‘Blues has lost its king and America has lost a legend’

Blues pioneer BB King was remembered in the Mississippi Delta as a man whose talent was equalled by his generous spirit.

Mon, 01 Jun, 2015 - 01:00

Karen O’Shea

King’s funeral took place Indianola, the small town where he first gained attention as a young singer and guitarist who had already been a sharecropper and worked in a cotton gin.

President Barack Obama, in a letter read at the service by Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson, called King an inspiration to blues lovers everywhere and to up-and-coming artists.

He said: “The blues has lost its king and America has lost a legend.

“No one worked harder than BB. No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues. He gets stuck in your head, he gets you moving, he gets you doing the things you probably shouldn’t do – but will always be glad you did.

“BB may be gone but that thrill will be with us forever. And there’s going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight.”

King was 89 when he died on May 14 at his home in Las Vegas.Mr Thompson also read a letter from former president Bill Clinton, while Mississippi governor Phil Bryant also made remarks.

More than 4,000 people viewed his open casket on Saturday at the BB King Museum and Delta Interpretive Centre in Indianola.

One of his sons, Willie King, of Chicago, said his father taught him to respond with love when others are angry.

“For a man coming out of the cotton field unlearned and you take his music and draw four corners of the world together, that is amazing,” Willie King said at the museum, where his father was buried.

King’s public viewing was almost like a state funeral, with Mississippi Highway Patrol officers in dress uniform standing at each end of the casket.

Two of his black electric guitars — each named Lucille — stood among sprays of flowers.

Blues guitarist Buddy Guy, 78, said he always intended to tour the BB King Museum while its namesake, his longtime friend, was still living.

“His left hand was a special effect,” Mr Guy said, describing King’s talent for bending strings to make the guitar sing.