B.B. King viewing being held before funeral in Mississippi
Published 12:00 pm Friday, May 29, 2015
- FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2007 file photo, B.B. King performs at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, in Salisbury, Md. The body of blues legend B.B. King will be flown on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, to Memphis, Tennessee, the place where a young King won the nickname Beale Street Blues Boy, then will return to the Mississippi Delta where his life and career began. King, whose scorching guitar licks and heartfelt vocals made him the idol of generations of musicians and fans while earning him the nickname King of the Blues, died Thursday, May 14, at home in Las Vegas. He was 89.(Matthew S. Gunby/The Daily Times via AP) NO SALES
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Friends and fans are getting a chance to file past B.B. King’s coffin during a public viewing Friday in the Mississippi Delta, the land that gave birth to the blues.
The visitation comes a day before the funeral for the man who influenced generations of singers and guitarists.
King was 89 when he died May 14 at his home in Las Vegas. A public viewing and invitation-only memorial service were held in that city before his body was flown to Memphis, Tennessee, for a tribute Wednesday.
Hundreds of people lined the roads to catch a glimpse of the hearse that drove his coffin from Memphis to his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi.
He will be buried on the grounds of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola.
