by Cassandra Szklarski, Canadian Press

TORONTO (CP) - Blues legend B.B. King says he's not one for farewells. But as the guitar great embarks on an extensive Canadian tour, it seems that King's retirement is all that people around him seem to be talking about.

"Every time I play some place, people are saying it's my last time," King says by phone from Vancouver in the early days of a 16-city cross-Canada tour.

"I feel fine, but maybe they know something I don't."

If Canuck fans are worried, it's only because the 81-year-old has been on a bit of a farewell tour of late overseas.

Last year, King declared a trip to Europe as likely his last and similarly suggested that a visit to Brazil would stand as his send-off to South America.

Now that he's begun one of the biggest Canadian tours of his lengthy career, can he fault Canadian fans for fearing this could be their last chance to see the legend perform live?

Touring has become a bit more difficult in his old age, King admits. It's the reason long stints on the road are now left to the past - King's current tours generally run two to three weeks and are followed by a respite at his Las Vegas home.

"I notice I'm getting older," says King, whose 1970 crossover single "The Thrill Is Gone" remains his biggest hit. "Maybe my steps are a little shorter than they once were."

He's also been "a little sickly" of late. In January, a fever put him in hospital for a spell.

"I really was in bad shape," says a soft-spoken King, who has also lived with diabetes for nearly 30 years. "But the third day ... I started flirting with the nurses so they threw me out."

Nevertheless, the drive to perform persists, says King, who opened the Canadian leg of his North American tour with a two-hour show in Victoria last Thursday.

The show reportedly saw him mug for the audience while seated in a chair throughout his performance, tossing banter and gold-coloured chains to an adoring crowd.

Reminiscing about his career, King admits he's become a bit weary of farewells himself, lamenting that several talented contemporaries have recently died, such as friend and fellow blues guitarist Robert Lockwood Jr.

"I see so many of my friends and acquaintances and people that I don't know that are dropping out now. Losing so many, it seems to me at this time that I'm about the oldest one that's still out here," he says.

"They're all leaving me, it seems like."

Still, King says he gets a thrill from touring and meeting with devoted fans in person. This year marks his 60th anniversary of performing live, and he says he can't imagine a day when he'll stop.

"Just to see a few faces smiling and weaving and bobbing," he says of what drives him these days. "And sometimes now we have people from 14 to maybe 80 or so, and sometimes that includes smaller children and I just like that. I like to see families out together."

A lot has changed since the musical phenom, born Riley B. King on a Mississippi plantation, first hit the road in his 20s. Those were the days when King and his band hauled across country in old station wagons and vans. And as more time passed, hitting the stage was not always marked by thrill and glory, he says.

King blames long stretches away from home as a big reason why his two marriages collapsed. And on more than one occasion, financial trouble and income tax woes forced him out longer than he would have liked.

"I've had to travel so much, not always because I wanted to," he notes.

King's most staggering run came in 1946, when he staged 342 one-nighters. It's a feat he proudly brings up these days.

However, his current Canadian tour - which runs until May 19 in Saint John, N.B. - is a much tamer affair.

King says his only woman now is a six-string called Lucille, and his cross-country ride is a luxury, leather-lined tour bus he bought in Canada.

This week King visits Prince George, B.C., Edmonton and Calgary as he makes his way eastward.