By Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone
Blues legend B.B. King was forced to cancel the remainder of his current tour after falling ill following an October 3 show at Chicago’s House of Blues.
The 89-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer had eight gigs left on his current trek, including stops at his namesake B.B. King Blues Club in New York.
“[King] was immediately evaluated by a doctor and diagnosed with dehydration and suffering from exhaustion whereby causing the eight remaining shows of his current tour to be canceled,”King’s official site posted. No other details about King’s condition were revealed.
As EW’s The Music Mix points out, King gave a shaky performance in St. Louis in April 2014, with the concert being so erratic that the blues great’s reps issued a statement apologizing following the gig.
“The combination of the rigors of the very long drive and high blood sugar due to his medication error resulted in a performance that did not match Mr. King’s usual standard of excellence,” the statement read. King suffers from Type II diabetes, a condition he’s lived with for two decades.
Guitarist Hamish Anderson, whose band was serving as King’s opening act during the trek, tweeted, “Very sad to hear the news of BB King’s sickness and subsequent cancellation of the tour. The band and I wish him a safe speedy recovery!”
According to King’s official site, the guitarist does not have any more dates scheduled for the rest of 2014. In November 2013, the ever-touring King canceled an Oklahoma City concert but that was due to unsafe conditions on the roads into the city.
