Joe Bonamassa’s sprawling centennial tribute keeps unfolding – Vol. III reminds us that the blues is still alive, still changing, and still finding new ways to connect generations.
When B.B. King said, “The blues are the roots, the rest are the fruits,” he wasn’t making a slogan. He was describing a foundation that still feeds every branch of popular music. Sixty years on, those roots keep spreading – and B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100, the multi-volume tribute curated by Joe Bonamassa, has become a kind of year-long proof.
The new installment, Vol. III, leans hard on emotional memory. Its centerpiece, “Sweet Little Angel,” pairs 88-year-old Buddy Guy with the ghost of his oldest friend. The accompanying video stitches archival clips of King and Guy onstage with newly restored footage – less a music video than a conversation across time.
Then Guy adds a line that lands like a benediction: “I’m remembering you, B. You know that. I can’t do it like you, but I can try.”
Elsewhere, Vol. III spreads the gospel sideways. Larkin Poe rough up “Don’t You Want a Man Like Me” with swagger and slide guitar, while Trombone Shorty and Eric Gales turn “Heartbreaker” into a brass-fueled storm. Texas mainstay Jimmie Vaughan brings an easy shuffle to “Watch Yourself,” and Larry McCray closes with a slow burn take on “When It All Comes Down (I’ll Still Be Around).” Smith called McCray “the greatest contemporary bluesman in the world,” and on this track, it’s hard to argue.
Taken together, the songs feel less like nostalgia and more like continuation – a reminder that King’s influence was never about imitation but interpretation.
The earlier volumes drew from a similar idea. Vol. I gathered Michael McDonald, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Bobby Rush, George Benson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and D.K. Harrell. Vol. II widened the frame: Gary Clark Jr., Pat Monahan of Train, Keb’ Mo’, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Paul Rodgers, and Aloe Blacc.
Keb’ Mo’ recalled meeting King in the early ’70s: “Did a show with B.B. King and the Average White Band. That’s when I met him, but I’ve been listening to B.B. King my whole life.” Joanne Shaw Taylor remembered the encouragement she got opening for him as a teenager: “He was incredibly encouraging towards me… I’m so thankful Joe asked me to be part of this project in honor of him and this important birthday.”
Now comes the project’s biggest reveal so far: “The Thrill Is Gone” – the song that defined King to the world – will feature Chaka Khan and Eric Clapton, a pairing that feels both obvious and daring. If Buddy Guy’s appearance represents lineage, this collaboration represents reach.
“When B.B. was alive and active, he was the blues – he was the sun which all planets rotated around,” Bonamassa has said. “You only get one shot to do this correctly. And I think we nailed it.”
Whether you buy that or not, Blues Summit 100 is hard to ignore. The 32-track rollout, dropping in monthly waves through February 2026, plays like a serialized history lesson: each song another voice testifying to why the blues still matters. Some artists whisper it, some shout it, but all of them keep the circle unbroken.
As Guy puts it on “Sweet Little Angel,” the job is simple and impossible: try to do it like B.B., knowing you never quite can. The mission is just to play and that’s where the blues lives.
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