Joe Bonamassa admits an 80-year-old BB King once had to show him how to put songs on his iPod: “How sad is that? I was 28!”
After recently calling out anyone who would criticise BB King’s playing – calling him “one of the only guitarists you can identify with one note” – Joe Bonamassa has shared more insight into his close friendship with the blues legend, with a hilarious anecdote involving the trappings of modern-day technology.
You might assume it would be Bonamassa who would have to lecture the blues great on new technology, but it was actually the reverse – when BB King once showed the young guitarist how to properly work an iPod.
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As JoBo explains in an interview in the latest issue of Guitarist magazine, after heavily inspiring him to pick up a guitar in the first place, BB King continued his mentor role when he showed him how to put his favourite tracks on his iPod.
“He showed me how to drag songs from a computer into an iPod when he was 80 years old!” Bonamassa says. “I didn’t know how to do that and he’s like, ‘Here, son, this is how you do it.’ How sad is that? I was 28 or something and he was 80. But he was a consummate professional.”
Elaborating on King’s professionalism, Bonamassa continues: “I remember one time in Charleston, West Virginia, there was a big snowstorm, and the governor of West Virginia called specifically to ask BB King to postpone the show and he wouldn’t do it.
“He goes, ‘I told them I’m going to be here in March and I’m here.’ They’re like, ‘But Mr. King, it’s unsafe.’ He said, ‘Well, I made it!’ So that was him, man.”
“He was always touring,” he goes on. “I mean, he would do those summer runs and then go right back on the road in theatres and he was very much a road dog and he loved it a lot. I mean, he always said, ‘I want to die on the road, doing what I love,’ you know? But he didn’t know any other life.
“You’re talking about somebody who started working that much in the early ‘50s and never stopped for anything.”
BB King died in 2015 at the age of 89 following an impressive 70-year career, in which he left an indelible mark on the world of blues.
Joe Bonamassa has a string of tour dates planned for 2026. For tickets and a full list of dates, head to his official website.
The post Joe Bonamassa admits an 80-year-old BB King once had to show him how to put songs on his iPod: “How sad is that? I was 28!” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
