B.B. King

(Mississipi, USA 1925 ) B.B. King grew up picking cotton and singing gospel. Impressed by artists like T-Bone Walker, Lonnie Johnson and Django Reindhardt, he discovered the world of the blues and decided to make a living out of playing the guitar. With his expressive and rather simple style and his ‘less is more’ playing approach he conquered the world, becoming one of the most respected artists of the last century. With a 60 year old career and more than 10 000 live shows, he is still at age 82, the King of the blues.

And for sure, he has been one the most influential guitarists of all times. Afer 60 yeras of playing the blues everyone from Buddy Guy to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton or Stevie Ray had looked up to him. And that is because he left his heart on stage every time he played, for him it has never been about the fame and the money, but the feeling of the music. When an artist gets this honest people just feel it, they feel that this fat old man is talking to them and comunicating something that can´t be said with just words. When he is singing it feels like all the people that developed the blues in those cotton fields are talking thorugh his voice. He also proved to the world that you don't need to know all the scales and play as fast as 'speed racer' to make a good guitar solo, it's just that bending, those 5 or 6 notes he uses, but they are always put in a way that anyone can understand.