Sad news out of Las Vegas, blues icon and guitar legend B.B. King has died at age 89, his lawyer has told the Associated Press. The ailing guitarist had been battling illness for some time, with report recently circulating that he had entered hospice care.
As the Associated Press reports, King’s attorney, Brent Bryson, confirmed that he died peacefully in his sleep at 9.40pm PDT Thursday at his home in Las Vegas. King had recently returned home after a stay in hospital where he was treated for high blood pressure and diabetes.
While recent years saw the guitarist’s health decline, King continued to tour, last making an appearance in Australia in 2011. He was awarded his 15th Grammy in 2009 in the traditional blues album category for One Kind Favor.
The former farmhand is credited with bringing a new generation of fans to the blues and for influencing a generation of musicians with a classy style of electric blues characterised by heartfelt vocals and wailing guitar solos, exemplified on classics such as ‘The Thrill Is Gone’.
King sold millions of records worldwide and was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is best known for playing a Gibson guitar that he dubbed ‘Lucille’ and for contributing several ‘standards’ to the modern blues cannon.
