B.B. King

The sharecropper's son from the Mississippi Delta who taught the world how to make a single guitar note cry. Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and John Mayer all call him the greatest. He never stopped touring.

Born Riley B. King on a cotton plantation in Berclair, Mississippi. Son of sharecroppers. His mother leaves when he is four. His grandmother raises him in Kilmichael. He picks cotton and sings in the church choir.

Working as a DJ on WDIA in Memphis, he earns the name "Beale Street Blues Boy," shortened to "Blues Boy," then just "B.B." He buys his first decent guitar. He names it Lucille, after a woman who caused a fight that burned down a juke joint.

Plays 342 shows in one year. Three hundred and forty-two. For most of his career, he averages over 200 concerts annually, crisscrossing the country in a bus, playing any venue that will have him.

"The Thrill Is Gone" hits number three on the R&B charts and crosses over to pop radio. It's his biggest hit. He's 44 and has been recording for 21 years. The B.B. King vibrato becomes a textbook for every blues guitarist who follows.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its second class, alongside Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Muddy Waters.

Dies in his sleep in Las Vegas at 89. He owned 15 different guitars named Lucille.