Freddie King

Freddie King (born Fred King September 3, 1934 – December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Along with the unrelated Albert King and B. B. King, he is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar". Known for his soulful and powerful voice and distinctive guitar playing, King had a major influence on electric blues music and on many later blues guitarists.

Born in Gilmer, Texas, King became acquainted with the guitar at the age of six. He started learning the guitar from his mother and his uncle. King moved to Chicago when he was a teenager; there he formed his first band the Every Hour Blues Boys with guitarist Jimmie Lee Robinson and drummer Frank "Sonny" Scott. As he was repeatedly being rejected by Chess Records, he got signed to Federal Records, and got his break with the single "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" and instrumental "Hide Away", which reached number five on the Billboard magazine's rhythm and blues chart in 1961. It later became a blues standard. King derived his guitar style from Texas blues and Chicago blues influences. The album Freddy King Sings showcases his singing talents and includes the record chart hits "You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling" and "I'm Tore Down". He later became involved with producers who were more oriented to rhythm and blues and rock and was one of the first bluesmen to have a multiracial backing band at performances.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by ZZ Top in 2012 and into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1982. His instrumental "Hide Away" was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "500 Songs that Shaped Rock". He was ranked 19th in the Rolling Stone magazine's 2023 edition of 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Fred King was born in Gilmer, Texas, in 1934 to Ella Mae King and J. T. Christian. When Freddie was 6 years old, his mother and his uncle taught him to play the guitar. In 1949, he and his family moved from Dallas to the South Side of Chicago.

In 1952, King started working in a steel mill. In the same year he married another Texas native, Jessie Burnett. They had seven children together.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.