The “King of Blues” has passed away. 

B.B. King died peacefully in his Las Vegas home Thursday night at 9:40 PST, his attorney Brent Bryson confirmed to the Associated Press. He was 89.

King is noted as one of the world's most influential artists whose popularity transcends the blues genre. The musician, born Riley B. King in Mississippi in 1925, enjoyed a career spanning almost 70 years. He began his recording career in the 1949 under RPM Records. By 1952 King had scored his first chart-topper with “Three O’Clock Blues,” and more hits would follow.

He influenced generations of artists from all genres of music, rap to rock, who watched him play his signature Gibson guitar that he affectionately called Lucille. King famously developed a call-and-response routine where he talked to his guitar like it was a woman.

A 15-time Grammy winner, King was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

(Photo: David Redfern/Redferns)