B.B. King, with his ever-present guitar Lucille, rose from sharecropper poverty in deep Mississippi to become the face of the American blues worldwide and an inspiration for generations of rock guitarists everywhere. ‘The King of the Blues,’ as he was universally known, led a life of non-stop touring, electrifying audiences in some 100 countries with his biting guitar licks and soulful songs of love and angst such as ‘The Thrill is Gone’ and ‘How Blue Can You Get.’ King died Thursday at age 89 in Las Vegas, which was the blues legend’s primary residence amid years of incessant travel, his daughter said. King kept up a grueling touring schedule even in his 80s, despite living with Type II diabetes for more than two decades. But King’s fans noticed last year that some performances were increasingly erratic, and he canceled remaining dates in October after falling ill at a show in Chicago. A consummate entertainer with a husky baritone

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