B.B. King Released, Back to 'Old Self'

By MONICA RHORThe Associated PressSaturday, January 27, 2007; 10:09 PM


HOUSTON -- B.B. King was discharged from a Galveston hospital Saturday following treatment for a fever and was "back to his old self," a spokeswoman for his management agency said.
The 81-year-old, Grammy-winning bluesman was "feeling fabulous," said Tina France, vice president of Lieberman Management of New York.

King had been scheduled to perform Thursday at the Grand Opera House, but was admitted to The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, said Paul McCarthy, a hospital administrator.
King still plans to perform Tuesday in Fort Worth, France said. Concerts that had been scheduled before then in Galveston, Orange and Tyler will be rescheduled for June, she said.
King, who has a history of diabetes, had a 100.4-degree fever following a bout with the flu, and monitoring was required because of his age, said France. Doctors treated him with antibiotics, she said.
He was kept in the hospital's elderly acute care unit as a precaution, said John Koloen, a spokesman for the hospital in Galveston, about 50 miles southeast of Houston.
With his trademark guitar that he named "Lucille," King is one of the nation's most influential and best-known blues musicians. His long list of hits includes "The Thrill is Gone," "Every Day I Have the Blues" and "You Upset Me Baby," and he was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987.
He has become a spokesman in the fight against diabetes, and in December President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.