# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/b-b-king
# Generated: 2026-09-01T11:12:24.846Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/b-b-king"
name: "B.B. King"
slug: "b-b-king"
description: "He turned the electric guitar into a singing voice — every bent string, every shimmering vibrato a word the instrument had never spoken before. AllMusic called him \"the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century,\" and the nickname stuck: The King of the Blues."
tagline: "American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter (1925–2015)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Publicity_photo_of_B.B._King._-_j9602118s_files_7f3e5875-55ee-4389-8eb0-53e6b59f1df3_(cropped).jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1925-09-16"
deathDate: "2015-05-14"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           80.36
  momentum:             0.5183628876376166
  historical:           26.252844
  currentAttention:     3.775
  sourceConfidence:     85
  profileCompleteness:  90
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
totalFollowers: 344000
tags:
  - name: "Musicians"
    slug: "musicians"
  - name: "Singer / Musician"
    slug: "singer-musician"
  - name: "Singer-Songwriter"
    slug: "singer-songwriter"
  - name: "Classical"
    slug: "classical"
  - name: "Music Production"
    slug: "music-production"
  - name: "Music"
    slug: "music"
  - name: "United States"
    slug: "united-states"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
platforms:
  - platform:  "FACEBOOK"
    url:       "https://www.facebook.com/bbking"
    handle:    "bbking"
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0454475/"
    handle:    "nm0454475"
  - platform:  "SPOTIFY"
    url:       "https://open.spotify.com/artist/5xLSa7l4IV1gsQfhAMvl0U"
    handle:    "5xLSa7l4IV1gsQfhAMvl0U"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "https://bbking.com"
  - platform:  "YOUTUBE"
    url:       "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRBh8rjd8umQiMMNB9_5D_w"
    handle:    "@bbking"
    followers: 344000
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q188969"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/B.B.%20King"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "B.B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%8A_%D8%A8%D9%8A_%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%BA"
    title: "بي بي كينغ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%89_%D8%A8%D9%89_%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%AC"
    title: "بى بى كينج"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "B. B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%DB%8C.%D8%A8%DB%8C._%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%82"
    title: "بی.بی. کینق"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._Kinq"
    title: "B. B. Kinq"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bar.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "B. B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D1%96_%D0%91%D1%96_%D0%9A%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%B3"
    title: "Бі Бі Кінг"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D1%96_%D0%91%D1%96_%D0%9A%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%B3"
    title: "Бі Бі Кінг"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B8_%D0%91%D0%B8_%D0%9A%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3"
    title: "Би Би Кинг"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "B.B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "B. B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "B.B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "B. B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "B.B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "B. B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://dsb.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "B. B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "B.B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "B. B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "B.B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "B. B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "B.B. King"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/B._B._King"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ig.wikiquote.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/B.B._King"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born Riley B. King in the Mississippi Delta on September 16, 1925, he taught himself guitar and started in juke joints and local radio before moving through Memphis and Chicago as his sound took shape. He introduced a sophisticated style built on fluid string bending and staccato picking that redefined what the electric guitar could do, earning induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He performed with relentless devotion — 342 shows in 1956 alone, more than 200 concerts a year well into his seventies — carrying the blues to every corner of the world. He died May 14, 2015, having spent nearly seven decades proving that one man and six strings could change the way music moves.