MEMPHIS, Tenn. — At Handy Park in Downtown Memphis, it was one last encore for blues legend B.B. King.
Hundreds of fans showed up under rainy skies for a tribute and jam session fit for the king of the blues.
Many of those who knew him best traveled to Memphis for emotional and heartfelt performances such as Tony Coleman.
He was B.B’s drummer for 37 years.
“He’s inside me and the things he taught me and all that stuff. It’s really hard to say goodbye, but he’ll live on through me and everybody around the world,” Coleman said.
Flowers lined the stage and dignitaries spoke about the blues icon they said changed they way they listened to and played music.
Fellow blues legend Bobby Rush played “When The Saints Come Marching In” on his harmonica to remember his friend from humble beginnings.
“B.B.. King came from the cotton fields to the wagon wheels. The chair he sits in with the crown on his head, I salute him and all of his fans and family and I pray for them,” Rush said.
But this was also a day for fans to celebrate a life and musical legacy.
Musician Rodd Bland, the son of the late Bobby Blue Bland, was entrusted with bringing B.B.’s guitar, Lucille, to Beale Street one last time.
“I found a picture a couple of days ago I posted of me as a small boy holding Lucille and I reposted it. It’s bittersweet. I get to hold Lucille and take her down Beale Street one last time,” Bland said.
It’s one last tribute on Beale Street, the street in Memphis where Riley B. King became known around the world simply as B.B. King.
“B.B. King was born in Memphis; Beale Street Blues Boy. Riley King left Mississippi. This is the place where he began so this is a good place to take him back home to where he came from,” Coleman said.