Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimmering vibrato, and staccatopicking that influenced many later electric guitar blues players.[9][10]AllMusic recognized King as “the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century”.