Rock Stars
B.B. King Net Worth
Riley B. King's Net Worth as of 2024
$30 Million
Riley B. King was born 16 September 1925 near Berclair, Mississippi USA, to cotton share croppers, and became acclaimed as one the best blues musicians of all time, being named ‘The King of Blues’, and with Albert King and Freddie King was one of the ‘Three Kings of the Blues Guitar’. Sadly, King died at the age of 89 in Las Vegas, Nevada on 14 May 2015.
So just how rich was B.B. King? Sources have estimated that B.B.’s net worth was over $30 million at the time of his passing, his wealth having been earned as a singer, guitarist and songwriter during his career in the music industry stretching over more than 70 years.
B.B. King Net Worth $30 Million
B.B. King was raised by his grandparents after his mother left the family. In his childhood King sang in the church gospel choir, and began playing the guitar from around the age of 12. In his late teens, he began performing casually with various groups in Mississippi and Memphis, but became a regular after performing on Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio program in 1948 on Memphis radio station WIDA. He also worked as a disc jockey and singer, during which period he was nicknamed the Beale Street Blues Boy, afterwards shortened to Blues Boy and later to just B. B. This was the start of his professional career, and the opening of his net worth account.
Many of King’s early recordings starting around 1950 were produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. B.B. assembled his own band, the B.B. King Review and had a recording contract with RPM Records. King also began writing compositions, with the help of trained musician Onzie Horne as, by his own admission, King could not play chords well and in fact relied on improvisation throughout his career.
Then began King’s never-ending touring, at which he was a master, much preferring live shows to recording. Even in his later years, B.B. King was playing more than 100 concerts per year, cutting down the number because of exhaustion from the number which, for most of his career, was more than 200 concerts per year, and in 1956 a record total for a musician of 342. Of course there is no doubt that these were also a very big source of King’s net worth.
In 1952, B.B. King had his first #1 hit “3 O’Clock Blues” on the Billboard R & B chart. From that point, B.B. became one of the stars of R&B and blues music, which status he maintained for the rest of his life. His major hits included “You Know I Love You”, “Woke Up This Morning”, “Please Love Me”, “When My Heart Beats like a Hammer”, “Whole Lotta Love”, “You Upset Me Baby”, “Every Day I have the Blues”, “Sneakin’ Around”, “Ten Long Years”, “Bad Luck”, “Sweet Little Angel”, “On My Word of Honor”, and “Please Accept My Love”. These led to a significant increases in his net worth, and in the early years saw increase from less than $100 a week to well over $2,000, assisted by many concert appearances including in famous theatres such as the Apollo in New York and Howard in Washington.
B.B. King founded his own record label also in 1956, producing both his own and other artists’ recordings at his Beale Street studio in Memphis. He also widened his music appeal, over the coming years, for example among rock audiences by joining The Rolling Stones tour in 1969, then with the single “When Love Comes to Town”, in collaboration with the Irish band U2, which gained worldwide success. In 1997, B.B. performed in the Vatican’s fifth annual Christmas concert, in 1998 he appeared in the film “The Blues Brothers 2000” along with Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Koko Taylor and Bo Diddley, and in 2000 he joined Eric Clapton again to record the album “Riding With the King”, which won the Grammy Award that year for Best Traditional Blues Album.
There was never a let-up in touring with B.B., even in the last few years. In 2011, King played at the Glastonbury Music Festival and the Royal Albert Hall in the UK; in 2012, King was among the performers at “the White House: Red, White and Blues”, during which President Barack Obama sang part of “Sweet Home Chicago”. Also in 2012, King performed a concert at the Byblos International Festival, in Lebanon, and then in 2013 at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.
During his long career, B.B. King released 138 singles, 43 studio albums, 12 compilation albums and 16 live albums. The most successful B. B. King albums were “Deuces Wild” released in 1997 and certified gold in US and platinum in Canada, and the aforementioned “Riding with the King” certified twice platinum in US, platinum in Canada, and gold in Australia. His rich discography undoubtedly was one of the major sources of King’s net worth.
B.B. King’s most beloved music genre was blues, however, he has also performed R&B, Pop and other music genres. Needless to mention the fact that B.B. King’s net worth rose after his work was honoured or awarded. From 1971 he won fifteen Grammy Awards for the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording, Best Traditional Blues Recording, Best Traditional Blues Album, Best Rock Instrumental Performance, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Best Pop Instrumental Performance. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In honour of his lifetime activities he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. Other notable awards which helped King’s net worth rise were an honorary Doctor of Music by Yale University, National Medal of Arts, Presidential Medal of Freedom and others.
In his personal life, B.B. King was first married to Martha Lee Denton (1946-52), and then to Sue Carol Hall (1958-66). However, it has been suggested that King is the father of fifteen children and has many grandchildren. One of his hobby’s was flying, and he was a FAA-licensed Private Pilot from 1963. B.B. suffered with diabetes for the last 20 years of his life, frequently speaking out about the disease, and publicising it through the medium commercials for relevant medications.
Musicians
Neal Schon Net Worth
Neal George Joseph Schon was born on 27th February 1954 at Tinker AFB (Air Force Base), Oklahoma USA, of Italian and German descent. Neal Schon is a rock guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, best known for being an important member of several hugely popular bands, namely Santana, Bad English and Journey.
So just how rich is Neal Schon? Neal’s net worth has been calculated to be over $30 million, amassed during his successful career of more than 40 years in the music industry.
Neal Schon Net Worth $30 Million
Neal Schon was lucky to be born into a musical family – his father Mathew Schon was a famous musician and mother Barbara Schon sang in a band. So Schon picked his first guitar at the age of five years, and starting at early age is usually a way to success. His first career steps started at the age of 15 with the band Santana, in preference to joining Eric Clapton in the band Derek and the Dominos, and debuting with some vocals on Santana’s album Santana III. Being such a great musician at such young age with the possibility to choose between two iconic bands, he went on and started making his money. He also played for Azteca but very briefly.
In 1973 Neal Schon formed his now legendary band Journey. He subsequently released five solo albums, and fourteen studio albums with the band. This must be the main flow into his net worth. Importantly, he is the only band member who has not changed through the years. He has taken part in every tour of the band, and sang on all their albums, so no doubt this longevity with Journey has increased the overall amount of Neal Schon’s net worth as well. Apart from this, he has also collaborated with famous musicians such as keyboardist Jan Hammer, Sammy Hagar and Paul Rodgers on short-term projects.
Neal Schon is as great a vocalist, as he is a guitar virtuoso. Two talents double the money earned, does it not? Let’s talk about his musical influences, of whom there were plenty. He has said that he was highly influenced by the 1960’s, musicians from that era such as Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin. Then he put some blues to the mix, namely B.B. King and added some guitar-based influences, including of course Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton as well as Wes Montgomery. This is probably Neal Schon’s key to fame – adding the best ingredients from different musical eras.
Schon was always proud of his guitars. He started with acoustic Stella guitar followed by Gibson ES-335. At present he became interested in Xotic guitars. Schon was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in August 2013, which made him, if possible, even more famous. This is considered to be an accomplishment of a lifetime for any musician.
In his not-so-private personal life, Neal Schon has married five times, first to Tena Austin(1976-86), then Beth Buckley(1987-92), Dina Gioeli(1993-99), and Amber Kozan(2001-08). In 2013 he married Michaele Salahi. He has five children.
Rock Stars
John Frusciante Net Worth
John Frusciante is a famous musician. He is one of the most successful musicians of all time, because his net worth is said to have reached 23 million dollars. John Frusciante is well known for being a singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. However, John Frusciante is most famous for having been a member of the band called Red Hot Chili Peppers, where he played as a guitarist. Through work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers band, most of his net worth has been accumulated, as well. He recorded five albums with the band between the years 1988-1992 and 1998-2009. John Anthony Frusciante was born in Queens, New York on March 5, 1970.
John Frusciante Net Worth $23 Million
His both parents had musical careers but at the early age they separated and John grew up with his mother and later, stepfather. Throughout life they were moving quite a lot to different states and cities. However, at nine years old his family settled in the Los Angeles area and that was when he started playing guitar. At first his interest was fixed on punk rock music, later he focused on famous guitar players, like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour and Jimi Hendrix. When he discovered Frank Zappa, he could try to reach the same level of mastery for hours. Around 1984 he discovered the band Red Hot Chili Peppers and instantly became a fan. At sixteen he dropped out of high school and moved to L.A. to work on his guitar playing skills. He tried studying professionally at the Guitar Institute of Technology but dropped out understanding that academic studies were not for him.
John Frusciante became member of Red Hot Chili Peppers at eighteen and this was the beginning of his professional music career. By the way, he was the youngest band member, gapping about twenty years from others. This did not stop him from winning the audition and bringing fame and money to the then not very popular band. The first album they produced was called “Mother’s Milk” in 1989. In 1991, a very successful album of the band was released titled “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”. The band gained overwhelming success and because of it, John Frusciante left the band one year later after the release of the mentioned album.
Knowing the history of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, you could understand the reason why the young guy got into drugs. The band’s lead singer, Anthony Kiedis describes their past time activities in his biographical book “Scar Tissue”. Being so young and inexperienced, John got instantly addicted, was practically thrown out of the band and started his solo career. During that he burned down his house and had many visits to rehab. The solo projects he released during that time were called “Smiles from the Streets You Hold” and “Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt”. In 1998, it was announced that 16 million copies of his solo records were sold. Today he has 10 solo albums released. Drugs did not stop him from getting near the money.
Besides solo career and Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Frusciante has also collaborated with many other acts, such as Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, The Mars Volta, Josh Kilingoffer and many more. The collaborations, of course, also added up to his net worth.
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