A B.B. King Documentary

The late Blues guitarist legend B.B. King will be the subject of an upcoming American Masters documentary on PBS, airing February 12th, and will feature Bono, Ringo Starr, Carlos Santana, The Stones Mike Taylor, Paul Rogers, Joe Walsh and more.

Riley B. King was born in Mississippi in 1925 to a share cropper’s family, and at an early age his mother left the family for another man, so B.B was raised by his grandmother. B.B bought his first guitar at the age of 12 for $15, and aspired not to be a Rock ‘N Roll Star, but a session guitarist on the radio. While a DJ at a local radio station, he took the name “Beale Street Blues Boy” for his on air name, but later shortened it to “Blues Boy,” then B.B.

B.B King earned a Grammy for his “The Thrill is Gone” classic in 1970, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. B.B died on May 14th of 2015, and his body was flown to Memphis for a parade down Beale Street, and placed for eternal rest in the B.B King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi.

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