Legendary blues musician B.B. King dies at 89

Blues legend B.B. King has died, his attorney announced Thursday. He was 89.

Over the course of his illustrious career, King, born Riley B. King in 1925, received 15 Grammy awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As a young boy, he worked on a sharecropping plantation in Mississippi, and after learning a few basic chords from a local pastor, taught himself how to play the guitar. He got his start in Memphis by playing shows across the city, and while working as a radio DJ — a job that shaped his sound, giving him exposure to a wide range of guitar playing styles — he gained the nickname Beale Street Blues Boy, which was shortened to Blues Boy, then B.B.

In 1954, his rendition of "3 O'Clock Blues" topped the Billboard R&B chart, and he received his first Grammy in 1970 for "The Thrill is Gone." For many years, King performed hundreds of shows a year, with his Gibson guitar nicknamed Lucille. On May 1, King announced he was on hospice care at his home in Las Vegas.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up