biography
| name: |
King, B B
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popular name of Riley B King
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1925– )
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| biography:
| Musician, born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA. A singer and guitarist born into a sharecropping family, he became one of the best-known blues performers, an important consolidator of blues styles, and a primary model for rock guitarists. Following US Army service, he began his career as a disc jockey in Memphis, TN where he was dubbed ‘The Beale Street Blues Boy’ soon shortened to B B. He made his first recording in 1949, and the next year began a 12-year-long association with Kent/RPM/Modern, for which he recorded a string of rhythm and blues hits. He also toured the nightclub circuit continuously, averaging over 300 shows annually for nearly 30 years. In 1962 he signed with ABC Records, which released Live at the Regal, a benchmark blues concert album. In 1969 he released his biggest hit single, ‘The Thrill is Gone’. The first bluesman to tour the USSR (1979), by this time he had also become the first bluesman to enter the pop mainstream, making regular appearances in Las Vegas, NV and on network television. In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. |
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