B.B. King, the legendary blues guitarist, fell ill Friday night during a performance at the House of Blues in Chicago and canceled the remainder of his current tour.
Mr. King, 89, was “immediately evaluated by a doctor” and was said to be suffering from dehydration and exhaustion, his website said. He canceled the eight remaining shows of his tour, including an Oct. 13 gig in New York at the Times Square music club that bears his name.
Born Riley B. King in Berclair, Miss., in 1925, he started to go by B.B. after his career took him to Memphis in the ’40s, where he became known as Beale Street Blues Boy, then Blues Boy King, and finally as B.B. King.
His distinctive style — he calls his guitar Lucille — on songs including “Everyday I Have the Blues” and “The Thrill is Gone” have earned him an international following, a lifetime achievement Grammy Award and honors from the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.