50 Cent

50 Cent

More so than any other music since the blues, hip-hop is all about stories. And its stories are both criminal minded and grand, making them enthralling and unbelievable, but also making them only as interesting and convincing as the teller. That's why, despite being blackballed by the industry, without a major-label recording contract, heads still gravitated to Jamaica, Queens' realest son,50 Cent, like the planets to the sun. 50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson 26 years ago, is the real deal, the genuine article. He's a man of the streets, intimately familiar with its codes and its violence, but still, 50, an incredibly intelligent and deliberate man, holds himself with a regal air as if above the pettiness which surrounds him. Couple his true-life hardship with his knack for addictive, syrupy hooks, it's clear that 50 has exactly what it takes to ride down the road to riches and diamond rings. 50 is real, so he does real things.

Born into a notorious Queens drug dynasty during the late '70s, 50 Cent lost those closest to him at an early age. Raised without a father, 50's mother, whose name carried weight in the street (hint, hint, dummies), was found dead under mysterious circumstances before he could hit his teens. The orphaned youth was taken in by his grandparents, who provided for 50. But his desire for things would drive him to the block. Which in his case was the infamous New York Avenue, now known as Guy R. Brewer Blvd. There, 50 stepped up to get his rep up, amassing a small fortune and a lengthy rap sheet. But the birth of his son put things in perspective for the post adolescent, and 50 began to pursue rap seriously. He signed with JMJ, the label of Run DMC DJ Jam Master Jay and began learning his trade. JMJ would teach the young buck to count bars and structure songs. Unfortunately, caught up in industry limbo, there wasn't much JMJ could do for 50.

The platinum hitmakers Trackmasters took notice of 50 and signed him to Columbia Records in 1999. They shipped 50 to Upstate NY where they locked him up in the studio for 2 1/2 weeks. He turned out 36 songs in this short period, which resulted in "Power Of A Dollar," an unreleased masterpiece that Blaze Magazine judged a classic. 50's stick up kid anthem "How to Rob" blew through the roof and playfully painted him as a deliriously hungry up-and-comer daydreaming of robbing famous rappers. But 50 and the fans were the only ones laughing. Unable to take a joke, Jay-Z, Big Pun, Sticky Fingaz, and Ghostface Killah all replied to the song. "It wasn't personal. It was comedy based on truth, which made it so funny," says 50 Cent.

In April of '00, 50 was shot 9 times, including a .9mm bullet to the face, in front of his grandmothers house in Queens. He spent the next few months in recovery while Columbia Records dropped him from the label. 50 didn't fold, he flew. Right into the zone. He banged out track after track, despite no income or backing, with his new business partner and friend Sha Money XL. The two recorded over 30 songs, strictly for mix-tapes, with the soul purpose of building a buzz. 50's street value rose and by the end of the spring of '01 he'd released the new material independently on the makeshift LP, "Guess Who's Back?". Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by his crew, G-Unit, 50 stayed on his grind and made more songs. But it was different this time. Rather than create new songs as they had before, 50 decided to showcase his hit-making ability by retouching first-class beats which had already been used. They released the red, white and blue bootleg, "50 Cent Is the Future," revisiting material by Jay-Z and even Rapheal Saadiq.

That's when the unbelievable happened, and hip-hop history was written. The energetic CD caught the ear of supa MC Eminem, and within a week Em was on the radio saying, '50 Cent is my favorite rapper right now.' Em looked to mentor Dr. Dre to confirm his belief in the young hitmaker, and the good doctor co-signed. Floored by the appreciation of the greats, 50 didn't hesitate in signing with the dream team. In the wake of his acquisition, 50 Cent has become the most sought after newcomer in almost a decade. Not since the summer of '94, when radio would play absolutely anything Notorious B.I.G. related, has hip-hop seen buzz like this.

Ever the clever businessman, 50 didn't let the opportunity escape him and quickly released another bootleg of borrowed beats, "No Mercy, No Fear." The CD featured only one new track, "Wanksta," which was certainly not intended for radio, but the streets couldn't wait for the official single and within weeks "Wanksta" became New York's most requested record. Thankfully, the stellar cut has found a home on the multi-platinum soundtrack to Eminem's smash movie, "8 Mile." With several huge hits already under his belt, 50 Cent is poised to be the artist to beat next year. He's coming with over ten incredible tracks stashed from last spring and newly recorded winners courtesy of Eminem, who's really cut his production teeth of late, and hip-hop's greatest, highest-selling producer Dr. Dre. "Creatively, what more could I ask for?" he asks jokingly. "You know if me and Em is in the same room then it's gonna be a friendly competition, neither of us wanna let the other one down. And Dre??? C'mon." Promising an LP of the caliber of rap classics like "Illmatic," "Ready to Die," and "Reasonable Doubt," 50 Cent's debut promises to set the pace for hip-hop in coming years. The product of his unrelenting drive, talent and, frankly, his real-ness, 50's official first album promises to do for him just what it says. With his infectious flow and viciously funny I-don't-give-a-fuck personality, there is no doubt that 50 Cent will Get Rich or Die Trying.

source : http://www.artistdirect.com

Alan Jackson

Alan Jackson

Country singer Alan Jackson was born on Oct. 17, 1958. in Newnan, Georgia. He married his high school sweetheart, Denise, in 1979 and they are still together today with three daughters. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue music. His debut album,

Profile

Country singer. Born October 17, 1958, in Newnan, Georgia. Jackson grew up in rural Georgia; he lived with his parents and four older sisters in a house built around his grandfather's old toolshed. Shortly after marrying his high school sweetheart, Denise, in 1979, Jackson moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a career in music. After a long series of rejections, he finally landed a recording deal with Arista Records. The tremendous success of his debut album, Here in the Real World(1990), marked Jackson's arrival among a group of country artists??including Randy Travis, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, Garth Brooks, andVince Gill??that represented a new brand of traditionalism in country music and the end of the synthesized pop country trend of the 1980s.

An accomplished songwriter, Jackson wrote much of his first album, which remained on the U.S. country charts for more than a year. His next two albums, Don't Rock the Jukebox (1991) and A Lot About Livin' (and a Little 'Bout Love) (1992) were even bigger hits, spawning five No.1 singles each. Notable among these hits were "Love's Got a Hold on You," "Midnight in Montgomery" (Jackson's tribute to the legendary country star Hank Williams), and "Chattahoochee." With the 1994 release of his fifth album, Who I Am, Jackson's record sales reached a total of over 10 million.

Throughout the course of his career, Jackson has been honored with over 45 awards from organizations like the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and the Country Music Association (CMA). He released his Greatest Hits album in 1995 and won eight major awards, including CMA Entertainer of the Year. Later albums included High Mileage (1998) and Under the Influence.

Jackson's "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," a song commemorating those lost in the September 11 terror attacks, earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Country Song. He received four CMA Awards that year, tying with Johnny Cash for the most CMA wins in a year. His 2006 gospel album, Precious Memories, was originally recorded as a gift to his mother.

In 1998, USA Today broke the news that he and his wife Denise had separated; they reconciled later that year, and renewed their wedding vows on the 19th anniversary of their marriage. The couple has three daughters, Mattie, Alexandra, and Dani.

source : http://www.biography.com

Daft Punk

Daft Punk

With their thoroughly modern disco sound — a blend of house, funk, electro and techno — this French duo were one of the biggest electronic music acts of the late 1990s and 2000s. Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter wore shiny droid costumes at every live show (and only allowed themselves to be photographed in said costumes) but their music was only sometimes robotic: Daft Punk were as influenced by rock bands like AC/DC as they were by classic disco acts.

De Homem-Christo and Bangalter met in a Paris school in 1987 and eventually formed an indie rock band, Darling. The group went nowhere, but a review of one of their songs in Britain's Melody Maker gave the duo the name their next project: The reviewer called the song "a bunch of daft punk." Even though neither had been to a dance club until 1992, Bangalter and de Homem-Christo fell in love with house music from both sides of the Atlantic, and the pair soon cooked up singles like intense "Da Funk," which sold 30,000 copies and became a staple of the Chemical Brothers' DJ sets.

After generating loads of press buzz and sparking a bidding war, Daft Punk signed to Virgin Records. In 1997 the pair released Homework, which seemed far less like the work of dance music purists than two guys who just wanted to get kids to go nuts on the dance floor. Helped by some innovative videos — including the Michel Gondry-directed clip for "Around the World" — Homework went gold in America. Between albums, Bangalter recorded both under his own name and as Stardust, who had an underground hit in the late Nineties with the ecstatic "Music Sounds Better with You."

In 2001, Daft Punk returned with Discovery, a more poppy album that tossed in glammy r&b, big-ass house beats, shiny synths, found noise, sitars, and pop melodies from singers like Romanthony, whose exhortations powered "One More Time," a Number One hit on the US Dance Play charts. The disappointing Human After All followed in 2004: Though it has some great moments ("The Prime of Your Life") and riff-heavy rock ("Robot Rock"), it also has too many raw grooves that went nowhere.

Daft Punk toured throughout the 2000s, making a stop at the 2008 Grammys to perform with Kanye West (on "Stronger," which sampled the duo's "Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger"), and recording Alive 2007, which leans too much on recent work, but is still a lot of fun. Bangalter and de Homem Christo, who regularly played in front of a giant pyramid of lights, bring the intensity, especially on the closing medley of "Superheroes," "Human After All" and "Rock 'N' Roll."

Daft Punk contributed eleven new mixes to the 2009 video game DJ Hero, which allowed users to play as Daft Punk, inhabiting the duo's robot outfits. As of mid-2009, Daft Punk had reportedly recorded 24 songs for the score to the film Tron: Legacy, due out in 2011.

source: http://www.rollingstone.com

James Brown

James Brown

Born May 3, 1933, in rural South Carolina, James Brown is known as the Godfather of Soul and the inventor of funk, with such exuberant and timeless songs as "I Got You (I Feel Good)," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "Get Up Offa That Thing."

Early Life in Georgia

Singer, songwriter, recording artist. The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, was born as James Joe Brown Jr. on May 3, 1933. He was born in a one-room shack in the woods of South Carolina, a few miles east of the Georgia border. His parents split ways when he was very young, and at the age of four, Brown was sent to Augusta, Georgia, to live with his Aunt Honey, the madam of a brothel. Growing up in abject poverty during the Great Depression, a young Brown worked whatever odd jobs he could find, for literally pennies. He danced for the soldiers at nearby Fort Gordon, picked cotton, washed cars and shined shoes.

Brown later recalled his impoverished childhood: "I started shining shoes at 3 cents, then went up to 5 cents, then 6 cents. I never did get up to a dime. I was nine years old before I got a pair of underwear from a real store; all my clothes were made from sacks and things like that. But I knew I had to make it. I had the determination to go on, and my determination was to be somebody."

Musical Beginnings

Dismissed from school at the age of 12 for "insufficient clothing," Brown turned to working his various odd jobs full-time. As an escape from the harsh reality of growing up black in the rural South during the Great Depression, Brown turned to religion and to music. He sang in the church choir, where he developed his powerful and uniquely emotive voice. However, as a teenager Brown also turned to crime. At the age of 16, he was arrested for stealing a car and sentenced to three years in prison. While incarcerated, Brown organized and led a prison gospel choir. It was in jail that Brown met Bobby Byrd, an aspiring R&B singer and pianist, forming a friendship and musical partnership that proved one of the most fruitful in music history.

Always a gifted athlete, upon his release from prison in 1953 Brown turned his attention to sports and devoted the next two years primarily to boxing and playing semiprofessional baseball. Then, in 1955, Bobby Byrd invited Brown to join his R&B vocal group, The Gospel Starlighters. Brown accepted, and with his overbearing talent and showmanship, he quickly came to dominate the group. Renamed The Famous Flames, they moved to Macon, Georgia, where they performed at local nightclubs. In 1956, they recorded a demo tape of the song "Please, Please, Please" and played it for Ralph Bass, a talent scout for King Records. Bass was thoroughly impressed by the song, and especially by Brown's passionate and soulful crooning. He offered the group a record contract, and within months "Please, Please, Please" had reached No. 6 on the R&B charts.

Superstardom

The Flames immediately hit the road, touring the Southeast while opening for such legendary musicians as B.B. King and Ray Charles. But the band wasn't immediately able to record another hit to match the success of "Please, Please, Please," and by the end of 1957, the Flames had returned home. Needing a creative spark and in danger of losing his record deal, in 1958 Brown moved to New York, where, working with different musicians whom he also called The Flames, he recorded "Try Me." The song reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, cracked the Hot 100 Singles chart and kick-started Brown's music career. He soon followed with a string of hits that included "Lost Someone," "Night Train" and "Prisoner of Love," his first song to crack the Top 10 in the pop charts, peaking at No. 2.

In addition to writing and recording music, Brown toured relentlessly. He performed five or six nights a week throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a schedule that earned him the title "The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business." Brown was a flashy showman, incredible dancer, and soulful singer, and his concerts were hypnotizing displays of exuberance and passion that left audiences in raptures. His saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis once said, "When you heard James Brown was coming to town, you stopped what you were doing and started saving your money." Brown fastidiously mastered

source : http://www.biography.com

Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff 

Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers on April 1, 1948 in St. James Parish, Jamaica. The young Cliff had a good relationship with his parents, who, he claims on his website, remain his "hero and shero." He showed a love for music and a flair for the dramatic at an early age, performing in church, and later at local fairs and festivals. In 1962, Cliff moved to Kingston to attend a technical secondary school, and while continuing his education, began entering local talent contests and trying to catch the eye of the local record producers who were the kings of the wildly popular ska music scene.

Early Musical Career:

Catching the ear of influential producer Leslie Kong, Cliff recorded two flops before recording the hit song "Hurricane Hattie." He was 14 at the time. He continued to have a string of Jamaican hit songs for the next few years, and eventually moved to England and signed with Island Records. In 1968,Hard Road to Travel, his debut full-length album, was released internationally, and had some success in various international markets. In 1970, Cliff releasedWonderful World, Beautiful People, which gained a great deal of positive attention, primarily because of the "Viet Nam," a powerful war protest song.

'The Harder They Come' - International Success:

In 1972, Cliff starred in a film called The Harder They Come, a Jamaican movie about a young man who movies to the big city to become a reggae music star, but ends up embroiled in a life of crime. He also provided the majority of the soundtrack for the movie, including the songs "The Harder they Come," "You Can get it if you Really Want," and "Many Rivers to Cross." It was this movie that propelled Cliff - along with reggae music - to international fame and renown.

Jimmy Cliff's Continuing Success:

Jimmy Cliff is still alive and still tours regularly and wows audiences throughout the world. He has maintained a successful recording career since his early days as a reggae pioneer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Rolling Stones, and Kool and the Gang, among many others. He has also had several international hit songs, including a cover of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" from the soundtrack to the movie Cool Runnings. In 2012, his release Rebirth saw both critical and commercial success.

Activism and Charity Work:

Jimmy Cliff has been a tireless advocate for a variety of different charities and causes around the globe. Early on, he was an outspoken critic of the Vietnam war, and later became equally outspoken againstApartheid. He has also advocated for AIDS charities, third-world justice organizations, and arts organizations. Though not a Rastafarian, Jimmy Cliff is a torchbearer for roots reggae, a reggae subgenre that stresses social justice and consciousness.

source : http://worldmusic.about.com

Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Bob Marley (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981), born Nesta Robert Marley which was later to be changed by passport officials to Robert Nesta Marley, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist. He was the most widely known writer and performer of reggae, and more specifically roots reggae. He is famous for popularising the genre outside of Jamaica and the Caribbean. Much of his music dealt with the struggles of the spiritually wealthy rasta and/or spiritually powerful Jah Rastafari.

Bob Marley was a member of this Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. Bob Marley became the leading proponent of the Rastafari, taking their music out of socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene.

Now considered a “Rasta” prophet, Marley’s adoption of the characteristic Rastafarian dreadlocks and famous use of marijuana as a sacred sacrament in the late sixties were an integral part of his persona. He is said to have entered every performance proclaiming the divinity of Jah Rastafari.

A few months before his death, Marley was baptised into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and took the name Berhane Selassie (meaning the Light of the Holy Trinity in Amharic).

His best known crossover songs are a mixture of reggae, rock, and rhythm and blues, which include “I Shot the Sheriff”, “No Woman No Cry”, “Exodus”, “Could You Be Loved”, “Jamming”, and “Redemption Song”. His posthumous album Legend (1984) became the best-selling reggae album ever, with sales of more than 12 million copies.

Although I’ve listened to Bob Marley’s music time and time again, I never really knew the fullness of who he was and what impact he made on the world. Bob Marley was truly a gift. During a time of racial inequalities and political turmoil, he used his music to raise awareness and reinforce action; all the while spreading a message of unity and love. At his height, he was one of the most powerful black political activist of his time. What I loved most about Bob Marley is that he was an activist by birth and he never denied that calling. His passion for music and people wasn’t driven by social or monetary gain. His drive was innate and he knew that it was his mission to fulfill his divine purpose. Bob’s music was wonderful but I believe that it was his spirit that drew people and the realness thereof.

Imagine the wonderful difference he could have made today. There aren’t many artists out who have a true love, not only for the music, but also for the people. The artist who do promote positiveness are but a small portion of the sea of negativity that we are inundated with on a regular basis. What happened to artist such as Bob who felt that they had a charge in life to help mankind? It’s never too late to make a change and we can all learn from this legend. Bob Marley, a beautiful example of oneness and love gone too soon.

source : http://liveitloveitdoit.com

B.B King

B.B King

Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925), known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American songwriter, vocalist, and famed blues guitarist.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, and he was ranked No. 17 in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time. According to Edward M. Komara, King "introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed." King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Famein 1987. He is widely considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, because of this he is often nicknamed 'The King of Blues'. He is also known for performing tirelessly throughout his musical career appearing at 250-300 concerts per year until his seventies. In 1956 it was noted that he appeared at 342 shows, still at the age of 87 King appears at 100 shows a year.King was born in a small cabin on a cotton plantation outside of Berclair, Mississippi, to Albert King and Nora Ella Farr on September 16, 1925.

Early life

In 1930, when King was four years old, his father abandoned the family, and his mother married another man. Because Nora Ella was too poor to raise her son, King was raised by his maternal grandmother Elnora Farr in Kilmichael, Mississippi. Over the years, King has developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar styles. He borrowed from Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others, integrating his precise and complex vocal-like string bends and his left hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of rock guitarist's vocabulary. His economy and phrasing has been a model for thousands of players, from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Jeff Beck. King has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop, and jump into a unique sound. In King's words, "When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille." King grew up singing in the gospel choir at Elkhorn Baptist Church in Kilmichael. At the age of 12, he purchased his first guitar for $15.00 although another reference indicates he was given his first guitar by his cousin, Bukka White. In 1943, King left Kilmichael to work as a tractor driver and play guitar with the Famous St. John's Quartet of Inverness, Mississippi, performing at area churches and on WGRM in Greenwood, Mississippi.

In 1946, King followed his cousin Bukka White to Memphis, Tennessee. White took him in for the next ten months. However, King shortly returned to Mississippi, where he decided to prepare himself better for the next visit, and returned to West Memphis, Arkansas, two years later in 1948. He performed on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program on KWEM in West Memphis, where he began to develop a local audience for his sound. King's appearances led to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis and later to a ten-minute spot on the legendary Memphis radio station WDIA. King's Spot became so popular, it was expanded and became the Sepia Swing Club.

Initially he worked at WDIA as a singer and disc jockey, gaining the nickname Beale Street Blues Boy, which was later shortened to Blues Boy and finally to B.B. It was there that he first met T-Bone Walker. "Once I'd heard him for the first time, I knew I'd have to have [an electric guitar] myself. 'Had' to have one, short of stealing!", he said.

Career

1949–2005

In 1949, King began recording songs under contract with Los Angeles-based RPM Records. Many of King's early recordings were produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. Before his RPM contract, King had debuted on Bullet Records by issuing the single "Miss Martha King" (1949), which did not chart well. "My very first recordings [in 1949] were for a company out of Nashville called Bullet, the Bullet Record Transcription company," King recalls. "I had horns that very first session. I had Phineas Newborn on piano; his father played drums, and his brother, Calvin, played guitar with me. I had Tuff Green on bass, Ben Branch on tenor sax, his brother, Thomas Branch, on trumpet, and a lady trombone player. The Newborn family were the house band at the famous Plantation Inn in West Memphis."

In the winter of 1949, King played at a dance hall in Twist, Arkansas. In order to heat the hall, a barrel half-filled with kerosene was lit, a fairly common practice at the time. During a performance, two men began to fight, knocking over the burning barrel and sending burning fuel across the floor. The hall burst into flames, which triggered an evacuation. Once outside, King realized that he had left his guitar inside the burning building. He entered the blaze to retrieve his beloved guitar, a Gibson hollow electric. Two people died in the fire. The next day, King learned that the two men were fighting over a woman named Lucille. King named that first guitar Lucille, as well as every one he owned since that near-fatal experience, as a reminder never again to do something as stupid as run into a burning building or fight over women.King assembled his own band; the B.B. King Review, under the leadership of Millard Lee. The band initially consisted of Calvin Owens and Kenneth Sands (trumpet), Lawrence Burdin (alto saxophone), George Coleman (tenor saxophone), Floyd Newman (baritone saxophone), Millard Lee (piano), George Joyner(bass) and Earl Forest and Ted Curry (drums). Onzie Horne was a trained musician elicited as an arranger to assist King with his compositions. By his own admission, he cannot play chords well^[12] and always relies on improvisation. This was followed by tours across the USA with performances in major theaters in cities such as Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit and St. Louis, as well as numerous gigs in small clubs and juke joints of the southern US states.

King meanwhile toured the entire "Chitlin' circuit" and 1956 became a record-breaking year, with 342 concerts booked. The same year he founded his own record label, Blues Boys Kingdom, with headquarters at Beale Street in Memphis. There, among other projects, he produced artists such as Millard Lee and Levi Seabury.

In the 1950s, B.B. King became one of the most important names in R&B music, amassing an impressive list of hits including "3 O'Clock Blues", "You Know I Love You," "Woke Up This Morning," "Please Love Me," "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer," "Whole Lotta Love," "You Upset Me Baby," "Every Day I Have the Blues", "Sneakin' Around," "Ten Long Years," "Bad Luck," "Sweet Little Angel", "On My Word of Honor," and "Please Accept My Love." In 1962, King signed to ABC-Paramount Records, which was later absorbed intoMCA Records, and this hence into his current label, Geffen Records. In November 1964, King recorded the Live at the Regal album at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois.

King won a Grammy Award for a tune called "The Thrill Is Gone"; his version became a hit on both the pop and R&B charts, which was rare during that time for an R&B artist. It also gained the number 183 spot in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. He gained further visibility among rock audiences as an opening act on The Rolling Stones' 1969 American Tour. King's mainstream success continued throughout the 1970s with songs like "To Know You is to Love You" and "I Like to Live the Love".

King was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2004 he was awarded the international Polar Music Prize, given to artists "in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music."

From the 1980s onward he has continued to maintain a highly visible and active career, appearing on numerous television shows and performing 300 nights a year. In 1988, King reached a new generation of fans with the single "When Love Comes to Town", a collaborative effort between King and the Irish band U2 on their Rattle and Hum album. In 2000, King teamed up with guitarist Eric Clapton to record Riding With the King. In 1998, King appeared in The Blues Brothers 2000, playing the part of the lead singer of the Louisiana Gator Boys, along with Clapton, Dr. John, Koko Taylor andBo Diddley.

2006–present: farewell tour and later activities

On March 29, 2006, King played at Hallam Arena in Sheffield, England. This was the first date of his United Kingdom and European farewell tour. He played this tour supported by Northern Irish guitarist Gary Moore, with whom King had previously toured and recorded, including the song "Since I Met You Baby". The British leg of the tour ended on April 4 with a concert at Wembley Arena. And on June 28, 2009 King returned to Wembley arena to end a tour around Great Britain with British blues icon John Mayall. When questioned as to why he was embarking on another tour after already completing his farewell stint, King jokingly remarked that he had never actually said the farewell tour would be his last.

In July King went back to Europe, playing twice (July 2 and 3) in the 40th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival and also in Zürich at the Blues at Sunset on July 14. During his show in Montreux at the Stravinski Hall he jammed with Joe Sample, Randy Crawford, David Sanborn, Gladys Knight, Lella James, Earl Thomas, Stanley Clarke, John McLaughlin, Barbara Hendricks and George Duke. The European leg of the Farewell Tour ended in Luxembourg on September 19, 2006, at the D'Coque Arena (support act: Todd Sharpville).

In November and December, King played six times in Brazil. During a press conference on November 29 in São Paulo, a journalist asked King if that would be the actual farewell tour. He answered: "One of my favorite actors is a man from Scotland named Sean Connery. Most of you know him as James Bond, 007. He made a movie called Never Say Never Again."

In June 2006, King was present at a memorial of his first radio broadcast at the Three Deuces Building in Greenwood, Mississippi, where an official marker of the Mississippi Blues Trail was erected. The same month, a groundbreaking was held for a new museum, dedicated to King. in Indianola, Mississippi.^[17] The museum opened on September 13, 2008.

On July 28, 2007, King played at Eric Clapton's second Crossroads Guitar Festival with 20 other guitarists to raise money for the Crossroads Centre foraddictive disorders. Performing in Chicago, he played "Paying the Cost to Be the Boss", "Rock Me Baby" and "Thrill is Gone" (although the latter was not published on the DVD release) with Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan and Hubert Sumlin. In a poignant moment during the live broadcast, he offered a toast to the concert's host, Eric Clapton, and also reflected upon his own life and seniority. Adding to the poignancy, the four-minute speech — which had been underlaid with a mellow chord progression by Robert Cray throughout — made a transition to an emotional rendition of "Thrill is Gone". Parts of this performance were subsequently aired in a PBS broadcast and released on the Crossroads II DVD.In late October 2006, he recorded a concert CD and DVD entitled B.B. King: Live at his B.B. King Blues Clubs in Nashville and Memphis. The four-night production featured his regular B.B. King Blues Band and captured his show as he performs it nightly around the world. It was his first live performance recording in 14 years.

Also in 2007, King accepted an invitation to contribute to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard Records). With Ivan Neville's DumpstaPhunk, King contributed his version of the title song, "Goin' Home".

In 2007 King performed "One Shoe Blues" on the Sandra Boynton children's album Blue Moo, accompanied by a pair of sock puppets in the video.

In June 2008, King played at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee; he was also the final performer at the 25th annual Chicago Blues Festival on June 8, 2008, and at the Monterey Blues Festival, following Taj Mahal. Another June 2008 event was King's induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame alongside Liza Minnelli and Sir James Galway.

In July 2008, Sirius XM Radio's Bluesville channel was renamed B.B. King's Bluesville.

On December 1, 2008, King performed at the Maryland Theater in Hagerstown, Maryland.^[18] On December 3, King and John Mayer were the closing act at the 51st Grammy Nomination Concert, playing "Let the Good Times Roll" by Louis Jordan. On December 30, 2008, King played at The Kennedy Center Honors Awards Show; his performance was in honor of actor Morgan Freeman.

In March 2010, King contributed to Cyndi Lauper's album Memphis Blues, which was released on June 22, 2010.In Summer 2009, King started a European Tour with concerts in France, Germany, Belgium, Finland and Denmark.

King performed at the Mawazine festival in Rabat, Morocco, on May 27, 2010.^[19]

On June 25, 2011 King played the pyramid stage at The Glastonbury Music Festival. On the June 28 he opened his new European tour at The Royal Albert Hall, London, supported by Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, Ronnie Wood, Mick Hucknall and Slash.

On March 22, 2012, King played a concert at the Chicago House of Blues, where Benson made a guest appearance and both King & Benson held a jammin' session for over 20 minutes, it was also the celebration of Benson's birthday.On February 21, 2012, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama hosted, “In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues”, a celebration of blues music held in the East Room of the White House and B.B. King was among the performers. Later on that night, President Obama, encouraged by Buddy Guy and B.B. King, sang part of "Sweet Home Chicago".^[20]

King performed on the debut album of rapper and producer Big K.R.I.T., who also hails from Mississippi.

On July 5, 2012, King performed a concert at the Byblos Festival, Lebanon.

Over a period of 63 years, King has played in excess of 15,000 performances.

Equipment

B.B. King uses simple equipment. He played guitars made by different manufacturers early in his career: he played a Fender Telecaster on most of his recordings with RPM Records (USA).^[23]However, he is best known for playing variants of the Gibson ES-355. In 1980 Gibson Guitar Corporation launched the B.B. King Lucille model. In 2005 Gibson made a special run of 80 Gibson Lucilles, referred to as the "80th Birthday Lucille", the first prototype of which was given as a birthday gift to King, and which he has been using ever since.

King uses Lab Series L5 2x12" combo amp and has been using this amp for a long time. The amp was made by Norlin Industries for Gibson in the 1970s and '80s. Other popular L5 users areAllan Holdsworth and Ty Tabor of King's X. The L5 has an onboard compressor, parametric EQ, and four inputs. King has also used a Fender Twin Reverb.

He uses his signature model strings Gibson SEG-BBS B.B. King Signature Electric Guitar Strings with gauges: 10-13-17p-32w-45w-54w and D'Andrea 351 MD SHL CX (Medium .71mm, Tortoise Shell, Celluloid) Picks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King