JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Tennessee will get a chance to honor B.B. King next week prior to his burial in Mississippi.
The body of the blues legend will pass down Beale Street in Memphis next Wednesday afternoon, followed by a tribute ceremony at Handy Park.
King was schooled in the Blues in Memphis and played some of his first professional gigs there. The B.B. in King’s name is the shortened version of Beale Street Blues Boy, his original stage name.
Following the Memphis tribute, King’s body will be returned to the Mississippi Delta where his life and career began.
A public viewing will be held May 29 at the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, and the funeral will be May 30 at the nearby Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church. The 15-time Grammy winner will be buried at the museum.
King was 89 when he died May 14 at his home in Las Vegas.