Riley "B.B." King has been called the King of the Blues, and indeed he reigns across the decades as one of the pre-eminent figures in the medium. He is best-known for his distinctive single-note guitar sound, played on a guitar that he calls "Lucille," in which he bends strings till the notes seem to cry. It is a style that emanates from his blues roots deep in Mississippi while also drawing on other influences, ranging from jazz and gospel to pop and rock. Primary influences include guitarists include T-Bone Walker and Charlie Christian, who similarly hybridized jazz and blues in a big-band context.