King makes first-ever appearance at the Center

Southtown Star - Chicago, IL, USA - B.B. King, the "King of the Blues," will perform at the Center for Performing Arts in University Park for the first time on Friday.

King's show will feature signature classics including "Payin' the Cost To Be the Boss," "The Thrill Is Gone," "How Blue Can You Get," "Everyday I Have the Blues" and "Why I Sing the Blues."

As seen on NBC's runaway summer hit show "America's Got Talent," 14-year-old blues harmonic whiz LD Miller and his brother, Cole, will open the show.

For more than a half century, Riley B. King, better known as B.B. King, has defined the blues for a worldwide audience.

On July 28, King was one of a select group of the greatest guitar players in the world to play Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.

King continues to tour extensively, averaging more than 250 shows each year at venues around the world.

Since he began recording in the 1940s, King has released more than 50 albums, many of which are now classics.

He has received 14 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1987, and most recently a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2006 for "B.B. King & Friends - 80."

King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Through the years, King has developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar styles.