MUSICIAN

B.B. King

1925 - 2015

Photo of B.B. King

Icon of person B.B. King

Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B. B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato, and staccato picking that influenced many later blues electric guitar players. AllMusic recognized King as "the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century".King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of the Blues", and is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King, none of whom are related). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of B.B. King has received more than 7,793,332 page views. His biography is available in 83 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 82 in 2019). B.B. King is the 48th most popular musician (down from 44th in 2019), the 309th most popular biography from United States (down from 263rd in 2019) and the 13th most popular American Musician.

B.B. King is most famous for his guitar playing. He has been playing since he was a child and has had many hit songs.

Memorability Metrics

  • 7.8M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 69.49

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 83

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.00

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.43

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of B.B. Kings by language

Over the past year B.B. King has had the most page views in the with 403,841 views, followed by Spanish (106,371), and German (68,424). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Swahili (721.43%), Simple English (156.85%), and Sardinian (54.43%)

Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, B.B. King ranks 48 out of 3,175. Before him are Maria Anna Mozart, Ronnie James Dio, Syd Barrett, Miles Davis, Martha Argerich, and Goran Bregović. After him are Isaac Albéniz, Victor Borge, Pablo Casals, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Page, and Amir Khusrow.

Most Popular Musicians in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1925, B.B. King ranks 21. Before him are Mikis Theodorakis, Lee Van Cleef, Carlos Castaneda, Robert F. Kennedy, Jorge Rafael Videla, and Tony Curtis. After him are Jack Lemmon, Rock Hudson, Jacques Delors, Peter Sellers, Michel Piccoli, and Douglas Engelbart. Among people deceased in 2015, B.B. King ranks 12. Before him are Nicholas Winton, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Christopher Lee, Omar Sharif, Terry Pratchett, and Tomas Tranströmer. After him are Helmut Schmidt, Anita Ekberg, Süleyman Demirel, Henning Mankell, Josef Masopust, and Laura Antonelli.

Others Born in 1925

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Others Deceased in 2015

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In United States

Among people born in United States, B.B. King ranks 309 out of 20,380. Before him are Burt Lancaster (1913), Clinton Davisson (1881), Oliver Hardy (1892), David Woodard (1964), Calvin Coolidge (1872), and Billy the Kid (1859). After him are Norbert Wiener (1894), Eli Whitney (1765), Rita Hayworth (1918), J. Edgar Hoover (1895), Nina Simone (1933), and J. P. Morgan (1837).

Others born in United States

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Among MUSICIANS In United States

Among musicians born in United States, B.B. King ranks 13. Before him are Scatman John (1942), Frank Zappa (1940), Brian Wilson (1942), Chuck Berry (1926), Ronnie James Dio (1942), and Miles Davis (1926). After him are Bruce Springsteen (1949), Cliff Burton (1962), Duke Ellington (1899), Israel Kamakawiwoʻole (1959), Dean Martin (1917), and Yehudi Menuhin (1916).

American born Musicians

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