B.B. King Dead at 89

B.B. King, the blues icon widely considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time, died last night, New York Times reports. According to the late legend’s daughter Patty (via CNN), King died in Las Vegas, where he had been recieving home hospice care for dehydration (a condition which forced King to cancel tour dates at the end of 2014 and the beginning of this year). He was 89.

Riley B. King, born in Mississippi, was a World War II veteran who became a Memphis disc jockey. He was called the “Beale Street Blues Boy”, which was shortened to “B.B.”. He made his first recording in 1949. He made music in the early 1950s with Sun Records, was signed to Kent/RPM/Modern throughout the 1950s, and in 1962, signed with ABC. They released his iconic 1965 LP Live at the Regal.

There’s a story from 1949 that became a significant part of B.B. King folklore: During a 1949 dance in Arkansas, a fight broke out that knocked over a barrel lit with kerosene. He ran through the fire to retrieve his guitar, and he narrowly escaped as the building came down. He learned that the fight that started the fire was started over a woman named Lucille. From then on, he named his guitars Lucille.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2006, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has his own museum—the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, Mississippi—and a chain of blues clubs. He toured tirelessly for the majority of his life.

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