BB King

Join the Official B.B. King Fan Club and be entered into a contest in which one lucky person will win an autographed BB King Lucille edition guitar. Everyone who joins between Jan 1 - Dec 1 2007 will automatically be entered into the contest. New fan club members are automatically entered when they join. For more information and contest rules visit the Official Fan Club Website

President George W. Bush today announced the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civil award. Established by Executive Order 11085 in 1963, the Medal may be awarded by the President "to any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." President Bush will honor these recipients at a White House ceremony on Friday, December 15, 2006.

Ruth Johnson Colvin has dedicated her life to helping the less fortunate gain the reading and language skills they need to succeed. She has worked to bring communities together to tear down the barriers of illiteracy and traveled the globe to promote the importance of literacy.

Norman C. Francis has served as President of Xavier University of Louisiana for nearly 40 years, demonstrating a steadfast dedication to education, equality, and service to others. As Chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, he has played a vital role in helping the people of the Gulf Coast rebuild their lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Paul Johnson is a brilliant historian and journalist whose powerful writings have captivated and educated people around the world. A citizen of the United Kingdom, he holds America in special regard, calling the creation of our Nation “the greatest of all human adventures.”

Riley “B.B.” King is one of the greatest blues singers and guitarists of all time. For more than half a century, the “King of the Blues” and his guitar “Lucille” have thrilled audiences, influenced generations of guitarists, and helped give the blues its special place in the American musical tradition.

Joshua Lederberg was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in bacterial genetics and has devoted his life to the advancement of human knowledge. He has also helped develop advanced computer technology, worked with NASA in the search for life on Mars, and served as a distinguished scientific advisor to our Nation’s policymakers.

David McCullough is one of our Nation’s most distinguished and honored historians. His books have earned him the respect of general audiences and scholars alike, and he is one of our foremost experts on the American Presidency.

Norman Y. Mineta has served his fellow Americans as a mayor, congressman, and Cabinet Secretary under two Presidents. The longest-serving Secretary of Transportation, he worked to improve the security of our transportation system and restore our confidence in air travel after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

John “Buck” O’Neil represented excellence and determination both on and off the baseball field. He was a talented player and manager in the Negro Leagues, became Major League Baseball’s first African-American coach, and was a co-founder of and inspiration for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

William Safire has distinguished himself as one of our country's most talented writers and commentators. Using the power of prose, he has educated our citizenry, polished our language, and elevated debate on issues of the day.

Natan Sharansky was imprisoned in the gulag by the Soviet regime for his work to advance religious liberty and human rights. He remained steadfast in his defiance of tyranny and has continued to champion the principles that all people deserve to live iiiiiin freedom and that the advance of liberty is critical to peace and security around the world.

(Los Angeles, Calif., Feb. 8, 2006)---Blues legend B.B. King (www.bbking.com), who recently turned 80, has won his 14th GRAMMY® Award.

King, who won his first GRAMMY® in 1970, again won the "Best Traditional Blues Album" prize at today's Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles for his "BB King & Friends-80" (UME/Geffen).

This is the ninth time that the "King of the Blues" has landed a GRAMMY® in the "Best Traditional Blues Album" category.

His "Live At The Regal" album was also inducted this year into the Grammy® Hall of Fame.
"The thrill isn't gone when you win an honor like this," said King, as he learned of the award while on his way to an engagement in St. Louis.

"Every time my peers recognize the work, it's an honor, a reason to go on.

"In my lifetime, blues music has certainly grown in its universal appeal and I'm forever grateful for that."

In honor of his 80th birthday last September 16, King celebrated the occasion with a few of his musical compatriots on the new studio album of duets.

Featuring some of today’s biggest stars--from Eric Clapton, Elton John, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, and Gloria Estefan to Roger Daltrey, Glenn Frey, Mark Knopfler, Billy Gibbons, Bobby Bland, and Daryl Hall—B.B. King & Friends - 80 is yet another landmark in the career of one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th Century and the blues’ greatest ambassador.

In 1987, King received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from NARAS, which produces the GRAMMY® Awards, and the veteran showman, who got his first break as a musician on a radio show in Memphis in 1948, last received a GRAMMY® Award in 2002 for “Best Pop Instrumental Performance.”

Among his many classics are “The Thrill Is Gone,” “Payin’ The Cost To Be The Boss,” “Everyday I Have The Blues,” “You Don’t Know Me” and “Why I Sing The Blues.”

He’s preparing to headline an international tour, starting on March 29 with a swing through the UK, concluding with a concert at the famed Wembley Arena.

Long known for his prolific performance schedule, one time numbering as many as 250 stops in a year, King plans to make a "big swing” around the globe beginning this year.

King’s 2006 domestic tour gets going in earnest on Feb. 16 when he headlines a two night sold-out stand at the House of Blues in Chicago, amazingly, a venue in which he’s never before performed.

After so many years, live performances remain close to his heart.

Now is your opportunity to see B.B. King live in concert and meet the highly acclaimed Grammy Award winner in person after the show! These auctions also benefit several charities, so you'll be able to see B.B. King live and help out some worthy charities in the process!

The B.B. King 80th Birthday Tour Auction Package includes:

Two (2) tickets for the B.B. King 80th Birthday Celebration Tour
Opportunity for two (2) to meet and greet B.B. King
Bid now for a chance to meet the King of the Blues!

There are so many great reviews of B.B. newest CD '80' and news stories about what he's been up to lately, that we thought we'd put them all in one place for you.


Enjoy!

Rolling Stone

Orlando Sentinel

Blogcritics.org

NPR.org

Daily Chronicle

St. Louis Post Dispatch

Hampton Roads Daily Press

Reuters/Yahoo!

Now is your chance to be entered to win a Black Epiphone Dot Studio Archtop Collection Guitar Autographed by The King of the Blues - B.B. King!Epiphone Dot Studio Guitar - Part of the Gibson family of brands, autographed by B.B. King features:

*Black body binding
*Black hardware
*No fingerboard inlay
*Die-case machine heads and open-coil Alnico-V humbucking pickups

B.B. KING BRINGS TOGETHER ERIC CLAPTON, ELTON JOHN,
SHERYL CROW, JOHN MAYER AND OTHERS FOR B.B KING & FRIENDS - 80, NEW DUETS ALBUM OF BLUES STANDARDS TO CELEBRATE THE BLUES GREAT’S 80TH BIRTHDAY

In honor of B.B. King’s 80th birthday on September 16, “The King of the Blues” will celebrate the occasion with a few of his musical compatriots on a new studio album of duets, B.B. King & Friends - 80 (Geffen/UMe), released September 13, 2005. Featuring some of today’s biggest stars--from Eric Clapton, Elton John, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, and Gloria Estefan to Roger Daltrey, Glenn Frey, Mark Knopfler, Billy Gibbons, Bobby Bland, and Daryl Hall—B.B. King & Friends - 80 is yet another landmark in the career of one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th Century and the blues’ greatest ambassador.

Along with a new book (Treasures, published by Bulfinch Press on September 16) and a major nationwide tour this summer and fall (both solo and headlining the B.B. King Blues Festival), B.B. King & Friends - 80 finds B.B. both looking back and looking forward. For the man who has achieved icon status, along with his guitar Lucille, B.B.’s first new studio album since 2003’s Reflections finds him reconnecting with a dozen of the most significant standards of the blues with a little help from his friends.

With long-time admirer and recent collaborator Clapton, B.B. reinvigorates his 1970 Grammy-winning classic “The Thrill Is Gone.” He also gives new spins to other B.B. flashbacks from the ‘70s, “Never Make Your Move Too Soon” with The Who’s Roger Daltrey and the Leon Russell-penned “Hummingbird” with John Mayer. In what may be the album’s most unusual and intriguing pairing, Gloria Estefan duets on the Grammy-winning Doc Pomus-Dr. John song from the ‘80s “There Must Be A Better World Somewhere.” In another teaming with a female singer, Sheryl Crow is heard on Little Willie John’s “Need Your Love So Bad.”

Daryl Hall adds his Philly Soul to “Ain’t Nobody Home” while British blues giant Van Morrison partners on “Early In The Morning” and American blues staple Bobby Bland contributes to “Funny How Time Slips Away” and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons to B.B.’s ‘60s gem “Tired Of Your Jive.” Mark Knopfler, best-known for his work in Dire Straits, lends his trademark guitar sound to “All Over Again,” the Eagles’ Glenn Frey tackles Junior Parker’s “Drivin’ Wheel” and, in a raucous finale, pop superstar Elton John and B.B. bring down the house with their take on Jimmy Rogers’ “Rock This House.”

A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Kennedy Center honoree, and member of the Blues Foundation and Rock and Roll halls of fame, B.B. kicked off his birthday festivities in June with the groundbreaking for the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi, near his birthplace.

Blues icon B.B. King joined local and state dignitaries Friday for the groundbreaking of a $10 million museum honoring him in a Mississippi Delta town where he used to live.

King said he was "happy and nervous" about festivities and said he hopes the museum, as a whole, will inspire a new generation of musicians and artists.

"It will be a lot better for students to hear it from us ... to have something," King said.

Among those attending the groundbreaking were Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, House speaker Billy McCoy and former Govs. William Winter and Ray Mabus.

Motorists driving on a stretch of U.S. 61 in Tennessee will be traveling the B.B. King Highway. A ceremony noting a name change for the highway was held last week at the Beale Street nightclub that also bears King's name.

The 79-year-old famed bluesman was on hand, but without the guitar he calls Lucille.

"I'm not very good at talking and Lucille is asleep on the bus," King said. "Thank you Memphis. Thanks to all of you, God bless you."

King, whose given name is Riley, grew up in rural Mississippi. He began his career on Beale Street and took the stage name "B.B." for Beale Street Blues Boy.

For B.B. King, the concerts have been reduced as the years -- almost 80 -- have piled up. But there's one thing that is as indisputable as his stinging guitar solos: He still rules.

B.B. King turns 80 this year, and he sounds every minute of it in the opening moments of a phone conversation from a New York hotel room.

"I'm doing very good," says the venerable bluesman in a weary tone that's not too convincing. He has been riding in a bus all day, finishing the trip with a nearly hourlong delay in a New York traffic jam.

He doesn't have big plans for his milestone birthday on Sept. 16, but it's a safe bet that he'll be on the road somewhere. Although he has trimmed back his ambitious touring schedule in recent years, he still does close to 200 dates a year, including a stop tonight at House of Blues at Downtown Disney.

And that's not all. Not content to rest on his laurels, King is starting work on a duets album and contributing ideas and memorabilia for the B.B. King Museum. That $10 million project in his hometown of Indianola, Miss., will celebrate its groundbreaking with a ceremony that King will attend in June. He was honored with the 2004 Polar Music Prize, bestowed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and recently inducted pal Buddy Guy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On a Rolling Stone list of all-time greatest guitar players, King ranks third behind Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman. Oh, there's also a new greatest-hits compilation, B.B. King: The Ultimate Collection.

The thrill is gone?

No way.

"B.B. King is almost a religious figure in the blues," says Tommy Thompson, program manager for Smokestack Lightnin', the long-running blues show that airs Saturdays on 89.9 FM (WUCF) and also on-demand at www.smokestack lightnin.com. "B.B. is still the center post of the blues, and he has been for 50 years.

"He's one of the most important musicians alive today," Thompson says. "With the passing of Ray Charles, I think that leaves B.B. sitting on the throne by himself, and I'm not just talking about his longevity. His style, after all these years, is still crisp and clean and clear. Every album has two or three absolute gems on it, and I don't know many performers who have been able to do that so consistently for so long."

'Some good work'

After almost 60 years on stage, King takes it all in stride. His appraisal of his work is modest, even for the landmark 1965 Live at the Regal album that is considered an unparalleled blues classic.

"Of all the CDs I've ever done, I don't think I've made a perfect one," King says, energy rising with his interest. "But I do think in each of them there is some good work. If someone says that it's not so good, maybe they listened to the part that wasn't so good. But if they listen carefully, they will find some good work in each of them."

King acknowledges that he has "quite often been told that Live at the Regal is my best."

So is it?

King reacts with a gust of laughter and mock indignation:

"No! I just got through telling you I can't tell you which one is the best! I think there is some good work in it, yes."

The Regal album also is remarkable because of the unbridled emotion of the audience, an element that takes it beyond other concert recordings. "There was no direction to the people to applaud or not applaud. We just did a concert and that's what they did."

When he listens to it now, King still finds room for improvement. Same goes for every album and every show: "I miss notes every day," he says.

Museum is special

He has hit enough of the right ones to become an international icon, a status that will be celebrated at the B.B. King Museum in his hometown of about 12,000 people.

The museum will be built around a historic brick cotton gin where King worked for a time before hitching a ride to Memphis, TTTTTenn., to start his music career in the late 1940s.

King returns each summer to Indianola to play concerts and is pleased about the prospect of influencing young people about the life-changing power of music.

"I've seen the plans, and I like what I see," he says. "I'm very pleased with what's going on."

The museum's design combines memorabilia with an interactive studio, where visitors will be introduced to the basics of playing blues on guitar.

The final plans for the museum are taking shape, but there have been enough strange coincidences to make it seem as if the project is destined to be special, says Allan Hammons, the museum foundation's interim executive director.

Two teams of architectural students from Auburn and Mississippi State universities each independently recommended the same site for the project. When King made a visit, he reported that the museum was based at the same cotton gin where he once had worked.

"We were completely taken aback by it," Hammons says. "We have had more things happen that would appear to be almost unnatural. It's almost as if it were a project that was destined to take place."

Looking back and ahead

The memorabilia almost certainly will include at least one Lucille out of the 16 that King has used in his career. The guitar, of course, takes its name from a woman who inspired a fiery barroom brawl at a juke joint where King was playing in his early days.


Jim Abbott can be reached at jabbott@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6213.