B.B. King with Special Guest Star Ernestine Anderson at Seattle Center Arena, Friday, September 19, 1980

On September 19, 1980, legendary Blues musician B.B. King (1925-2015) graced the stage of the Seattle Center Arena, alongside local Jazz singer Ernestine Anderson (1928-2016). This may have been the only time the two artists performed together, although Anderson recorded a cover of King’s song “Never Make Your Move Too Soon” the same year, and it would become a standard in her repertoire.

By 1980, King had already established himself as a major figure in the music industry, having toured with the Rolling Stones, been inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame and won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. His stylistic innovations on the guitar were influential for later electric guitar players, including Jimi Hendrix.

Anderson was born in Houston, Texas but moved with her family to Seattle in 1944. In Seattle, she quickly became immersed in the Jackson Street Jazz scene and performed alongside a young Quincy Jones (b. 1933) in the Junior Band led by Robert “Bumps” Blackwell (1918-1985). At 18, Anderson began touring with Johnny Otis (1921-2012) and at 24 she was performing with Lionel Hampton’s (1908-2002) Jazz orchestra. While her first album was a hit in Europe, she struggled to gain traction in the United States. Between 1966 and 1974, Anderson returned to Seattle and took a break from the music world. By 1975 Anderson was performing again and in 1976 she secured a contract with Concord Records which would help launch the second half of her music career. Between 1976 and 2004 Anderson truly thrived; she received four Grammy nominations, toured around the globe and performed at prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.

Anderson also received honors closer to home. In 2002 the Bumbershoot Festival gave her the Golden Umbrella Award and in 2004 the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Recording Academy gave her the IMPACT award. Within Seattle, November 11 is officially Ernestine Anderson Day and both a section of Jackson Street and a low-income housing complex bear her name. A series of community events titled “Celebrating Ernestine Anderson” were held in November 2021 to honor Anderson’s legacy in Seattle.