[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 75 (Friday, May 15, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H3238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO B.B. KING

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, ``The Thrill is Gone.'' Legendary iconic 
guitar player and performer B.B. King passed away last night.
  B.B. King, born Riley B. King, born in the delta, lived a phenomenal 
life. He was born into poverty and was a sharecropper in Itta Bena, 
Mississippi.
  He moved to Memphis and went on WDIA radio, the first African 
American-owned station in America, and became a disc jockey, Beale 
Street Blues Boy. That is where he got his B.B. name.
  He went on to perform and learn on Beale Street, and he went on to be 
one of the great guitarists of all time. He taught a lot of guitarists 
how to play and was their mentor, somebody they looked up to.
  Memphis was his adopted hometown. A club in his name is there on 
Beale Street, B.B. King Blues Club.
  He was a very, very nice man and a talented individual who rose to 
get the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors. His 
art will live on forever. He will be greatly missed.

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