B. B. King (1925–2015) was a well-known blues guitarist and songwriter.
Dubbed the "King of the Blues", he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, held honorary doctorates from Yale University and the Berklee College of Music, won 15 Grammy Awards, recorded 45 studio albums, and held more than 200 concerts per year on average into his 70s.
In 2002, he was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for his appearance on Sesame Street in the "Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special" category (he lost to LeVar Burton for Reading Rainbow).
Appearances[]
- In Episode 0130, he recites the alphabet.
- The back cover of The Year of Roosevelt Franklin features an endorsement quote from King: "I really enjoyed this LP when I heard it. I wish albums like this would have been available when I was a kid in Mississippi."
- King performs "Alphabet Blues" in Episode 1914 (Season 15).
- King performs "Count to Ten" in Episode 1961 (Season 15).
- In Season 32, he performed a song about the letter B with Bert, Benny Rabbit, Big Bird and Baby Bear.
- He talks to a young girl in the Shalom Sesame episode "Kids Sing Israel," and learns that the blues mean the same thing in Hebrew and English.
- He also appeared in "Yakety Yak - Take It Back", a recycling PSA that eventually aired on Sesame Street.
References[]
- In Episode 0114 of Sesame Street, Gordon jokingly calls Don McLean's banjo "Lucillette," in reference to the name King gave his guitars, Lucille.