“I met him in 1990 when I was 13 years old. We became lifelong friends”: Joe Bonamassa pays tribute to B.B. King – and shows us why blues starts and ends with the King

Today, I’d like to talk about the legacy of the legendary B.B. King, as 2025 marked what would have been his 100th birthday. I met B.B. in 1990 when I was 13 years old, and we became lifelong friends. He was the nicest and most generous person I’ve ever known.

I recently recorded a tribute album in B.B.’s honor, Blues Summit 100. Sadly, he passed at the age of 89 on May 14, 2015, but he left behind a trove of the most essential and influential blues recordings of all time. Everything that I and most other blues and blues-rock influenced guitarists play, owes a tip to the hat to B.B.

The title of my tribute album references the guitarist’s 1993 release Blues Summit, which features duets with Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins, and others. Following in that tradition, Blues Summit 100 includes appearances by Buddy Guy, Slash, Marcus King, Jimmie Vaughan, Kirk Fletcher, and a variety of other guests.

When you talk about legendary guitarists and their indelible marks, there are some who can be identified upon hearing them play a few notes. With B.B., all it takes is one note! That’s it! Just one stinging vibrato and you know it can only be him.

Joe Bonamassa: My tribute to the great B.B. King - YouTube

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B.B.’s soloing style was built on killer melodic phrases, like the one demonstrated in Figure 1.

Played in the key of B and based on a combination of B major pentatonic (B, C#, D#, F#, G#) and B minor pentatonic (B, D, E, F#, A), this lick is played in 12th position, in what’s often referred to as the “B.B. box.” All of the notes fall within that four-fret span, with the 1st finger anchored at the B string’s 12th fret. In bar 1, notice the essential whole-step bend of F# up to G# on beat 2.

In bar 2, I jump up to accent a high B note followed by a slide down to 7th position and a quick descending lick based on B minor pentatonic, phrased in B.B.’s style.

In Figure 2, I again begin in the same box but then shift down to 7th position for faster phrases based on B minor pentatonic, ending with a nod to B major pentatonic with the inclusion of the 6th, G#.

King was faster than he’s usually given credit for, as he would blaze through licks like these in just about every tune.

He also had some jazz influences, most notably Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt, which he’d reference with licks like that shown in Figure 3, which begins in the manner of a horn line.

To telegraph a key change, B.B. would suddenly play a lick in, say, Bb, and when the band fell in behind him, he’d play expressive lines starting with a chordal stab, as in Figure 4.

B.B. had such an original catalog of licks, and there are many phrases I’ve learned from him that pop into my playing. Figures 5 and 6 are prime examples.

For me, as a blues player, it always starts and ends with B.B. King. Among my favorite albums are Indianola Mississippi Seeds, with Changing Things, Completely Well, with The Thrill Is Gone, and, of course, the burning Live at the Regal.

B.B. was so original and so powerful a player; his influence can be heard everywhere. He could plug into anything and would always sound like himself. Happy 100th birthday to B.B. King!

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.