By Lori Bosworth
B.B. King will perform at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Thursday, October 10, 2013 at 8 p.m. The 87-year-old blues legend will be performing with his beloved Lucille, a Gibson ES-355.
Born on a cotton plantation in Mississippi in 1925, Riley B. King grew up singing in the Baptist church. He received his first guitar at age 12 and then performed at church and later on radio programs in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. King was signed to a record label in Los Angeles at age 24 with many of his songs produced by the legendary Sam Phillips.
Some of King’s greatest hits include “The Thrill Is Gone” (for which he received a Grammy Award), “Every Day I Have The Blues,” “When Love Comes To Town” with U2, “How Blue Can You Get,” “Three O’Clock Blues,” “Caldonia,” “Since I Met You Baby,” “Let The Good Times Roll” and “In The Midnight Hour.”
Rock and blues guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Robert Cray, Derek Trucks, Peter Green, Elmore James, Duane Allman, John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Marley have cited B.B. King as a major influence. King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Tickets for B.B. King at Massey Hall are $59.50, $79.50, $99.50 and $129.50 and can be purchased online.
