TUNICA, Miss. –-Just before 4 p.m. the B.B. King procession left the well-known delta diner, The Blue and White Restaurant.
Dozens of cars pulled into the restaurant, a favorite among blues musicians for the food, a car wash, and the memories.
Almost everyone we talked to today had a connection to B.B. King.
One woman said she knew him back before his music days as a tractor and truck driver.
“We went to school in town and we lived about three miles from town. We would catch his truck so that way we wouldn’t have to walk,” Laurie Hubbard explained.
Wednesday, King left the city of Memphis and took Highway 61 home.
Fans and friends lined the road from Downtown Memphis to Tunica to salute the blues legend.
Our cameras were there when his procession reached the Tennessee, Mississippi state line.
His Tennessee escorts pulled to the side as the Mississippi crew took over for the remainder of the haul.
Dozens of people lined up to see this changing of the guard.
One of the most beautiful things we saw was before King’s procession crossed into Mississippi one of the onlookers was playing “Paying The Cost To Be The Boss”.
As the casket went, by that man tipped his hat to B.B. King.
Many of the onlookers told us they were sad that BB was gone, but so glad he’s coming home.
“I knew BB personally,’ James Coopwood told WREG. “He’s the type of guy, he would have loved this. This is what he loved. And for me to be a part of it, I’m honored.”