Blues legend BB King dies sparking row over family fortune
TRIBUTES poured in last night for BB King after the legendary bluesman died at the age of 89.
But his death paves the way for another round in a bitter legal row over his estate.
His children have claimed that he was being abused by Laverne Toney, his longtime manager and legal guardian.
Last night King’s eldest daughter shirley King said that she was upset because she didn’t have a chance to see her father before he died.
King passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas. He was described by Eric Clapton as ‘without a doubt the most important artist the blues has ever produced’.
Nicknamed ‘ the King of the Blues’ he was on the road for 65 years and played an estimated 15,000 live performances and won 15 Grammy Awards.
King was larger than life and he lived large; he was married twice, had 15 children by 15 women and had a lifelong love of gambling, which is why he moved to Las Vegas.
In 2012 President Obama gave him the Presidential Medal of Honour. King was also inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Born Riley B King in the Mississippi farm town of Itta Bena, King was raised by his maternal grandmother and earned a living picking cotton until he began singing at local juke joints earning $12 for each show.
He scored his first Number One hit in 1951 with 3 O’Clock Blues followed by dozens more. In the sixties, the success of blues-influenced British bands helped broaden King’s appeal and he played with groups such as the Rolling stones.
His style influenced a generation of guitarists and was imitated by everyone from Clapton to fellow blues legend Buddy Guy. He had a number of hits featuring his distinctive guitar work, including songs such as Every Day I Have the Blues and The Thrill is Gone.
Buddy Guy wrote last night: ‘BB King was the greatest guy I ever met. He could play so smooth, he didn’t have to put on a show.’
Barack Obama paid warm tribute saying: ‘The blues has lost its king, and America has lost a legend. And there’s going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight.’ The bluesman visited the White House and convinced the president to sing sweet Home Chicago with him.
Among those who spoke of their shock on Twitter was Ringo starr who wrote: ‘God bless BB King peace and love to his family’.
Rocker Lenny Kravitz wrote: ‘BB, anyone could play a thousand notes and never say what you said i n one’. singer Gladys Knight wrote: ‘What a brilliant man you were. One who will forever be noted as such an inspiration to millions globally, RIP’.
King, who had diabetes, continued to play until October when he collapsed at a concert in Chicago because of dehydration and has been receiving care at his home since. Last month a judge in Las Vegas threw out an attempt by three of King’s children to take over his legal guardianship from Toney. A judge said two investigations found no evidence to support their claims that she was stealing his money and not providing proper care. Among the claims made by Karen Williams, one of King’s daughters, was that Toney did not take her father to hospital when he had a minor heart attack. she also said that Toney had taken $435,000 (£320,000) out of his bank account.