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B.B. King

The King of the Electric Blues.

Founded

September 16, 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi

Full Name

Riley B. King

Date of Birth

September 16, 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi

Still Alive

Date of Death

May 14, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Influenced By

Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, Lonnie Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson II

Later Influenced

Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Robert Cray, Gary Clark Jr.

B.B. King in 1949

About The artist

"Universally hailed as the king of the blues, the legendary B.B. King was without a doubt the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century."
Billy Dahl from AllMusic.com

"Little brother, we've got to get into this."
Duane Allman to his brother Gregg after seeing B.B. perform in Florida when they were teenagers.

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Did you know...

While working at the Memphis radio station WDIA as a singer and disc jockey, he was given the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy." It was later shorten to "Blues Boy" and finally to "B.B."