BB King - Biography, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Filmography (Read)

B.B. King - biography, date of birth, place of birth, filmography, clips, Actor.

September 16, 1925, Mississippi, USA - May 14, 2015, Las Vegas, Nevada - American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, who fans call the king of the blues.

Like many other Delta bluesmen, he began his professional life as a tenant farmer, playing guitar in his spare time.

As a musician, BB King first arrived in Memphis in 1946, but after a few months of hard life, he returned to Mississippi. He decided to better prepare for the next trip, which he embarked on two years later. He first worked for the local rhythm and blues radio station WDIA as a singer and disc jockey. There he earned the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to "BB". During this time he met T-Bone Walker.

In 1949, BB King released his debut single "Miss Martha King" on Bullet Records. The single received poor reviews from Billboard magazine and did not land on the charts. Later that year, King recorded his songs under a contract with Los Angeles-based PRM Records. Most of the early recordings were produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records.

BB King assembled his own musical collective called BBKing Review, under the direction of Millard Lee.

Experienced musician Onzie Horne assisted B.B. King in creating competent arrangements. King himself admitted to having trouble playing chords and always relied on improvisation.

Tours throughout the United States followed, performing on big stages in cities such as Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, St. Louis, and countless small clubs throughout the United States. During the tour, a record 342 concerts were performed by 1956. In the same year, King founded his own label, Blues Boys Kingdom, headquartered in Beale Street, Memphis. There, along with other projects, he produced artists such as Millard Lee and Levi Seabury. The record company ultimately failed him as King's schedule did not allow him to become a businessman.

In the 1950s, BB King's name became one of the most important in rhythm and blues, constantly replenishing an already impressive list of his hits, already including such songs as "You Know I Love You", "Woke Up This Morning" , "Please Love Me", "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer", "Whole Lotta Love", "You Upset Me Baby", "Every Day I Have the Blues", "Sneakin 'Around", "Ten Long Years" , "Bad Luck", "Sweet Little Angel", "On My Word of Honor", "Please Accept My Love".

In 1962, BB King signed to ABC-Paramount Records, later absorbed by MCA Records, and then with his current label, Geffen Records.

In November 1964, King recorded a live album "Live at the Regal" at the Regal Theater in Chicago.

In 1969, King recorded The Thrill Is Gone, which became a hit both on the R&B charts and in pop music, which was a rarity for the blues. Two years later, this composition won a Grammy Award. She was also ranked 183rd on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Best Songs of All Time. His work got a light touch of rock music after participating in the 1969 concert tour across America by The Rolling Stones.

King's success throughout the 1970s was bolstered by hits such as "To Know You Is to Love You" and "I Like to Live the Love". In 1974, BB King participated in the opening of the boxing match between Mohammed Ali and Joe Fraser. This performance was later released on DVD.

In 1980, BB King inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Despite the fact that in the 1980s King began to record less, he did not relax his attention to his personality, appearing on many television shows and playing 300 concerts a year. In 1988, King gained a new generation of fans with the release of the single "When Love Comes to Town", co-co-created with the Irish group U2. The single was featured on U2's Rattle and Hum album.

In 1994 BB King visited Moscow. He gave a concert in the Moscow Kremlin, and also stopped at a Moscow club named after him. On the walls of the club there are still photos of BB King, the table at which he rested and the chair on which he sat. There are commemorative plaques on them.

In 2000, BB King together with Eric Clapton recorded a joint album "Riding With the King". Since 2004, King, citing his age and health condition, decided to reduce the intensity of the tour. In the summer of 2005, he embarked on the so-called Final Farewell Tour of Europe. However, in 2006 he again toured the United States and Europe.

On March 29, 2006, BB King performed at the Hallam Arena in Sheffield. It was the start date of his farewell tour of the UK and Europe. Throughout it, King was supported by Gary Moore, who had previously performed and recorded with him, including on "Since I Met You Baby". The British stage ended with a concert at Wembley Arena.

In July 2006, BB King returned to Europe several times. On 2 and 3 July he took part in the Montreux Jazz Festival. During the performance at Stravinsky Hall, he played jam with such musicians as Joe Semple, Randy Crawford, David Senborn, Gladys Knight, Lella James, Earl Thomas, Stanley Clark, John McLaughlin, Barbara Hendrix, George Duke. On 14 July, he took part in the Blues at Sunset festival in Zurich. The European leg of the farewell tour concluded on September 19, 2006 at the De Kock Arena in Luxembourg with the participation of Tod Sharpville.

King performed six concerts in Brazil in November and December.

In June 2006, BB King attended a meeting for his first radio show in Greenwood, Mississippi.

In late October 2006, King released a CD and DVD of live performances at his blues clubs in Memphis and Nashville. Four days of recording captured BB King's permanent band and nightly performances around the world. This was the first recording of a performance in 14 years.

On July 28, 2007, King participated in the second Crossroads Guitar Festival organized by Eric Clapton along with twenty other guitarists in Chicago. The purpose of the festival was to raise money for the Crossroads addiction treatment center. He played with such musicians as Robert Cray, Jimmy Vaughan and Hubert Samlin the songs "Paying the Cost to Be the Boss" and "Rock Me Baby".

During the performance, he raised a toast to festival organizer Eric Clapton, in which he talked about his age and life, but the speech was not recorded in full on DVD.

In June 2008, King performed at the Bonnaroo Music Concert and the Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. On June 8, it closed the Twenty-Fifth Annual Chicago City Blues Festival. In addition, in the same month, King played in the final part of the Blues Festival in Monterey, California. In honor of the musician, Sirius XM Radio's Bluesville radio station changed its name to BB King's Bluesville. At the end of the month, he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowling Hall of Fame, where he sits between Liza Minnelli and Sir James Galway.

On August 1, 2008, he performed at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

December 1, 2008 King performed at the Maryland Theater in Hagerstown, Maryland. On December 3, King performed with John Meyer at the close of the 51st Grammy Awards, featuring "Let the Good Times Roll." On December 30, King played a concert at The Kennedy Center Honors Awards Show in honor of actor Morgan Freeman.

A museum dedicated to BB King opened on September 13, 2008 in Indianola, Mississippi.

BB King has lived with type 2 diabetes for more than twenty years, and has been actively supporting the fight against this disease by advertising products for patients with diabetes.

On October 8, 2014, he was forced to terminate his concert activity "for medical reasons."

On April 7, 2015, BB King was hospitalized in Las Vegas due to an exacerbation of diabetes, was admitted to the hospital with dehydration.

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Author: Jane Watson