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B.B. King, The ‘King Of Blues’, Dies At 89

B.B. King dies at 89
Kaitlan Collins Contributor
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B.B. King died in Las Vegas on Thursday, his lawyer has confirmed. He was 89.

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B.B., which stood for Blues Boy, was born in a sharecropper’s shack near the cotton fields of Mississippi, but by the end of his career he would be known for his throaty howl and electric guitar. And his 15 Grammy Awards.

King is considered the third greatest guitarist of all time, right behind Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman.

“I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions,” Mr. King said about his craft in a 1996 autobiography.

King got his first chart-topping hit in 1951 with “3 O’ Clock Blues,” but he credited the year 1968 with his breakthrough.

He was performing at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, and when King saw a line forming outside the door, he told his manager he must have been booked “in the wrong place.” The manager said there was no mistake.

It was a sold out show.

“Everybody stood up, and I cried,” Mr. King said. “That was the beginning of it.”

King performs in Australia. (Photo: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

King performs in Australia. (Photo: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

He loved his guitar so much he named it.

He once ran into a burning building to save Lucille, a $30 instrument, after two guys got in a fight and knocked over a kerosene stove at a dance hall in Arkansas.

“When I play her, it’s almost like hearing words, and of course, naturally I hear cries. I’d be playing sometimes [and] as I’d play, it seems like it almost has a conversation with me,” King said of Lucille.

“It tells you something. It communicates with me.”

King, who was diagnosed with diabetes 30 years ago, was rushed to the hospital in April citing a diabetes-related emergency. His last 8 performances of 2014 were canceled because the singer was dehydrated and exhausted. He went from performing over 300 shows a year to a little under a hundred. (RELATED: B.B. King Hospitalized)

King had been in home hospice since his hospitalization, his daughter Patty confirmed.

Celebrities mourned the singer on social media.

https://twitter.com/ringostarrmusic/status/599089328149532672

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Kaitlan Collins