Blues Legend B.B. King Is Dead at Age 89, AP Cites His Attorney

B.B. King, who rose from poverty on a Mississippi Delta cotton plantation to become one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century and an ambassador for American blues music, has died. He was 89.

He died at 9:40 p.m. Thursday at his home in Las Vegas, Nicole Coleman, a spokeswoman for the Clark County, Nevada, coroner and medical examiner, said Friday in a telephone interview. King said on his website on May 1 that he was in hospice care at home.