“Being close to him is like approaching a source of spiritual energy. I gave him my guitar as a sign of respect”: B.B. King once gifted one of his Gibson Lucille guitars to the Pope – now it’s up for sale

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After belonging to B.B. King and Pope John Paul II’s Vatican collection, the guitar is expected to fetch more than $80,000 at auction

BB King performs on stage at Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, New Jersey, United States, January 2 1997
(Image credit: Mark Weiss/Getty Images)

In 1997, B.B. King gifted one of his “Lucille” guitars to Pope John Paul II. 27 years later, this guitar is now up for auction.

“Lucille” is the umbrella name B.B. King gave to his guitars. This particular “Lucille” is a Gibson-made version of the original. 

King had retrieved the $30 original from a building that caught on fire after two men began to fight over a woman named Lucille and ended up knocking burning fuel across the floor. The guitar survived, and King later named a song, and the black Gibson ES-355-style guitars he played during his career, “Lucille”. 

B.B. King met Pope John Paul II after playing at a Christmas concert at the Vatican in 1997. He gave the Pope one of his “Lucilles” as a “symbol of respect.” “For me, it was a very emotional experience. Being close to him is like approaching a source of spiritual energy. I gave him my guitar as a sign of respect,” said King, as reported by El País [paywalled]. 

“Being a bluesman makes no difference when it comes to religion. A truck driver and a musician recite the same prayers when they want to turn to God. I think all the music in the world is brotherly, Spanish, African-American, or Italian. If something difficult happens to you in life, it can be approached from the point of view of music as something sad, but also as something that cheers your soul.”

After a few years, “Lucille” was won by the Superintendent of the Gendarmerie of the Vatican during one of the Vatican's charity fundraising events. According to the Catawiki listing, “From the moment it was received, the guitar has never been used.”

The guitar shows signs of oxidations in the pickups and bridge, however, which the listing reports were “probably due to sweat” and “has partly ruined the cover sheet inside the case.”

In 2019, one of B.B. King's “Lucilles” sold for $280,000 at auction. This "Lucille" is expected to fetch between $69,860-$80,607.

The auction ends on May 12, at 20:00 CEST. For more information about this listing, visit Catawiki. 

Janelle Borg
Janelle Borg

Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.