B.B. King

BIOGRAPHY

King of the blues, that's Riley B. King better known as B.B. King, has been a popular inspiration for guitar players of today. As most musicians say, "it all began in blues". And yes, B.B. King is where it all began. Born on September 16, 1925 in Mississippi, King started earning in small gigs. In fact, it was so small, he started playing guitar on the street for dimes. In 1947, he went to Memphis and stayed with his cousin to continue his career as a musician. His cousin, Bukka White helped King developed his skills in the art of blues.

Ever wondered how he got his name? Well it all began in 1948 when his first break came. He performed on a radio show on KWEM. Which led to steady gigs in West Memphis then later on managed a radio station WDIA. It became so popular that soon King needed a catchy name. It started as Beale Street Blues Boy then was shortened to Blues Boy King, also known as B.B. King.

Who is the famous Lucille? Lucille is the name of King's guitar. He got that name from one of his performance. In the mid-1950's in Arkansas, during his performance, a fight occurred which knocked over a kerosene stove that led to a fire. He got out of the burning building but came back inside to get back his guitar. King escaped death. Then found out what was the cause of the fight. It was a fight between two men over a girl named Lucille which he later on named on his guitar to remind never to do crazy things over a girl. And now, each of King's trademark Gibson guitars have been called Lucille.

It was in the 50's when King made huge hits under his name specially in R & B music. And even continued his success throughout the 70's. From 1951 to 1985, King appeared on Billboard's R&B charts an amazing 74 times. But during the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's, he has less recordings but still maintains appearances on television shows and almost performing every night in a year. And for more than 50 years, King may have played for over 15000 performances. He is the greatest living guitarist and ranked 3rd among the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.