16 September 1925 – 14 May 2015
The American blues rock guitarist has fond memories of the generosity of ‘the king of the blues’,who died in Las Vegas
• Read the Observer’s obituaries of 2015 in full here
• Ornette Coleman remembered by Neneh CherryI met BB King 25 years ago and he helped me get started in the music business. He asked me to open for him at the Lilac festival in Rochester, fresh York, or in 1989 and I ended up opening for him that whole summer,about 20 shows. Watching him that summer was enough to convince this kid that a life in the blues was for me. And I’m not the only person he did that for. He always wanted to see the blues flourish and he helped a lot of young musicians along the way. His outlook was the more young people that are involved in it, the healthier the music is. You can see that now with a bunch of kids out there making records and touring, and all with the legacy and the foundation that BB King laid over the past 60 years.
He brought blues to an audience that would never gain found the blues whether BB was not the conduitContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com