The thrill is gone: BB King dies

Mary Bruno

Mary Bruno Jun 28, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>The thrill is gone: BB King dies</h1>
                <h2><p>The legendary, multiple Grammy ward-winning blues artist died Thursday at his Las Vegas home. He was 89. King's clean, staccato playing influenced guitar greats such as Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, says the BBC, which explains why King named ever one of his signature Gibson guitars "</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mary-bruno-crosscut-com/">Mary Bruno</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://dev.cascadepbs.org/content/images/sites/default/files/images/article/gallery/b-b-_king_in_2009.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="The" loading="lazy" width="300" height="200"></figure><p>The legendary, multiple Grammy ward-winning blues artist died Thursday at his Las Vegas home. He was 89. King's clean, staccato playing influenced guitar greats such as Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-15575668?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">says the BBC</a>, which explains why King named ever one of his signature Gibson guitars "Lucille."</p><p>For more in King and his music, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/arts/music/b-b-king-blues-singer-dies-at-89.html?hp=&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">read</a> <em>New York Times</em> music critic Jon Pareles. Catch the BB King tribute on KPLU at noon today. And, do yourself a favor, listen to one his most iconic hits ("The Thrill is Gone") right now.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4fk2prKnYnI" width="500"></iframe></figure>
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The legendary, multiple Grammy ward-winning blues artist died Thursday at his Las Vegas home. He was 89. King's clean, staccato playing influenced guitar greats such as Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, says the BBC, which explains why King named ever one of his signature Gibson guitars "Lucille."

For more in King and his music, read New York Times music critic Jon Pareles. Catch the BB King tribute on KPLU at noon today. And, do yourself a favor, listen to one his most iconic hits ("The Thrill is Gone") right now.

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By Mary Bruno

Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,