lucille, to a broader white public, who until then had heard blues chiefly in derivative versions.

In 2008, the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened in Indianola, MS with exhibits dedicated to King’s music, his influences, and the history of the Delta region. King’s autobiography, Blues All Around Me, written with David Ritz, was published in 1996.

King received myriad awards and honors. He was inducted in the inaugural class of recipients to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1987, he earned a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1990, he received the National Medal of Arts. And in 1995, King became a Kennedy Center Honoree.

B.B. King died at age 89 on May 14, 2015 in Las Vegas, NV.

Footnotes:

• Biography.com Editors, “B.B. King Biography,” The Biography.com website, August 26, 202. Accessed: May 27, 2025.
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, African American Desk Reference, New York: Trade Paper Press, 1999.
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “B.B. King.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 May. 2025. Accessed 27 May 2025.