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His sweet, fluid, jazzy guitar style is legendary, but B.B. King's gospel-drenched singing would've been enough to make him a star. He's sold the most records and inspired the most imitators. He truly is the "King of the Blues."
Born Riley B. King in Indianola, Miss. on September 16, 1925, he played a little bit, learned a little bit more, moved up to Memphis and, by 1949, had a WDIA radio show and a record out on the local Bullet label. He was nicknamed the "Beale Street Blues Boy," eventually shortened to the familiar initials. (His guitar merits its own nickname, Lucille.) By 1951, he'd scored his first R&B smash ("Three O' Clock Blues"); by 1956, he'd had a fistful of hits (including his theme song, "Every Day I Have The Blues") and was playing 342 one-nighters a year. After a stint with Kent--distinguished by the intense, impeccable two-part performance on "Sweet Sixteen"--King went to ABC, where he put it all together on the monumental 1964 Live At The Regal LP. Reigning hotshot fretgrinders from Eric Clapton to Mike Bloomfield made him Blues Guitar Hero Number One, and in 1970 he notched a pop hit with "The Thrill Is Gone," featuring the single most elegant exit-guitar solo in recorded history.
Since then, King has cut live albums, jazz-oriented albums, all-star albums, and appeared on records with everyone from the Crusaders , Stevie Wonder and Bobby "Blue" Bland to U2 ("When Love Comes To Town") and the Primitive Radio Gods (via a sample of 1964's "How Blue Can You Get"). He's won two Grammys, been the subject of a couple books, owns a couple of nightclub/restaurants, and was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987. He still plays gigs, still makes records.
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