Among the flood of tributes that followed the news of BB King’s death was one from Barack Obama. “The blues has lost its king and America has lost a legend,” declared the US President. “No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues. He gets stuck in your head, he gets you moving, he gets you doing the things you probably shouldn’t do.”
Obama happened to be talking from direct experience. In February 2012, while hosting an all-star TV celebration of the blues in the East Room of the White House – titled In Performance At The White House: Red, White And Blues – BB King and Buddy Guy coaxed him into taking the mic from Mick Jagger. Taken aback but somewhat bashfully rising to the challenge, the President then sang the first verse of Robert Johnson’s Sweet Home Chicago, trading a line with King before handing back the reins. King, meanwhile, remained stage front, his guitar across his chest and a mischievous grin on his face.
