With Lucille, the name he has given to his Gibson guitars since the 1950's, B.B. King has forged a reputation as "the king of blues" and one of the greatest guitarists to ever live.

Now 82-years-old, casual observers would be remiss to assume that King has retired or even slowed down, making the occasional appearance at an awards show. King's touring schedule rivals that of musicians 60 years his junior, helping endear him to more and more generations of music fans. While King played a "Farewell Tour" in Europe in 2006, 2007 has King scheduled for no fewer than 47 performances in North America, with additional dates expected to be added. Tickets for most of those shows are available through Ticketsmyway.com.

King is perhaps best known for his rendition of the blues standard "The Thrill Is Gone," but 55 of his singles have made the top 100 of the pop charts, the R&B charts or both, starting with 1955's "Sneaking Around" through 2000's Eric Clapton duet, "Riding with the King." In 2003 Rolling Stone named him the "greatest living guitarist" and the third greatest guitarist of all time behind the late Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman.

Still, King is best known for his live performances, tickets for which are available through Ticketsmyway.com, a seller of premium concert and Ticketsmyway.com. Even at his advanced age, chronic diabetes, a bad back and bad knees, King averages 250 live performances per year and rarely lets his health force him to cancel a show. Indeed, sometimes King's work ethic worries the people surrounding the ever-popular musician. On January 26 of this year King was hospitalized with a low-grade fever. He was released the following day and three days later, on January 30, he resumed touring with a performance in Galveston, Texas.

A B.B. King concert is a regal experience, with the portly guitarist strolling out to a chair placed in the middle of the stage. King is almost as well known for his attire as for his guitar playing, and it is not unusual to see him attired in a loud outfit, such as a tuxedo with gold bamboo leaves which he wore at a performance in Chicago last year. While King's music will live for generations through recordings, even the musician himself concedes that the number of live performances remaining is dwindling, making this as good of year as any to catch King live.