BB King poses for a studio portrait in 1955 in the United States. He holds a Fender Esquire guitar. (Photo by Gilles Petard/Redferns)
On this day in 1925, blues fans in both the Bluff City and worldwide would have celebrated the 101st birthday of Riley B. King, best known today as “B.B. King.”
Born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, King began playing on street corners for dimes at the age of ten after the death of his mom and grandmother, but his dream was to make it to Memphis, which he would ultimately do by the mid-1940s when he hitchhiked to the Bluff City and lodged with his cousin and local blues musician, Bukka White.
King would earn his legendary moniker as he DJed and performed for the local radio station WDIA, becoming known as the “Beale Street Blues Boy,” which would be shortened to “Blues Boy,” and then finally just “B.B.”
From there, King began gaining more mainstream recognition when artists like Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy sighted him as their musical influences.
King would go on to be inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame three years later.
B.B. King would ultimately pass away on May 14, 2015 at the age of 89, but his spirit lives on today throughout the Bluff City streets that gave birth to his legendary career.
