B.B. King Boulevard opens in Memphis

A street in B.B. King’s home town has been renamed in honour of the late blues icon.

A two-mile stretch of Third Street in Memphis, Tennessee, has been named B.B. King Boulevard. The switch came on September 16, which would have been King’s 90th birthday.

Joellyn Sullivan, owner of Silky O’Sullivan’s on the corner of B.B. King Boulevard and Beale Street, tells WMC Action News: “You don’t just hear the blues, you feel the blues and Memphis music.”

King’s goddaughter, Ruby Wilson, adds: “He made history by going around the world singing and performing and making people happy. I am really appreciative of him doing that because he made me happy.”

Google Maps have already updated their database to include the new name.

This month, an aide to King sued three of the musician’s daughters after the drama that surrounded his death in May.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.