RIP BB King: The Thrill is Gone

 

Its a sad day Gentle Reader because one of my favourite musicians, BB King died today aged 89 in Las Vegas.

He was the first blues guitarist I heard and hopefully when I am dead his music will be played at my FUNeral. Yes I spelled that wrong on purpose, I want my funeral to be FUN.

BB King was born on the 16th September 1925 in Berclair, Mississippi and in 2011 he was voted the 6th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

 

He was "The KIng of the Blues" for years and years and in my opinion he was the best blues guitarist.
He was famous also for his live shows and even into his 70's he would perform 200 plus shows a year.

 

In 2006 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and is regarded as the most influential guitarist of the 20th century. He inspired Jimmi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards among others.

 

For most of his career he played a Black Gibson guitar which he called Lucille.

 

I loved BB King from the first time I heard the opening bars of "Everyday I have the Blues".  Other classics like "The Thrill is Gone", "Let the Good times roll" and even his collaboration with U2, "When Love Comes to Town" always make me smile.

God Bless BB King. Still the King of the Blues.

#bbking #lucille #kingoftheblues