A Blues Legend
BB King, the larger-than-life guitarist and singer who helped popularise electric blues and brought it to audiences for more than six decades, died Thursday in Las Vegas. He was 89. King, who was diagnosed with diabetes nearly 30 years ago, was hospitalised last month due to dehydration. Last October, he was forced to cancel eight tour dates for dehydration and exhaustion. His attorney, Brent Bryson, confirmed his death to the Associated Press.
Into his late eighties, King toured the world year-round as the unrivaled ambassador of the blues. His indelible style – a throaty, throttling vocal howl paired with a ringing single-note vibrato sound played on his electric guitar named Lucille – defined the genre. He won 15 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
“He is without a doubt the most important artiste the blues has ever produced,” Eric Clapton wrote in his 2008 biography, “and the most humble and genuine man you would ever wish to meet.”
He was born Riley B. King in Itta Bena, Mississippi, on September 16th, 1925. His young parents divorced when he was five and his mother died when he was nine, leaving him to be raised by his maternal grandmother. King dropped out of school in tenth grade and earned a living picking cotton for a penny a pound and singing gospel songs on a local street corner. In 1948, King was living in Memphis working as a tractor driver when he landed a gig on a local radio show that led to a job at a juke joint playing six nights a week. There, he met artistes like Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker, where he heard electric guitar for the first time.
King scored his first Number One hit in 1951 with “3 O' Clock Blues”. Dozens more followed in the coming decades, including 1954's “You Upset Me Baby” and 1959's “Sweet Sixteen”.
In the 60s, the success of blues-influenced British bands helped broaden King's appeal. He began to perform with acts like the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. Later that decade, King moved to New York. The hits that followed included 1968's “Paid the Cost to Be the Boss”, 1969's cutting social commentary “Why I Sing the Blues” and “Thrill Is Gone”.
King' style – marked by his signature ringing, vibrato notes – became a hallmark of blues playing, imitated by everyone from Clapton to Buddy Guy. Also, some of King's greatest recordings are live albums, including “Live in Japan” and Live at “Cook County Jail”, which showcase his masterful delivery and playful, old school showmanship.
A 1998 Rolling Stone feature estimated that King had played more than 15,000 concerts. He spent more than 65 years on the road, playing more than 300 shows a year until cutting back to around a 100 during the last decade.
“I've missed 18 days in 65 years. Sometimes guys will just take off; I've never done that. If I'm booked to play, I go and play,” he told Rolling Stone in 2013.
He added, “The crowds treat me like my last name. When I go onstage people usually stand up, I never ask them to, but they do. They stand up and they don't know how much I appreciate it
Source: Rolling Stone
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