B.B. King - Honors and Awards

Honors and Awards

• In 1977, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music by Yale University
• In 1980, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
• In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
• In 1990, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
• In 1991, he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA.

• King was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1995. This is given to recognize "the lifelong accomplishments and extraordinary talents of our nation's most prestigious artists."
• In 2004, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music awarded him the Polar Music Prize for his "significant contributions to the blues".
• On December 15, 2006, President George W. Bush awarded King the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• On May 27, 2007, King was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Brown University.
• On May 14, 2008, King was presented with the keys to the city of Utica, New York; and on May 18, 2008, the mayor of Portland, Maine, Edward Suslovic, declared the day "B.B. King Day" in the city. Prior to King's performance at the Merrill Auditorium, Suslovic presented King with the keys to the city.
• In 2009, TIME named B.B. King No.3 on its list of the 10 best electric guitarists of all time.
• Each year during the first week in June, a B.B. King Homecoming Festival is held in Indianola, Mississippi.
• A Mississippi Blues Trail marker was added for B.B. King, commemorating his birthplace.
• On May 29, 2010, Sabrosa Park (at the small town of Sabrosa, north of Portugal) was renamed B.B. King Park in honor of King and the free concert he played before 20,000 people.