“King Of The Blues” B.B. King Dead @ 89

by JASmius



Lenny Kravitz tweeted it best: "BB, anyone could play a thousand notes and never say what you said in one."

R.I.P.:

B.B. King spread joy to millions by giving them the blues.

The iconic musician, along with his ever-present guitar Lucille, spent nearly seenty years thrilling audiences and spreading the music he learned as a poverty-stricken youth in the Mississippi Delta all over the world.

King, eighty-nine, died in Las Vegas, his attorney announced late Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

“Blues is a tonic for whatever ails you,” King told USA TODAY in 2005. “I could play the blues and then not be blue anymore.”…… 

He received nearly every accolade in his field: fifteen Grammy Awards (not counting a Lifetime Achievement nod in 1987); inductions into the Rock and Roll and Blues Foundation halls of fame; a Kennedy Center Honor; Presidential Medal of the Arts; President Medal of Freedom; the international Polar Music Prize; and honorary doctorates from Yale and Brown.…… 

King’s influence on other musicians is well-documented. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine listed him at #6 on its list of one hundred greatest guitarists, behind #1 Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Jeff Beck. Among the numerous acts he performed or recorded with were Hendrix, Clapton, U2, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Ronnie Wood, Derek Trucks and Sheryl Crow.…… 

King himself was influenced by bluesmen T-Bone Walker, Lonnie Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, and jazz guitarists Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian. He was also enamored with Delta blues players, including his cousin Bukka White.

This one of his hits seems a most appropriate musical eulogy.