The King Of The Blues!
Surely, there is no blues guitarist more famous than B.B. King? Not just well-known by the general public, B.B. King is held in the highest regard by his peers.
Legendary albums include Live At The Regal, Riding with the King (with Eric Clapton), and my personal favourite, B.B. King in London.
During his long career, B.B. picked up over 20 Grammies and numerous other Awards, all clearly well deserved!
B.B. King’s best-known tunes include The Thrill Is Gone, Sweet Little Angel, Paying The Cost To Be The Boss, and When Love Comes To Town from U2’s live album Rattle and Hum.
Why is B.B. King’s guitar named Lucille?
Lucille is the name of B.B. King’s guitar for which he risked his life saving it from a fire.
The story goes that B.B. King frequently played a club where the only source of heat was to place an empty barrel in the middle of the dance floor, fill it with kerosene, and set it alight.
Two men began fighting, knocking over the barrel and setting the wooden framed club on fire. B.B. ran back into the club to save his beloved guitar despite the dangers of falling burnt timber.
He later discovered that the two men were fighting over a girl named Lucille and decided to name his guitar after her as a reminder to never do anything as stupid ever again.
The Thrill Is Gone & Paying The Cost To Be The Boss
Perhaps his most famous tune, The Thrill Is Gone is a minor blues that seemingly represents the genre.
Being a blues standard, this is one of those songs that you can call at any jam and expect musicians to play it at the drop of a hat, even knowing the key without asking.
Another legendary song we find in Paying The Cost To Be The Boss. This is a 1968 single that became another signature song of B.B.’s.
Known for his legendary licks, B.B. comes up with them as he uses his guitar to direct the band. His secret is that he’s a singer and a band leader, using his guitar as a conductor uses his baton.
B.B. King Tunes | Related Pages
Love Me Tender
You can learn how to play Love Me Tender by Elvis using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| D D/A | E7 E7/B | A7 | D D/A |
Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go…
Paying The Cost To Be The Boss
Learn how to play Paying The Cost To Be The Boss by B.B. King using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and a Spytunes video guitar lesson.
| B9 (Fm7b5 D#m7b5) | E9 (A#m7b5 G#m7b5) |
You act like you don’t wanna listen, when I’m talking to you…
The Thrill Is Gone
You can learn how to play The Thrill Is Gone by B.B. King using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and a Spytunes video guitar lesson.
| Bm7 | Bm7 | Bm7 | Bm7 |
The thrill is gone, the thrill is gone away…
B.B. King on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about B.B. King tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
