50 Fun Facts About B.B. King

What was B.B. King's real first name?

He was born Riley B. King on 16 September 1925 to sharecropper parents Albert and Nora Ella King.

What did B.B. King name every guitar he owned?

He also wrote a song called 'Lucille' explaining how the guitar got its name.

King named his guitar after a woman two men fought over in a dance hall in which state?

He ran back into the burning hall in Twist to rescue his $30 Gibson and vowed never to do anything that stupid again.

What was knocked over to start the Twist dance-hall fire that gave B.B. King's guitar its name?

A half-filled barrel in the middle of the dance floor was a common heating method at the time.

King's nickname 'B.B.' was shortened from what radio moniker?

He earned it working as a singer and DJ at Memphis station WDIA, where he first met T-Bone Walker.

Which Memphis radio station employed King as a singer and disc jockey early in his career?

His ten-minute spot grew so popular it was expanded into the Sepia Swing Club.

Along with Albert King and Freddie King, B.B. King is counted among the 'Three Kings' of what?

None of the three Kings were related to one another.

How many concerts did King play in 1956, his record-breaking year?

He kept up more than 200 shows a year into his seventies.

King was born on a cotton plantation near which Mississippi town?

He later called Indianola his hometown; a museum dedicated to him opened there in 2008.

Which Mississippi town did King regard as his hometown, and where he is buried?

The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened there in September 2008.

How much did King's employer Flake Cartledge pay for his first guitar, deducting it from his wages?

The local minister, who played a Sears Silvertone in church, had taught him his first three chords.

Which Delta blues radio show, first aired on KFFA in 1941, made young Riley want to be a radio musician?

He listened to it during breaks on the plantation.

King was released from World War II Army service because his civilian skill was deemed essential - what was it?

He had left Kilmichael in 1943 to drive tractors and sing with the Famous St. John's Gospel Singers.

Which blues musician, his cousin, took King in when he first went to Memphis in 1946?

White housed him for ten months before King went home to Mississippi to prepare for a second attempt.

Which musician's radio programme on KWEM in West Memphis gave King his first regular audience?

That exposure led to steady gigs at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill.

Hearing which guitarist for the first time made King decide he had to have an electric guitar?

King said he 'had' to have one, 'short of stealing'.

King performed with Bobby Bland, Johnny Ace and Earl Forest in a Memphis group known as what?

'Beale Street was where it all started for me,' King said.

Which future rock-and-roll star, then a talent scout, introduced King to the Bihari brothers?

King's very first recordings, in 1949, were for Nashville's Bullet label with Phineas Newborn on piano.

Which producer, who later founded Sun Records, produced many of King's early recordings for RPM?

RPM was a Los Angeles-based subsidiary of Modern Records.

What was King's first Billboard R&B chart-topper, in February 1952?

His weekly earnings jumped from about $85 to $2,500 and he began playing the Howard and the Apollo.

What was the name of the record label King founded in 1956 with headquarters on Beale Street?

There he produced artists such as Millard Lee and Levi Seabury.

King's celebrated 1965 album Live at the Regal was recorded at a theatre in which city?

Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, John Mayer and Mark Knopfler have all used it as a primer before shows.

In 2005 Live at the Regal was selected for permanent preservation in what?

Rolling Stone ranked it 141st on its 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums.

King opened for which band on their 1969 American tour, winning new rock fans?

His manager Sid Seidenberg was steering him toward the venues where Clapton and Paul Butterfield were bringing blues to white audiences.

Which song, a 1951 Roy Hawkins hit, became B.B. King's signature after his 1970 Grammy-winning version?

His slow B-minor version with strings reached number 15 on the Hot 100 and launched producer Bill Szymczyk's career.

King's 1970 signature hit peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100?

It went to number three on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart.

King recorded 'When Love Comes to Town' with which Irish band for their 1988 album Rattle and Hum?

The track was cut at Sun Studio in Memphis and topped the Irish singles chart.

'When Love Comes to Town' was recorded at which historic Memphis recording facility?

The song reached number six in the UK and number two on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

King's 2000 album Riding with the King was a collaboration with which British guitarist?

It won the 2001 Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album and went double platinum in the US.

King and Clapton first performed together in 1967 at which New York club, when Clapton was 22 and in Cream?

They didn't record together until 'Rock Me Baby' on King's 1997 duets album Deuces Wild.

To whom did King present his trademark guitar at the Vatican's Christmas concert in December 1997?

The following year he played the lead singer of the Louisiana Gator Boys in Blues Brothers 2000.

Which fictional band did King front in the 1998 film Blues Brothers 2000?

Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Koko Taylor and Bo Diddley were also members.

Gibson's signature B.B. King model, launched in 1980, was based on which guitar?

At King's request it had no f-holes, to reduce feedback at high volume.

What feature did King specifically ask Gibson to leave off his signature guitar?

Gibson also made a special run of 80 '80th Birthday Lucilles' in 2005 and gave him the first prototype.

Which guitar did King play on most of his early RPM Records recordings?

He later moved to Gibson semi-hollow models because the big hollow bodies fed back at volume.

King held what unusual qualification for a touring musician, used to reach gigs until about 1995?

He learned to fly in 1963 at Chicago Hammond Airport; at 70 his insurers asked him to fly only with another certified pilot.

Who did King name as his favourite singer, listening to In the Wee Small Hours every night?

He credited Sinatra with getting him booked at Las Vegas's main clubs in the 1960s.

King recorded a famous live album in September 1970 at which correctional facility?

He co-founded a foundation for inmate rehabilitation; a San Quentin live album followed in 1991.

Diagnosed with diabetes in 1990, King became a spokesman for which blood-glucose monitoring product?

American Idol contestant Crystal Bowersox co-starred in later commercials.

Which fast-food chain did King advertise for from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s?

In the early 2000s he also, fittingly, appeared in a campaign for Burger King.

Which children's TV show featured a singing character called 'B.B. the King of Beasts' based on him?

King himself guested on Sesame Street, The Cosby Show and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Who narrated the 2012 documentary B.B. King: The Life of Riley?

Director Jon Brewer released it on 15 October 2012.

Which president sang a few lines of a blues standard with King at the White House in 2012?

George W. Bush had awarded King the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006.

What song did the brass band play as King's funeral procession went down Beale Street in May 2015?

His body was then driven down Route 61 to Indianola, where he lay in repose at his museum.

King was ranked at what position on Rolling Stone's 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists?

Time had put him third among the ten best electric guitarists in 2009.

In which year was B.B. King inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

He had entered the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and was added to the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2014.

Which Swedish international award did King receive in 2004?

The prize honours 'exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music' and is presented by the Swedish royal family.

How old was King when he died in his sleep on May 14, 2015?

His death was from vascular dementia caused by a series of small strokes linked to his type 2 diabetes.

How many children is B.B. King said to have fathered, though neither of his marriages produced any?

He never disputed any paternity claim; in 2016 the 11 surviving children sued his trustee over an estate worth an estimated $30-40 million.

Which nonprofit that gives free instruments to public-school children did King back from 2002?

He also sat on the organisation's honorary board of directors.