Joe Bonamassa- Legendary Blues guitarist celebrated BB King’s Bday at the Grammy Museum- Aug 2026

GRAMMY Museum Friday, August 28th 

Blues-rock superstar and five-time GRAMMY® nominated guitarist Joe Bonamassa is one of the most celebrated performing musicians of today. In 2026, he earned his landmark 30th No. 1 album on the Billboard Blues Chart with B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100, a 32-song tribute honoring one of his earliest mentors during King’s centennial year. Produced alongside Josh Smith in collaboration with the B.B. King Estate, the critically acclaimed collection features a remarkable cross-generational lineup including Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Slash, Keb’ Mo’, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Gary Clark Jr., Chaka Khan, Paul Rodgers, Warren Haynes, Michael McDonald, and many others. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart and reached the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart.

Later that year, Bonamassa extended his own record with his 31st No. 1 album, The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork, a live album and concert film celebrating the enduring legacy of Irish guitar legend Rory Gallagher.

With more than 50 albums to his name, Bonamassa has built one of modern blues’ most celebrated catalogs, spanning studio and live recordings, collaborations with Beth Hart, and acclaimed work with Black Country Communion and Rock Candy Funk Party. A prolific songwriter, producer, and performer, he continues to honor the blues tradition while helping carry it forward.

Through Journeyman Records and KTBA Records, Bonamassa has also produced and supported acclaimed releases by artists including Joanne Shaw Taylor, Marc Broussard, Larry McCray, Jimmy Hall, Eric Gales, and Dion. He curates and headlines the sold-out Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea concert vacations and Sound Wave Beach Weekend, while helping independent artists build sustainable careers through Journeyman LLC.

Through the Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Bonamassa has funded more than 800 music education projects impacting well over 130,000 students nationwide. He has been featured in Esquire, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, and Parade, and has appeared on the covers of Guitar World, Guitar Player, Vintage Guitar, Guitarist, and Classic Rock. Learn more at www.jbonamassa.com and www.ktba.org.

Joe Bonamassa joined by Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Shemekia Copeland for “Joe Bonamassa Celebrates B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100,” a conversation and performance celebrating what would have been B.B. King’s 100th birthday and the extraordinary legacy he left behind. Jeff Garlin moderated.

The timing feels especially meaningful heading into GRAMMY season. B.B.’s centennial and Buddy Guy’s 90th birthday have brought generations of artists together to celebrate the foundations of the blues, while the genre simultaneously confronts a very different future, including the emergence of AI-generated blues artists on the charts. Joe, Kingfish and Shemekia represent three distinct generations of artists carrying this music forward, which should make for a fascinating conversation about B.B., the making of Blues Summit 100, and where the blues goes from here.