B. B. King (1925–2015)

Legendary blues guitarist B. B. King had a monumental career heavily influenced by his experiences in Arkansas. Born into poverty in Mississippi, he taught himself how to play the guitar by listening to records and radio shows, becoming one of the most influential guitarists in the history of blues music.

Riley B. King was born on September 16, 1925, in LeFlore County, Mississippi, to Albert Lee King and Nora Ella King. He grew up in various communities across the Mississippi Delta, with the family working as sharecroppers on various plantations. King, who would later use the name B. B. King professionally, was named for his paternal uncle Riley. King’s parents split up when he was four, and he was mostly raised by his maternal grandmother near Kilmichael, Mississippi, although he also spent time with his mother and other relatives.

Attending charismatic Christian churches, King became enthralled with a relative who both preached and played the guitar during services. The preacher taught King basic chords, nurturing his love for music. King’s mother died when he was nine, and he lived with his grandmother for the next four years until she died. King attended a one-room school supported by a local African American church and sang in a gospel group with his cousins. For a year after the death of his grandmother, he worked as a sharecropper on a plantation. At the age of fifteen, he moved in with his father in Lexington, Mississippi. He then returned to Kilmichael and rejoined his gospel group.

In 1943, during World War II, King moved to Indianola, Mississippi, where he worked as a tractor driver on a farm and married Martha Denton on November 11, 1944. King’s employer applied for a draft deferment on his behalf, as his skills as a tractor driver were critical to farming efforts on the homefront. During this period, King continued to sing with his gospel group and traveled across the Mississippi Delta to perform at churches and on radio programs.

While in Indianola, King listened to various radio stations, including KWEM in West Memphis (Crittenden County) and KFFA in Helena (Phillips County). KFFA’s King Biscuit Time show proved to be an important outlet for blues musicians, and thousands of people across the Delta tuned in each day to listen to the program, including King. In 1946, King felt that he had enough experience to break into the blues scene in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved without his wife to the city. Remaining in Memphis for about ten months, King learned about the music industry but was unsuccessful in having a true break-out performance. He returned to Indianola and worked for a year before returning to the city in 1948.

Upon his return to Memphis, King played a song on KWEM on a show hosted by Sonny Boy Williamson. This led to King replacing Williamson at a gig that weekend when Williamson double booked himself. Playing at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis, King was so successful that the owner offered him a regular spot if he could continue to perform on the radio and promote the business. He quickly obtained a daily ten-minute show on WDIA in Memphis, sponsored by Pepticon, a health tonic, and toured nearby communities to promote the tonic, increasing his name recognition. He adopted the radio name Beale Street Blues Boy, which was eventually shortened to Blues Boy, and finally to B. B.

King became a popular performer on the Chitlin’ Circuit. He later recounted that in the winter of 1949, he played in a juke joint in Twist (Cross County). Due to the cold temperatures, a burn barrel was placed on the dance floor with a kerosene fire lit inside. During the performance, two men began fighting over a woman, and the barrel overturned, igniting a fire that consumed the entire structure. At least one source claims that two people lost their lives in the fire. After initially making it outside, King returned to save his guitar from the flames. When he asked the name of the woman over whom the men were fighting, King learned that she was called Lucille. He adopted the name for all of his guitars in honor of the woman, to remind him never to do anything as foolish as returning to a burning building again.

King first recorded in 1949 on the Bullet label and would go on to release dozens of albums. He won multiple Grammys, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a number of honorary degrees, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. His impact on American music has influenced countless artists.

King lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, and regularly toured for decades. He was well-known for his advocacy for the treatment of diabetes. King died on May 14, 2015, in Las Vegas. Married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce, King did not have any children in wedlock. However, some sources claim that he had at least fifteen children from various relationships who he helped support. Others contend that he had no children at all due to an accident during his childhood that left him sterile. He is buried in Indianola at the B. B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center.

For additional information:
De Visé, Daniel. King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B. B. King. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2021.

King, B. B., with David Ritz. Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B. B. King. New York: Avon, 1996.

Kostelanetz, Richard, ed. The B. B. King Companion: Five Decades of Commentary. New York: Shirmer, 1997.

Sawyer, Charles. The Arrival of B. B. King: The Authorized Biography. New York: Doubleday, 1980.

David Sesser
Southeastern Louisiana University