Born on  Sept. 16, 1925, in  Itta Bena, Mississippi, his real name, Riley King, was soon replaced with  B. B. (Blues Boy King). He was  9 years old when his mother left his family for another man, and his brother was in prison in Texas by the time he was 4. Surviving a difficult childhood, in 1946, B. B. moved to Memphis to promote his music career, but after 10 months his career was going no where. He moved back home with his wife and paid off his debts from sharecropping. 

He would later moved back to Memphis and perform  a medicine ad for Pepticon. He soon became a DJ for the first all black owned and operated radio station, playing on  request and strumming on his guitar. With his popularity rising, he made his first recording in 1949, and soon to follow were six singles being released over the air. He was a local favorite, but in 1951 his single "Three O'Clock Blues" went to the top of Billboard's  R and B chart.  From that point on, B.B. became a leader in the world of blues music.