• NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from Blues Scene about music & art.

Bob Corritore & Friends ‘Women in Blues Showcase’ Album Out Today!

March 31, 2023

Top UK Drummer Tommy Arch Gets ‘Lucky’ Break With Debut Solo Single Release

March 31, 2023

Gaye Adegbalola Releases Freedom Fighter Tribute Single ‘Winona’

March 31, 2023

Exclusive: Dani Wilde Premieres Gospel-Flavored Single ‘Sunshine’

March 31, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram Vimeo
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
  • NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
Home»News»What is the meaning of “B.B.” in B.B. King’s Name?
News

What is the meaning of “B.B.” in B.B. King’s Name?

Barry KerznerBy Barry KerznerNovember 28, 2017Updated:April 9, 2020No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte WhatsApp
Photo by By Tom Beetz
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
A Young B.B. King at WDIA in Memphis
A very young B.B. King, hosting his radio show at WDIA in Memphis. Note the early “Bee Bee spelling”

If world famous blues musician “B.B.” King’s real name is Riley B. King, then what does the B.B. stand for? The true story behind the bluesman’s special moniker is filled with lore.

Born in extreme poverty in 1925 rural Mississippi, a teenaged Riley King fled to Memphis after breaking the smokestack on his employer’s tractor — an accident which he later returned to pay for.

Following his cousin, bluesman Bukka White, King began playing blues guitar on Beale Street in Memphis, busking for change.

Performing on Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio program KWEM in Memphis, the blooming bluesman soon gained a following for his unique voice and the way he played his guitar, named Lucille.

For the young Riley King, this was an auspicious place to be heard. Williamson brought many of his musician friends from his former radio show King Biscuit Time to perform, including Robert Nighthawk, Elmore James, and Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup.

His rising star resulted in a ten-minute show on the Memphis radio station WDIA that became B.B.’s show, the Sepia Swing Club.

It was as a guitarist and radio DJ that King adopted the nickname “Beale Street Blues Boy,” which shortened to “Blues Boy” and finally, B.B.

King told Ebony magazine, “Memphis and Beale Street were for me the college of hard knocks, the college of learning. This is where I got my formal training.”

By the time he died in May of 2015, B.B. King was Beale Street’s most famous alumnus. He’d played over 15,000 tour dates, won 15 Grammys, dozens of awards including the Medal of Freedom, and several Blues Trail Markers.

His body was taken to back to Beale in Memphis, where tens of thousands gathered to mourn. The procession started at the corner to Beale and 2nd, at the B.B. King’s Blues Club, the famed venue named for Beale’s biggest star.

King’s body traveled through the Mississippi Delta on Highway 61, and ultimately rested at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, where they “see that his grave is kept clean.”

King had once said, “I guess you can look at me, and tell I’m the old man. My name is BB King.”

B.B. King Beale Street Blues Boy Indianola KWEM Mississippi Riley B. King Sepia Swing Club WDIA
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
Previous ArticleJoe Bonamassa Live At the Fox Theater in Detroit
Next Article 2018 Grammy Awards Nominees Announced
Barry Kerzner

Related Posts

Bob Corritore & Friends ‘Women in Blues Showcase’ Album Out Today!

March 31, 2023

Gaye Adegbalola Releases Freedom Fighter Tribute Single ‘Winona’

March 31, 2023

Marty Stuart Releases New Song, ‘Sitting Alone,’ From First Album in Six Years

March 29, 2023

Tom Leadon, Founder With Tom Petty of Mudcrutch, Dies Aged 70

March 27, 2023

Comments are closed.

Advertisment
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Videos
  • About

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.