B.B. King’s Greatest Country Music Moments

In 1994, country and R&B singers like Conway Twitty, Reba McEntire, Gladys Knight and even the Pointer Sisters came together for Rhythm, Country and Blues, an album that connected the dots between the genres. But it was most memorable for pairing up two royals: B.B. King and George Jones. Together, the vocalists interpreted the story-song "Patches," about an Alabama boy growing up in poverty who's asked to take care of his family after his father dies from a heart attack. Both the bluesman and the Possum knew a thing or two about humble beginnings, and they infused this tearjerker with their own hardscrabble experiences. While King speaks the lyrical story, Jones soars in the chorus, and it stands as a rare meeting between two of music's most iconic figures.

More than 60 years after Louis Jordan recorded the definitive version of this jump-blues classic, Brad Paisley got a piece of the action too, sharing the spotlight with B.B. King during a tag-teamed cover of "Let the Good Times Roll" in 2008. The collaboration appeared on Paisley's Play album, a predominantly instrumental release, but "Good Times" did feature both a guitar and vocal duel between the two players. Paisley sounds a little squeaky-clean and PG-rated, as though his idea of unleashing a night of good times revolves around a family trip to Chuck E. Cheese, but King brings the gritty, guttural Delta dirt, howling his verses with a ferocity that belied his 83 years. 

B.B. King toured heavily throughout his career, but he remained seated during his final years of performances. Here, a group of A-list guitar heroes — Keith Urban, Buddy Guy and John Mayer — join him during the 2009 Grammy Awards, all four players remaining in their chairs out of solidarity. If their two-minute version of "Bo Diddley" lacks something in stature, though, it certainly doesn't skip on swagger, with each musician taking a turn at the mic before moving into a game of pass-the-solo. 

"Listen to the blues they're playing," Willie Nelson sang during "Night Life," his slow-smoked tribute to the wee small hours of the morning. Decades later, B.B. King did more than listen — he joined in, covering the song throughout several decades' worth of live performances and even recording it for his 1997 duets album, Deuces Wild. Here, he nearly triples the original tune's length in a live performance from 1984, kicking things off with his own five-piece band before welcoming Nelson to the stage. Together, they trade quick, bluesy blasts of fretwork firepower, with Nelson strumming his trusty acoustic, Trigger, and King letting loose on his favorite electric, Lucille. 

Marty Stuart may be country's preeminent historian, but the ascot-favoring picker sure knows how to moan the blues. Yet Stuart and King shared more than just a musical kinship — both men were born in Mississippi. And you can hear that familiarity all through "Confessin' the Blues," Stuart's contribution to King's 1997 Deuces Wild album. While Stuart normally can't play a note that doesn't evoke country and bluegrass, here, inspired by King, he effortlessly draws upon the swampy sounds of his youth, pushing along this Jay McShann number (which was also covered by the Rolling Stones) with ample grease.

To mark his 80th birthday, the bluesman enlisted some of his likeminded pals for an album of duets, B.B. King & Friends: 80. While Sheryl Crow hadn't officially "gone country" by then, her soulful voice held a hint of the quaver that she'd employ on her underrated 2013 LP Feels Like Home. Here, it complements King's husky growl, making for one of the album's most aching collaborations. "Need Your Love So Bad," dating back to the Fifties, was an oft-covered blues song, but in the hands of King and Crow it rings with a renewed urgency.