Mahalia Jackson Theater Welcomes BB King

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Kym Atkins • Nicole Robinson
katkins@majesticempire.com • nrobinson@acetheatregroup.com

The MAHALIA JACKSON THEATER welcomes
B.B. KING
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17^TH AT 8PM

New Orleans, November 14, 2011-In music, from the 1950's throughout 1990's, there has been only one King of the Blues - Riley B. King, affectionately known as B.B. King. Since B.B. started recording in the late 1940's, he has released over 60 albums many of them considered blues classics and earning him countless awards.

B.B. King will bring his most prized possession "Lucille" to the stage at Mahalia Jackson Theater on Tuesday, January 17^th at 8pm.

Tickets ($75.00, $70.00, $65.00 & $60.00) go on sale Friday, November 18^th at 11AM. Charge tickets by phone at 800.745.3000, order online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/, or purchase in person at all Ticketmaster outlets, including the Mahalia Jackson Theater Box Office. All tickets subject to applicable service charges and fees.

B.B. has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound. His singing is richly melodic, both vocally and in the "singing" that comes from his guitar. In B.B's words, "When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille".

B.B. has influenced Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Rush, Johnny Winter, Albert King and many others while being influenced by Charles Brown, Lowell Fulsom, Elmore James, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Jimmy Rushing, T-Bone Walker, Bukka White and others.

In 1990 King Received the Songwriter's Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1991 the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award from Gibson Guitar Company. In 1989, King's imprint was added to the Amsterdam, Holland Walk of Fame and in 1991 to the Hollywood Walk of Fame (between Milton Berle and Vivian Leigh). In 1973, King received the B'nai Brith Humanitarian Award from the Music and Performance Lodge of New York.

In 1990, King received the prestigious Presidential Medal of the Arts in Washington, D.C. with President Bush presiding. In 1991, King received the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. In 1995, King received the Kennedy Center Honors.

Over the years, B.B. has been bestowed fifteen Grammy Awards by his peers: Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, Male in 1970 for "The Thrill Is Gone", Best Ethnic or Traditional recording in 1981 for "There Must Be A Better World Somewhere", and Best Traditional Blues Recording in 1983 for "Blues 'N Jazz" and in 1985 for "My Guitar Sings The Blues" from "Six Silver Strings". In 1970, King's "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" won for Best Album Cover, an art director's award. In 1990 King received another Grammy for the album "Live at San Quentin" as Best Traditional Blues Recording. In 1991, King was bestowed Best Traditional Blues Recording for "Live At The Apollo" and in 1993 the same award for "Blues Summit". And in 1996, along with Eric Clapton, Jimmie Vaughn, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Dr. John and Art Neville, King received the Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "SRV Shuffle" from A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan.

B.B. King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, where Sting of the Police made the induction speech. B.B. was the recipient of the 1986 National Association for Campus Activities Hall of Fame Award. B.B. was Blues Act of the Year in 1985, 1987, and 1988 Performance Award Polls. He is a founding member of the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center. B.B. King received the Grammy "Lifetime Achievement Award" in December of 1987 at the first televised awards in May 1990. He won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Blues Foundation in 1997. B.B. Has received four honorary doctorates: Tougaloo (Mississippi) College (L.H.D.) in 1973; Yale University (D. Music) in 1977; Berklee College of Music (D. Music) in 1982; and Rhodes College of Memphis (D. Fine Arts) in 1990. In 1992 he received the National Award of Distinction from the University of Mississippi.

"I'm trying to get people to see that we are our brother's keeper, I still work on it. Red, white, black, brown, yellow, rich, poor, we all have the blues".