You don’t need to be a musicologist to understand why B.B. King was a modern American icon. The charismatic blues legend carried almost as much cultural weight on-screen as he did onstage.

B.B. King is shown performing during opening night of the 87th season of the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2008. King died in his sleep at his Las Vegas home on May 14, his lawyer said.

King entered the music industry as a disc jockey in Memphis, Tennessee, after serving in World War II. He earned the name B.B. after he was called "the Beale Street Blues Boy" and that nickname ...

Jimmy Rip has looked back on his time working with Jerry Lee Lewis, and recalled his experiences of recording a legion of ...

Ryan Alfieri May 15, 2015 Getty Image The music world was delivered a brutal blow on Friday morning after the passing of the “King of Blues,” B.B. King.

But B.B. King was a person, one of our best ever, and he lived a life befitting his legacy. These 10 facts only represent a fraction of how fascinating King’s life and music was: ...

B.B. King’s name, face, music and heavenly finger vibrato were known far and wide long before the 20th century came to a close. But for the first half of his life, King toiled in near obscurity.

Stax Museum's "B.B. King in Memphis" photo exhibit features images from King’s 1982 Labor Day weekend concert at the Mud ...

Born Riley B. King on this day, Sept. 16, 1925, he would move from Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee where he would take on the name "Blues Boy," which he shortened to BB.

Four members of B.B. King’s band will portray themselves in 'The Thrill Is Gone,' an upcoming film starring Wendell Pierce as the bluesman.