B.B. King  

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Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known by his stage name B.B. King, was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time (previously ranked No. 3 in the 2003 edition of the same list), and he was ranked No. 17 in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. King was also inducted into 2014 class of the R&B Music Hall of Fame. He is considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of Blues", and one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King). King was also known for performing tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing at 250–300 concerts per year until his seventies. In 1956 it was noted that he appeared at 342 shows. King continued to appear at 100 shows a year through the end of his career.

King's guitar style was distinctive, displaying influences from the likes of Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker. He was known for his complex string bends and his left hand vibrato, which have been influential in their own right for many guitarists. King's sound combined blues, jazz, swing, and even pop music. In King's words, "When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille."



Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "B.B. King" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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