Longtime Host of King Biscuit Time “Sunshine” Sonny Payne Dead at 92

“Sunshine” Sonny Payne on the air December 2007. Courtesy of Jack Myers/Delta Cultural Center Programming Coordinator
Wynne, AR — John William “Sunshine” Sonny Payne died last night, having recently suffered a stroke. Payne was 92.
Referred to as The Godfather of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, Payne broadcast the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas from its inception in 1951. Blues great B.B. King listened to Payne on his lunch break when he w