May 15, 2015

'King Of Blues', B.B. King dies in Las Vegas

                              The King Of Blues BB King has died at the age of 89 in Las Vegas
Blues legend B.B. King has died in Las Vegas aged 89, his lawyer confirmed on Thursday.
Attorney Brent Bryson said King died peacefully in his sleep at 9:40 p.m. PDT at his Clark County, Nevad home in Las Vegas. King, widely regarded as the 'King Of Blues', sold millions of records worldwide, won 15 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.


BB, real name Riley B. King, was admitted to hospital last month for diabetes-related ailments, but was discharged when he insisted on at-home hospice care as opposed to hospitalisation.
The blues guitarist - a father of 11 - was treated at the hospital for complications of high blood pressure and diabetes, The Telegraph reports, though King was diagnosed with Type II diabetes over 25 years ago.
King's father Albert King died aged 87 and was known to suffer from high blood glucose and gout, while his mother Nora Ella Farr died when King was nine, going blind from diabetes before her death.

Longevity: King (pictured in Tennessee in 1948) was one of the most robust in the music industry, once playing 342 shows in a single year

Singing it out: King pictured in 1960 in the recording studio

Feud: The blues legend, seen here in the early 70s, sold millions of records worldwide and was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Strong until the end: BB continued to tour until as late as 2014, when he was forced to cancel some shows due to exhaustion

Highly regarded: The legendary musician was invited to play at the White House: Red, White and Bluesø concert in the East Room of the White House in February 2012, where President Obama joined him in singing Sweet Home Chicago

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