James Bolden, Quinn Sullivan and ZZ Ward Sign on for ICON: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF B.B. KING

By: Aug. 16, 2016
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

B.B. King, 15-time GRAMMY winner will be honored at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sept. 1.

The GRAMMY Foundation and GRAMMY Museum are partnering to celebrate the life and legacy of B.B. King with Icon: The Life And Legacy Of B.B. King, a live tribute concert sponsored in part by Gibson Memphis and the Gibson Foundation, and by Brian and Adria Sheth.

In addition to live tribute performances and storytelling by artists influenced by King's music, a pre-event VIP reception will be held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Proceeds raised from Icon: The Life And Legacy Of B.B. King will support the initiatives of the GRAMMY Foundation and GRAMMY Museum, two charitable organizations of The Recording Academy.

Performers include multi-GRAMMY winners Keb' Mo', Derek Trucks and Jimmie Vaughan; GRAMMY winners Slash and Susan Tedeschi; GRAMMY nominees Joe Bonamassa and Kenny Wayne Shepherd; 35-year member of King's band James Bolden; Buddy Guy's protégé singer/guitarist Quinn Sullivan; blues guitarist Joe Louis Walker; and singer/songwriter ZZ Ward. The show's music director will be Jimmy Vivino of the "Conan" show. He will be joined by the Basic Cable Band, who will serve as the house band for the evening.

The event is hosted by Scott Goldman, Vice President of the GRAMMY Foundation.

Also in attendance will be Tim Bucher, GRAMMY Foundation Board Chair Emeritus, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and Senior Vice President, Consumer Solutions at Seagate Technologies, LLC; John Hamm, GRAMMY Foundation Board member and founding partner of Soda Rock Partners; and GRAMMY Museum Foundation Board members Ken Ehrlich, GRAMMY Awards executive producer, Ken Ehrlich Productions; Giselle Fernandez, TV journalist, producer and filmmaker; and Todd Goldstein, chief revenue officer, AEG.

Referred to as the King of the Blues, King released more than 50 albums since he began recording in the 1940s, creating classics such as "3 O'Clock Blues," "You Don't Know Me," and "The Thrill Is Gone," among many others. King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He received The Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, has had four recordings inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame and he received honorary doctorates from several universities and music colleges. King has inspired a variety of artists through the years, including Bonamassa, Elvis Costello, Robert Cray, J.J. Cale, John Mayer, Delbert McClinton, Jimmy Page, Diane Schuur, Slash, Tedeschi, and Vaughan, several of whom will perform at the concert.

Tickets for this event are sold out. Please contact Melissa Pazornik at melissa.pazornik@grammy.com to be placed on the waiting list.

The GRAMMY Foundation was established in 1988 to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture. The Foundation accomplishes this mission through programs and activities that engage the music industry and cultural community as well as the general public. The Foundation works in partnership year-round with its founder, The Recording Academy, to bring national attention to important issues such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage. In recognition of the significant role of teachers in shaping their students' musical experiences, The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation partnered to present their first Music Educator AwardTM in 2014. Open to current U.S. music teachers in kindergarten through college, the fourth annual Music Educator Award will be given out during GRAMMY Week 2017 and nominations are being accepted for the 2018 cycle. With funding generously provided by The Recording Academy, the GRAMMY Foundation Grant Program awards grants each year to support efforts that advance the preservation of music and the recorded sound heritage of North America, and research projects related to the impact of music on the human condition. Letters of inquiry are currently being accepted through Oct. 1, 2016, for the 2017 grant cycle. For more information about the Foundation, please visit www.grammyfoundation.org. For breaking news and exclusive content, please "like" GRAMMY in the Schools on Facebook, follow the GRAMMY Foundation on Twitter (@GRAMMYFdn) and join us on Instagram (@GRAMMYFdn).

Paying tribute to music's rich cultural history, the GRAMMY Museum explores and celebrates the enduring legacies of all forms of music, the creative process, the art and technology of the recording process, and the history of the premier recognition of excellence in recorded music - the GRAMMY Award. The GRAMMY Museum features 30,000 square feet of interactive and multimedia exhibits located within L.A. Live, the downtown Los Angeles sports, entertainment, and residential district. Through thought-provoking and dynamic public and educational programs and exhibits, guests experience music from a never-before-seen insider perspective that only the GRAMMY Museum can deliver. For more information, please call 213.765.6800 or visit www.grammymuseum.org. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYMuseum on Twitter and Instagram, and "like" The GRAMMY Museum on Facebook.

Photo Credit: Danny Clinch



Videos