B.B. King Getting Doc, Biopic Treatment

B.B. King’s life and legacy are getting another major screen treatment. The B.B. King Music Company and the blues legend’s estate have announced a new feature documentary now in development, adding a documentary portrait to the authorized biopic that was announced last year.

Per Variety, the documentary, being developed with the cooperation of King’s estate and music company, will trace his journey from the Mississippi Delta to international stardom, exploring his groundbreaking career as a guitarist and vocalist and his influence across blues, rock, soul, jazz and popular music.

More from Spin:

• Author, Feminist Icon Gloria Steinem Dies At 92
• Simple Minds Look Ahead With New LP ‘Sacrosanct’
• Mary J. Blige Disavows Ad For AI Music Company Suno

The project is being executive produced by Grammy-winning music and film producer Vassal Benford, with Hamid and Camille Torabpour and their Winter State Entertainment producing and Leslie Small directing. Additional production, distribution and release details are expected to follow. “B.B. King was more than one of the greatest musicians who ever lived,” says Banford. “He was an extraordinary human being whose music crossed every boundary and brought people together. His story deserves to be told with the authenticity, depth and respect that his life and legacy command.”

Benford, who is also CEO of the B.B. King Music Company, said the musician “was more than one of the greatest musicians who ever lived,” emphasizing the human story behind an artist whose music crossed boundaries and brought people together.

The documentary follows the previously announced LUCILLE, the first authorized feature biopic about King. It is being developed by Canton Entertainment, Benford and King’s estate, with Mark Canton and Dorothy Canton among its producers. The movie is designed to chronicle King’s rise in tandem with his lifelong relationship with his Gibson guitar, Lucille.

King died in 2015 at 89 after a career spanning more than six decades.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.