B.B. King and his beloved Lucille
The announcement May 1 that beloved B.B. King, The King of Blues, is in hospice care at his home in Las Vegas raises the awful possibility the Blues legend might have six months left to live.
King was hospitalized April 30 and treated at a hospital for complications of high blood pressure and diabetes, said Laverne Toney, King's longtime business manager and current power-of-attorney.
It was the second time this year King has entered a hospital. He was admitted for the same conditions in early April.
King, born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925 to a poor family in Mississippi, has lived with Type II diabetes for over 20 years and is a high-profile spokesman in the fight against this deadly disease
But the recent news the 89-year-old King had entered hospice care at his home and refused to enter a hospice (or a hospital for seriously ill or terminally ill people) is fueling speculation all is not well for the singer, songwriter, and guitarist ranked among the top 10 greatest guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
The reason for the rumors King's health might not be holding-up is the fact his family considered hospice care at all.
In the United States, hospice care is made available to patients with a terminal prognosis that are medically certified to have less than six months to live. In these instances, hospice care is available either at the patient's home or in an inpatient facility.
King's family chose the former option of home hospice care. And the reason was given by Toney.
"Mr. King is where he wishes to be," Toney said of the decision to have home hospice care. "He's always told me he doesn't want to be in a hospital. He wants to be at home."
King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and into 2014 class of the R&B Music Hall of Fame.
"When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille", said King about his widely imitated style of guitar playing that combines blues, jump, jazz, swing and mainstream pop.
Lucille is King's famous guitar or guitars. It isn't the name of only one guitar since King baptized his first black Gibson ES-355 guitar with the name Lucille in 1949. King said Lucille was named after a woman two men fought over at a dance hall in Arkansas.
King said he named all his guitars Lucille since then to remind him never to do something as stupid as to fight over women.
Among King's immortal hits are Every Day I Have the Blues, When Love Comes to Town, The Thrill is Gone, Sweet Little Angel, How Blue Can You Get?, Why I Sing The Blues, Paying The Cost To Be The Boss and Don't Answer The Door, Parts 1 & 2.
