For BB King:  Jerry Brown, Jerry Digney, SOLTERS & DIGNEY, 323 651 9300

For Gibson Guitar:  Jason Padgitt, Rogers & Cowan, 310-854-8140

                        Caroline Galloway, GIBSON 440-338-3469

For Universal CityWalk:  Kelly Wheeler, 818-622-9504

MEDIA ALERT FOR FRI., AUG. 5, 6PM

MUSIC LEGEND, 13-TIME GRAMMY® WINNER B.B. KING TO KICK OFF 80TH BIRTHDAY YEAR IN L.A. WITH A GIANT BIRTHDAY CARD IN SHAPE OF FAMOUS BLUES ICON’s GIBSON GUITAR “LUCILLE”

            (Universal City, Aug. 5, 2005)---What becomes a legend most on his birthday?

            How about a giant, 10 foot long birthday card in the shape of the famous Gibson guitar?

            That’s what music legend and 13-time GRAMMY® winner B.B. King (www.bbking.com) will get this week in Los Angeles.

            The man born Riley B. King turns 80 on Sept. 16.

            Starting Fri., Aug. 5, the public is being invited to come to Universal CityWalk and sign the unique Gibson Guitar birthday card, which will be located in front of the CityWalk multiplex theatres.

            On Sat., Aug. 6, King, who performs at 8PM, at the Gibson Amphitheatre, will be presented with the signed card, fashioned in the likeness of his famous Gibson guitar, named “Lucille.”

            On June 10, ground breaking for the $10 million B.B. King Museum was held in Indianola, Miss., near his hometown of Bene. Gibson Guitar is one of the sponsors of the museum.

            King has also recorded a new duets album that’s due out in Sept. via Universal Music.

            Many performers over the years have been influenced by King’s trademark guitar style, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and George Harrison.

            In 1987, King received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from NARAS, which produces the GRAMMY® Awards, and the veteran showman, who got his first break as a musician on a radio show in Memphis in 1948, last received a GRAMMY® Award in 2002 for “Best Pop Instrumental Performance.”

            As in the past, King, renowned for his facile playing on the guitar famously known as “Lucille,” will star in concerts at a variety of venues, in the U.S., Canada and Europe, starting in March and continuing throughout the year.

            During his career, he’s been known to play as many as 342 one night stands.

Among his 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.”

            Bulfinch Press will publish a major book, titled B.B. King’s Treasures, on Sept. 16.

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