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Blues World Honors B.B. King

By 
October 23, 1997 12:00 AM ET

A crowd of celebrities were on hand Monday night at the Palace Theater in Hollywood to honor blues veteran B.B. King. The "King of the Blues" was honored with the Blues Foundation's third annual lifetime achievement award.

Throughout his career, King has been credited with bringing the urban blues sound to mainstream music, influencing scores of young guitarists and musicians along the way. Bonnie Raitt, Ruth Brown, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker are just a few of the musicians that came out to tip their hats to the eight-time Grammy-winning blues pioneer. A number of blues standards were performed by King and his friends, including "How Blue Can You Get?" featuring the keyboard wizardry of Dr. John.

King is one of the last of the bluesmen to emerge from the Mississippi Delta in the tradition of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Known around the world for his contributions to blues music, King was recently inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1990 former President George Bush bestowed the National Medal for the Arts on the robust guitarist for carrying the blues tradition through decades of modern music.

King's new album, Deuces Wild, features both John and Raitt and is slated for a November release.

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