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MUSICIAN

B.B. King

1925 - 2015

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Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, 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 7,095,260 page views. His biography is available in 82 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 81 in 2019). B.B. King is the 44th most popular musician (down from 38th in 2019), the 263rd most popular biography from United States (up from 275th in 2019) and the 11th 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

  • 7.1M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 69.94

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 82

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.43

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.21

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of B.B. Kings by language


Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, B.B. King ranks 44 out of 2,662. Before him are Maria Anna Mozart, Ronnie James Dio, Brian Jones, Maurice Gibb, Benny Andersson, and John Deacon. After him are Sting, Lemmy, Vladimir Horowitz, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, and David Gilmour.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1925, B.B. King ranks 17. Before him are Zygmunt Bauman, Alija Izetbegović, Mahathir Mohamad, Robert F. Kennedy, Tony Curtis, and Lee Van Cleef. After him are Jorge Rafael Videla, Carlos Castaneda, Audie Murphy, Jack Lemmon, Peter Sellers, and Rock Hudson. Among people deceased in 2015, B.B. King ranks 12. Before him are Demis Roussos, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Christopher Lee, Terry Pratchett, Tomas Tranströmer, and Helmut Schmidt. After him are Anita Ekberg, Lemmy, Laura Antonelli, Nicholas Winton, Henning Mankell, and Süleyman Demirel.

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 263 out of 18,182. Before him are Oliver Hardy (1892), Gwyneth Paltrow (1972), John Dillinger (1903), Nina Simone (1933), Christopher Lloyd (1938), and Mary Cassatt (1844). After him are Robert Peary (1856), Margaret Mitchell (1900), Leonard Bernstein (1918), John Quincy Adams (1767), Claude Shannon (1916), and Robert Andrews Millikan (1868).

Others born in United States

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Among MUSICIANS In United States

Among musicians born in United States, B.B. King ranks 11. Before him are Madonna (1958), Ray Charles (1930), Scatman John (1942), Miles Davis (1926), Frank Zappa (1940), and Ronnie James Dio (1942). After him are Brian Wilson (1942), Bruce Springsteen (1949), Chuck Berry (1926), Charlie Parker (1920), Robert Johnson (1911), and Chet Baker (1929).

American born Musicians

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