MANCHESTER, Tenn. - B.B. King was awarded the key to the city Saturday at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.
The blues elder statesman received the honour from Mayor Betty Superstein on the festival main stage near the top of his set, pausing to accept the plaque and thank Superstein while the crowd roared.
King, 82, took a wheelchair to the stage at Bonnaroo, the annual festival held in the Tennessee countryside south of Nashville. King walked slowly onto the stage where he took his perch on a chair with his prized guitar Lucille.
But the legendary bluesman showed his fingers haven't showed a bit of aging. As he has throughout his long career, he never hit a wrong note.
Sitting, King wondered if the crowd might be thinking he must be very old to be unable to stand up and play.
"I say to you, you're just about right," said King, who rattled off his list of ailments: diabetes, a bad back, bad knees, among them.
"I can't remember anything but I can remember that I am now 82 years old," he said, as the audience cheered.
King also did a bit of schooling, asking the youngish crowd if they realized Bono from U2 had written his classic tune "When Love Comes to Town" specifically for him.
"Do you know U2?" asked King, bulging his eyes.
"That was me. I say, that was me!"
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