Blues Great B.B. King Dies At 89, Attorney Says

B.B. King spread joy to millions by giving them the blues.

The iconic musician, along with his ever-present guitar Lucille, spent nearly 70 years thrilling audiences and spreading the music he learned as a poverty-stricken youth in the Mississippi Delta all over the world.

King, 89, died in Las Vegas, his attorney announced late Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

“Blues is a tonic for whatever ails you,” King told USA TODAY in 2005. “I could play the blues and then not be blue anymore.”

The same could be said of those who heard him play. No matter how stormy the tale he’d weave, by the time he was through, the clouds had parted.

“I fell in love with BB’s voice before I ever picked up a guitar,” said Warren Haynes, guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, and Gov’t Mule, and one of the hundreds of blues and rock musicians inspired by King’s fluid, bent-note, vibrato-laden playing style and consummate showmanship. “When I started playing guitar a few years later I realized his voice and his guitar were the same thing. That inspired me to try and achieve that balance myself.”

CLICK HERE to read story

source: Wkyc.com

b.b. king , blues , Dies , music

More By Ed Powell

Also On Praise Cleveland:

The Top Men Of Gospel [PHOTOS]