B.B. King

B.B. King spent 60 years touring as the King of the Blues, performing thousands of concerts across a career that began in the Mississippi Delta in the mid-1940s and ended with his death in 2015 at age 89. His vibrato technique and his personified guitar Lucille were so distinctive they became a defining voice of post-war electric blues, influencing guitarists from Eric Clapton to Jimi Hendrix. Where Muddy Waters focused on raw power, King's style emphasized melodic sophistication and emotional nuance — epitomized by his celebrated live album "Live at the Regal," recorded in 1964 and released in 1965. He earned 15 Grammy Awards and, in 1995, was named a Kennedy Center Honoree.