The body of BB King will be displayed in an open casket in Las Vegas this Friday (May 22).
The blues legend, who passed away in his sleep aged 89 last Thursday (May 14), will be buried in his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, but a public viewing and private service for family members will take place in Las Vegas, where he lived at the time of his death.
His business agent, LaVerne Toney, says the viewing will be held from 3-7pm at Palm Mortuary West, Billboard reports. Mortuary manager Matthew Phillips says there won’t be a memorial service during the viewing.
The Rolling Stones paid tribute to the late blues guitarist during a Twitter Q&A with fans on Monday (May 18).
Jagger and co held their first-ever Q&A on the social networking site ahead next month’s re-release of their ‘Sticky Fingers’ LP. They were asked by fans for their memories of King, who passed away in his sleep last Thursday (May 14), after suffering a series of small strokes related to his type 2 diabetes.
I was just looking at a picture of me and BB backstage at Madison Square Garden [in 1969],” Jagger told fans. “He played with us at a lot of gigs on that tour. We last played with him in a blues concert at the White House. It’s sad. He had such a huge, long career. It’s sad that we won’t be listening to him live anymore.”
Keith Richards added by describing King as “one of the greats”, continuing, “BB was a great guy. He was one of the true gentlemen, and I shall miss him a lot. At least we have his records. Farewell, BB.”
When asked for his favourite BB King song, Jagger said, “He had so many recordings. It’s difficult to choose.”
Since his passing last week, the likes of Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Wu-Tang Clan, Slash, President Barack Obama and more have paid tribute to King. U2 performed their BB King collaboration ‘When Love Comes To Town’ at their show in Vancouver last Friday (May 15) in honour of the late musician.