May 15, 201511 yr The Thrill Is Gone Riley "Blues Boy" King - B.B. King - has died at 89 years old. He went into hospice care last week after long-suffering from Type II diabetes. One of the all-time electric blues masters. He spent over 65 years in the music business, collected 15 Grammy Awards, was been inducted into both the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, received an honorary doctorate from Brown University, was awarded the US Congress' National Medal of Arts, a Kennedy Center Honor, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. King was well known for playing a signature semi-hollow Gibson electric guitar named "Lucille". The story famously goes that King was playing a show early on in his music career in an Arkansas dance hall, when the hall caught fire. Everyone quickly evacuated the building, and once outside, King decided to run back into the building to retrieve his guitar. After barely making it back out with his life (and his guitar), King came to learn that the fire, which killed two people, had been started when two men fighting over a woman named Lucille had kicked over a lit kerosene heater in the scuffle. King then decided to name his guitar, along with a long line of guitars to follow, "Lucille" to act as a constant reminder not to be dumb enough to ever run into a burning building or to fight over a woman.
May 15, 201511 yr I would like to think that Obama would recognize him as a National Treasure. He is truly a pioneer and great influence on so many people.
May 15, 201511 yr Saw him at least a dozen times. One of the good ones. As a musician and a person. He influenced a lot of lives. RIP big man.
May 15, 201511 yr This makes me very sad. Weird that somebody mentioned him the other day in that unknown guitarists thread I started.
May 15, 201511 yr I knew he'd been in hospice care for at least the last couple of weeks. From what I'd heard, he's been in poor health for a long while and his shows were extremely sad displays in recent years. RIP one of the legends of music.
May 15, 201511 yr I knew he'd been in hospice care for at least the last couple of weeks. From what I'd heard, he's been in poor health for a long while and his shows were extremely sad displays in recent years. RIP one of the legends of music. He had been very frail, and performed sitting down most of the last 10 years or so. I caught him in Vegas 7 or 8 years ago, and really enjoyed being able to see him.
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