B.B. King’s graveside is now marked by black granite slab.

B.B. King, the blues icon who died nearly seven months ago in Las Vegas but was returned for burial in his beloved native Mississippi as he wished.

More than 100 relatives, friends, fans and former employees gathered Friday to dedicate the stone that eventually will become the centerpiece of a memorial garden outside the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center.

Engraved in gold on the stone are lyrics from “Take It Home,” a song on his 1979 album of the same name:

Don’t know why

I was made to wander

I’ve seen the light, Lord

I’ve felt the thunder.

Someday I’ll go home again

And I know they’ll take me in.

And take it home.

For months, the graveside was adorned with just a wreath and a chain-link fence. Architectural drawings for the memorial garden show benches and song titles engraved on metal panels. It will be part of a $4.5 million expansion of the museum that tells King’s life story. Read More…

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