Musical legend B.B. King, who earned the title the "King of Blues,” died in his sleep Thursday night. He was 89.
On May 1, King announced via Facebook that he entered hospice care at his home, adding, “Thanks to all for your well wishes and prayers."
Fellow musicians paid tribute to the legend on social media, including Eric Clapton, who shared emotional words for his friend:
"I want to thank him for all the inspiration and encouragement he gave me as a player over the years, and for the friendship that we enjoyed," he said. “He was a beacon for all of us who love this kind of music."
Born in 1925, the Mississippi native, real name Riley B. King, grew up working on a cotton plantation. With less than $3 in his pocket, King later moved to Memphis, TN, where he lived with his cousin, blues performer Bukka White. There he got his big break on Sonny Boy Williamson's local radio show and adopted the moniker B.B., which stood for Blues Boy.
As the famous story goes, he was performing in Arkansas in 1949 when two men began fighting and accidentally set the place on fire. King made it out safely but ran back inside to save his guitar. After learning that the fight was over a woman named Lucille, he named his guitar after her.
"I named my guitar Lucille to remind me never to do a thing like that again," he said in an interview.
For more than six decades, King never put down his beloved Lucille, touring even in his old age. He only started slowing down last year after falling ill.
King, who helped put blues music in the mainstream, had a long list of hits, like “The Thrill Is Gone,” “Sweet Sixteen,” and "Never Make a Move Too Soon.” He also received the most coveted accolades in music, including 15 Grammy Awards and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yet the hit maker never forgot where he came from.
“I believe that each night I do a concert or do a show it’s like an audition, ’cause I remember the days when it was. If you played a night and somebody came in the next night and played better than you, you didn’t come back,” he said in the book B.B. King Treasures.
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