--- title: B.B. King Buried in Indianola, Mississippi description: The blues legend was laid to rest in Indianola, Miss. canonical: https://time.com/3902436/bb-king-funeral/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-30T16:09:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T07:57:58.000Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: B.B. King Laid to Rest in Mississippi og:description: The funeral was held in Indianola, Miss. og:url: https://time.com/3902436/bb-king-funeral/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91a52d0367816426/6988524e0b72e31a826e43ce/bb-king-funeral.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: bb king funeral og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: B.B. King Laid to Rest in Mississippi twitter:description: The funeral was held in Indianola, Miss. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91a52d0367816426/6988524e0b72e31a826e43ce/bb-king-funeral.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # B.B. King Laid to Rest in Mississippi  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:57 AM UTCPublished: May 30, 2015 4:09 PM UTC  The casket bearing the body of blues legend B.B. King is wheeled to a waiting hearse in front of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center after a day of public viewing on May 29, 2015 in Indianola, Miss. The casket bearing the body of blues legend B.B. King is wheeled to a waiting hearse in front of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center after a day of public viewing on May 29, 2015 in Indianola, Miss.Rogelio V. Solis—AP  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:57 AM UTCPublished: May 30, 2015 4:09 PM UTC Blues legend B.B. King was mourned Saturday in Indianola, Miss., the small town where his career took off. Fans lined up to view his open casket Friday at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, where King was laid out in a purple satin shirt and a floral tuxedo jacket, flanked by two black Gibson guitars, the New York _Times_ [reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/us/bb-king-returns-to-a-mississippi-home-and-its-warm-embrace.html). King died May 14 in Las Vegas, at the age of 89. A letter from President Obama was read at the funeral Saturday, held in Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church on B.B. King Road. “B.B. may be gone but that thrill will be with us forever,” Obama [wrote.](http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/b-b-king-funeral-held-indianola-mississippi-n367066) “And there’s going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight.” Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant was also at the funeral. King was born in a small town 18 miles away from Indianola, but long embraced it as his hometown, and the place where he got his start in music. There was a period in the 1960s and ’70s when King avoided Indianola, annoyed that he and his band were not allowed to eat at a local restaurant or stay in the motel when they passed through during the segregated 1960s. The White Citizens Council, the infamous segregationist group that opposed the Civil Rights movement, was founded in Indianola in the 1950s. Some residents say the desire to embrace B.B. King helped energize the city to move past the racial stratification of the past. Throughout the 1980s, white and black residents worked together to plan annual “homecoming” shows, and a 1983 interracial cocktail party in King’s honor is remembered by many as a moment of racial healing for the community, the _Times_ [reports. ](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/us/bb-king-returns-to-a-mississippi-home-and-its-warm-embrace.html) ### Look Back at B.B. King's Life and Career  B.B. King a local DJ at WDIA Radio poses for a portrait circa 1948 in Memphis, Tenn. Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty images  B.B. King poses for a portrait in 1950. Gilles Petard/Redferns  From Left: Musicians B.B. King, Eric Clapton and Elvin Bishop perform together in 1967 in New York City. Don Paulsen—Michael Ochs Archives  B.B. King performs on a TV show in Los Angeles in the early 1970's . Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty images  B.B. King performs at the Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Ill. on Sept. 22, 1985. Bettmann/Corbis  From Left: U2 and B.B. King perform onstage during The Lovetown tour on Sept. 1, 1989 in Australia. Bob King—Redferns  From Left: B.B. King and John Lee Hooker pose for a portrait on Jan. 1, 1997. Bill Reitzel—Corbis  From Left: President Bill Clinton plays the sax with B.B. King at 'A Family Celebration 2001' at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. on April 1, 2001 Kevin Winter—Getty Images  B.B. King performs during the funeral for legendary singer and musician Ray Charles at the First AME Church in Los Angeles on June 18, 2004. Genaro Molina—Reuters/Corbis  B.B. King smiles while President George W. Bush presents King with the Medal of Freedom on Dec. 15, 2006 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Tim Sloan—AFP/Getty Images  From Left: B.B. King watches as President Barack Obama waves during the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 9, 2010. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images  B.B. King performs at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on Aug. 13, 2013 in Atlanta. John Davidson—Corbis ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3902436/bb-king-funeral/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3902436/bb-king-funeral/"},"headline":"B.B. 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