Over his 70-plus years of touring, B.B. King has performed more than 10,000 concerts, but he has said that the thrill is still there for him every time he plays to an audience.
“When I go onstage, I still feel like a little boat in an ocean,” he said in a previous interview. “All out there by myself.
“Some people call it stage fright.... But I think it’s like going to see your in-laws for the first time. And if you’ve ever been married you know what that’s like. Oh my god.”
King will add one more performance to his resume Sunday night at Memorial Auditorium. He has said he sees himself as an ambassador for the blues. While he has cut his number of shows from 240 to about 150 per year recently, he believes playing live is necessary to make up for the lack of blues music on the radio.
“One of the reasons I travel a lot is so I can carry the music to the people. Because if I don’t carry it, it don’t go on the air,” he said.
King himself has had only one hit single, “The Thrill Is Gone,” but that song was a huge crossover pop hit in 1970 and is considered a blues classic. It is No. 183 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
He charted 74 songs on Billboard’s R&B charts from 1951 to 1985.
IF YOU GO
What: B.B. King in concert.
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Memorial Auditorium, 399 McCallie Ave.
Admission: $29.50 to $75.
Phone: 642-TIXS.
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