Riley B. King, better known as B.B. King, the undisputed King of the Blues, will perform at Chinook Winds March 20-21.

Since King started recording in the late 1940s, he has released over 50 albums, many of which are considered blues classics. In 1969, King scored his biggest hit, The Thrill Is Gone, which pushed him before mainstream audiences, including his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He has performed in 57 countries, won five Grammy Awards and become known as the world's most successful blues artist.

King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. He has received four honorary doctorates and was a founding member of the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center.

Like the blues, B.B. King just keeps gettin' better with age along with his equally legendary guitar, Lucille, who has a history all her own. During the mid-1950s, while King was performing in Arkansas, a few fans became unruly and two men got into a fight, knocking over a kerosene stove and setting fire to the hall. King raced outside to safety, but forgot his $30 guitar inside, so he rushed back inside to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. When he later found out that the fight had been over a woman named Lucille, he decided to give that name to his guitar. Each of his guitars have been named Lucille ever since. Over the years, King and Lucille developed one of the world's most readily identifiable guitar styles.