Blues World Honors B.B. King

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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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

More Song Stories entries »

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