B.B. King at White House

Blues legend B.B. King will commemorate "Black Music Month, " with a performance at the White House on Monday, June 26. A number of guests, including President George W. Bush, will gather on the South Lawn for the event.

In 1947, King launched his professional career, leaving the Mississippi Delta and heading for Memphis, where he enjoyed some early successes, before going to become one of the world's most beloved musicians.

In honor of his 80th birthday last September, King celebrated the occasion with a few of his musical compatriots on the new studio album of duets that won him a Grammy in February.

Featuring some of today's biggest stars -- from Eric Clapton, Elton John, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer and Gloria Estefan to Roger Daltrey, Glenn Frey, Mark Knopfler, Billy Gibbons, Bobby Bland and Daryl Hall -- B.B. King and Friends -- 80 is yet another landmark in the career of one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th Century.

King has announced that a museum in his honor is to be built in his home state of Mississippi and the first phase of the $10 million B.B. King Museum opens next year in Indianola, near his hometown.

Among King's many classics are "The Thrill Is Gone, " "Payin' the Cost to Be the Boss, " "Everyday I Have the Blues, " "You Don't Know Me" and "Why I Sing the Blues."

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music