For more than half a century, B.B. King has defined blues for a worldwide audience with hits such as Three O’Clock Blues, The Thrill Is Gone and collaborations with the likes of Eric Clapton (Ridin’ with the King) and U2 (When Love Comes to Town). With more than 70 albums and 14 Grammy Awards to his credit, King is a blues legend at the top of his game.

CAPA presents B.B. King at the Palace Theatre (34 W. Broad St.) on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m.

In his Mississippi youth, King played on street corners for nickels and dimes, and would sometimes play in as many as four towns a night. After hitchhiking to Memphis in 1947, he got his first big break on Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio program. King soon had his own radio show and was performing across the country. It was at one of these shows in Arkansas that “Lucille” was born. After the dance hall was set ablaze during a fight, King ran back in to save his guitar. He later found out the fight was over a woman named Lucille, and named his guitar after her to remind himself to never get into a fight over a woman. Ever since, each one of King's trademark Gibson guitars has been called Lucille.

Over the years, King has developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar styles. Borrowing from Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker and others, King integrates his precise and complex vocal-like string bends and left hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of every rock guitarist's vocabulary. His economy, his every-note-counts phrasing, has been a model for thousands of players, from Eric Clapton to George Harrison to Jeff Beck. King has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound.

King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He received NARAS' Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1987 and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006, along with honorary doctorates from several universities.
Tickets are $47.50, $42.50, and $37.50 and are now available at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), any Ticketmaster Outlet, or www.ticketmaster.com.

To charge by phone, call (614) 431-3600 or (614) 469-0939. The Palace Theatre Ticket Office opens two hours before the performance.