Welcome again bluescluster fans, and as usual every Friday we prepare blues menu for a famous blues artist and today we dedicate it to one of the blues legends, the one, and the only BB KING or Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that influenced many later electric blues guitarists.
King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and is considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" along with Albert King and Freddie King. King was known for performing tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing at more than 200 concerts per year on average into his 70s. In 1956 alone, he reportedly appeared at 342 shows.
King was born on a cotton plantation in Berclair, Mississippi, and later worked at a cotton gin in Indianola, Mississippi. He was attracted to music and the guitar in church, and began his performance career in juke joints and local radio. He later lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago, and toured the world extensively.
Awards and nominations
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy was awarded, for music released in the previous year.
| Grammy Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Category | Work | Result |
| 1971 | Best Male R&B Vocal Performance | "The Thrill Is Gone" | Won |
| 1981 | Best R&B Instrumental Performance | "When I'm Wrong" | Nominated |
| 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" | Nominated |
| 1984 | 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" | Nominated |
| 1992 | Best Traditional Blues Album | Live at the Apollo | Won |
| 1994 | Blues Summit | Won | |
| 1995 | Best Country Collaboration with Vocals | "Patches" | Nominated |
| 1997 | Best Rock Instrumental Performance | "SRV Shuffle" | Won |
| 1999 | Best Contemporary Blues Album | Deuces Wild | Nominated |
| 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 or Is You Ain't (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) | Nominated |
| 2006 | Best Traditional Blues Album | B. B. King & Friends: 80 | Won |
| 2009 | Best Traditional Blues Album | One Kind Favor | Won |
Other awards
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Country Music Association | Album of the Year | Rhythm, Country and Blues ("Patches" with George Jones) | Nominated |
| 2002 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special | Sesame Street | Nominated |
Other honors
- 1977: Honorary Doctor of Music by Yale University
- 1980: Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
- 1987: Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
- 1987: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
- 1990: The National Medal of Arts
- 1991: The National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA
- 1995: The Kennedy Center Honors; given to recognize "the lifelong accomplishments and extraordinary talents of our nation's most prestigious artists"
- 1998: Grammy Hall of Fame Award for "The Thrill is Gone"; the award is given to recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance"
- 2004: The Royal Swedish Academy of Music awarded him the Polar Music Prize for his "significant contributions to the blues"
- 2006: The Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President George W. Bush on December 152007: An honorary doctorate in music by Brown University (May 27)
- 2008: The keys to the city of Portland, Maine (May 14)
- 2009: Time named King No. 3 on its list of the 10 best electric guitarists
- 2010: Sabrosa Park (in the small town of Sabrosa, north of Portugal) was renamed B.B. King Park in honor of King and the free concert he played before 20,000 people on May 29
- Each year during the first week in June, a King Homecoming Festival is held in Indianola, Mississippi
- A Mississippi Blues Trail marker was added for King, commemorating his birthplace
Illness and death
 | Wikinews has related news: Blues musician B.B. King dies aged 89 |
After the cancellation of the remaining eight shows of his 2014 tour because of health problems, King announced on October 8, 2014, he was back at home to recuperate. On May 1, 2015, after two hospitalizations caused by complications from high blood pressure and diabetes, King announced on his website that he was in hospice care at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. He died in his sleep on May 14, 2015, at the age of 89.
King's cause of death was determined to be multi-infarct dementia, brought on by a series of small strokes caused by atherosclerotic vascular disease as a consequence of type 2 diabetes. However, two of his daughters alleged that King was deliberately poisoned by two associates trying to induce diabetic shock. The Clark County coroner's office confirmed on May 25, 2015, that it was performing an autopsy on King's body and conducting a homicide investigation with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, although CNN reported that initial indications did not support the notion of foul play. The autopsy revealed King's death was of complications of Alzheimer's disease and congestive heart failure, with no evidence of poisoning.
BB KING BEST BLUES VIDEOS
