BB King funeral held in Mississippi

 USA, May 31-The US musician, who died in Las Vegas on 14 May, had expressed his wish to be buried in the state where he grew up.

The service began with friends and family filing past King's open coffin, the lid of which had an image of his guitar Lucille embroidered inside.

The Rev Herron Wilson, who delivered the eulogy, said King's life history proved it was possible to triumph over difficult circumstances.

"Hands that once picked cotton would someday pick guitar strings on a national and international stage," he told a congregation of around 500 people.

More than 200 others who could not get inside the Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church watched a live broadcast of the funeral in its fellowship hall.

n a letter read aloud at Saturday's service, President Barack Obama said the blues had "lost its king" and that America had "lost a legend".

"No one worked harder than BB," his letter continued. "No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues.

"BB may be gone but that thrill will be with us forever. And there's going to be one killer blues session in heaven tonight."

In another tribute read out at the service, singer Stevie Wonder said King would "forever be the king of the blues".

Afterwards the musician was buried at the BB King Museum and Delta Interpretive Centre, which opened in 2008 to tell his life's story.

Source:BBC