- Interview with Richard Rossi - Click to listen!
- Read Shirley's interview on Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb
- Hear Shirley's interview on WGN Radio.
- Read Shirley's interview on Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb
- Hear Shirley's interview on WGN Radio.
In New Book Shirley King, B.B. King's Daughter, Tells Her Story
The thrill is far from gone. B. B. King, legendary Blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer, left a lasting legacy. Shirley, his only daughter raised by the King family, was there through his rise from rags to riches and on to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
From a cotton plantation to unforgotten ovations, B. B. and Shirley were known for performing tirelessly for appreciative audiences worldwide. B. B. never wanted Shirley to ride on his coattails. He challenged her to earn the King name while he was still alive. Her legendary father helped open a few doors along her rocky road from student to star, but Shirley’s magnetism and flair sparked her first success as an exotic dancer known as “Shirley King the Body Queen,” and eventually earned her the later crown, “Shirley King, Daughter of the Blues.”
Remember a time when B. B. King’s voice graced daily radio airwaves? You recall such recordings as “Sweet Sixteen” (1960), “Rock Me Baby” (1964), “They’ll Come a Time” (1969), “The Thrill is Gone” (1970), “Let’s Stay Together” (1972), “Guess Who?” (1973), and “Let the Good Times Roll” (1976). Those songs provide the undulating backdrop for an absorbing story that includes their behind-the-scenes brushes with Marcia Ball, George Benson, Billy Branch, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Robert Cray, Shirley Dixon, The Drifters, Redd Foxx, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Buddy Guy, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Jackson 5, Etta James, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Bonnie Raitt, Jackie Wilson, and Stevie Wonder.
Discover B. B. King’s heartbreaking journey, the backstories and backstreets, and Shirley’s determination to rise above pain, an absentee father, B. B.’s controlling management team, and her lost loves to preserve B. B. King’s name and to keep their music eternally alive.
The thrill is far from gone. B. B. King, legendary Blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer, left a lasting legacy. Shirley, his only daughter raised by the King family, was there through his rise from rags to riches and on to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
From a cotton plantation to unforgotten ovations, B. B. and Shirley were known for performing tirelessly for appreciative audiences worldwide. B. B. never wanted Shirley to ride on his coattails. He challenged her to earn the King name while he was still alive. Her legendary father helped open a few doors along her rocky road from student to star, but Shirley’s magnetism and flair sparked her first success as an exotic dancer known as “Shirley King the Body Queen,” and eventually earned her the later crown, “Shirley King, Daughter of the Blues.”
Remember a time when B. B. King’s voice graced daily radio airwaves? You recall such recordings as “Sweet Sixteen” (1960), “Rock Me Baby” (1964), “They’ll Come a Time” (1969), “The Thrill is Gone” (1970), “Let’s Stay Together” (1972), “Guess Who?” (1973), and “Let the Good Times Roll” (1976). Those songs provide the undulating backdrop for an absorbing story that includes their behind-the-scenes brushes with Marcia Ball, George Benson, Billy Branch, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Robert Cray, Shirley Dixon, The Drifters, Redd Foxx, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Buddy Guy, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Jackson 5, Etta James, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Bonnie Raitt, Jackie Wilson, and Stevie Wonder.
Discover B. B. King’s heartbreaking journey, the backstories and backstreets, and Shirley’s determination to rise above pain, an absentee father, B. B.’s controlling management team, and her lost loves to preserve B. B. King’s name and to keep their music eternally alive.
In January of 2017, Shirley King went to the Women of the Blues: A Coast-to-Coast Collection
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Women of the Blues: A Coast-To-Coast Collection comes to the National Blues Museum. This traveling collection features portraits of some the most influential female artists throughout blues history. Speaking about this unique exhibit is the Nation Blues Museum’s Director of Internal Affairs Jacqueline Dace and the collection’s curator, Lynn Orman Weiss. Also visiting the gallery and sharing their thoughts on the exhibit are notable blues artists Anne Harris, Jan James, and the “Daughter of Blues” Shirley King.
Women of the Blues runs January 7 through March 31. For more information please visit www.nationalbluesmuseum.org. |
