The short answer
Is B.B. King greater than Bill Withers?
Yes: B.B. King leads by <0.1 points.
Quick verdict
Yes
B.B. King opens with a <0.1-point lead in the all-time score.
B.B. King
87.55
Bill Withers
87.45
B.B. King
#156 all-time · Classification under review
B.B. King appears in the provisional Music GOAT Index. Ranking scores remain visible while biographical and classification details are under review.
Opening verdict
B.B. King
Leads by <0.1 points
Bill Withers
#160 all-time · Classification under review
Bill Withers appears in the provisional Music GOAT Index. Ranking scores remain visible while biographical and classification details are under review.
The plain case
Why the answer lands here
Yes: B.B. King leads by <0.1 points. The result is still open to argument: inspect the full breakdown, move the weights and see whether it survives your version of greatness.
Biggest category edge
Catalog
B.B. King
owns a 11.0-point edge here
The current leader at a Catalog weight of 15.0% is B.B. King. Changing Catalog from 15.0% to 14.1% flips the lead to Bill Withers; all other unlocked weights are rebalanced proportionally to keep the total at 100%.
B.B. King leads Bill Withers by <0.1 points in All-Time Ranking.
B.B. King
Classification under review
Wins 2 of 6 active categories · 1 level
Current margin
<0.1
B.B. King leads this version.
Unrounded model edge · extra score precision shown
Bill Withers
Classification under review
Wins 3 of 6 active categories · 1 level
The verdict
B.B. King wins this scorecard.
The edge is <0.1 points in All-Time Ranking. Bill Withers still has category wins worth arguing below.
The strongest weighted drivers for B.B. King are Catalog (11.0 raw gap at 15% weight) and Longevity (9.0 raw gap at 15% weight). 2 zero-weight context lenses are outside this verdict.
Commercial, Live are outside this verdict. Unavailable values stay N/A and are never treated as zero.
The current leader at a Catalog weight of 15.0% is B.B. King. Changing Catalog from 15.0% to 14.1% flips the lead to Bill Withers; all other unlocked weights are rebalanced proportionally to keep the total at 100%.
Verdict logicWhy this verdict: B.B. KingAll-time list: Public attention, Influence, Longevity · <0.1 pts from Bill Withers
B.B. King lands here because Public attention, Influence and Longevity do most of the work in this view. Commercial and Live are unavailable until reviewed evidence exists and cannot change this verdict.
B.B. King sits <0.1 points from Bill Withers in this scorecard; the next move would most likely come through Current and Peak. Commercial and Live remain unavailable until reviewed evidence exists; this verdict is not recalculated with hidden replacement values.
What helps
Provisional score retained from the published edition. Supporting narrative is withheld while classification and source context are reviewed.
Provisional score retained from the published edition. Supporting narrative is withheld while classification and source context are reviewed.
Provisional score retained from the published edition. Supporting narrative is withheld while classification and source context are reviewed.
What could move it
Current and Peak are the softest scoring factors; movement there matters most near Bill Withers.
More checking on Public attention, Influence and Peak would improve confidence before it changes the public score.
Commercial and Live remain unavailable until reviewed observation records pass; no alternate rank is published.
What decided it
The strongest weighted gaps
11.0 raw gap × 15% weight · edge to B.B. King
10.0 raw gap × 15% weight · edge to Bill Withers
9.0 raw gap × 15% weight · edge to B.B. King
Active score parts
What decides this verdict
Context only · zero weight
Useful context, outside this verdict
These gaps are visible for the debate, but they do not count until you raise their sliders or choose another view.
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How it works
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Data policy
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Artist profile
B.B. King
Open the ranking score and evidence status for this artist.
Artist profile
Bill Withers
Open the ranking score and evidence status for this artist.
FAQ
B.B. King vs Bill Withers questions
B.B. King or Bill Withers: who leads the All-Time score?
Yes: B.B. King leads by <0.1 points. The published score is 87.55 vs 87.45; unavailable values remain N/A and are never scored as zero.
What is the biggest active category edge in B.B. King vs Bill Withers?
Catalog is the biggest available active edge, with a 11.0-point gap for B.B. King.
Can the answer change?
Yes, when you change available score parts. A formula that gives positive weight to unavailable Commercial or Live evidence is rejected rather than silently rewritten.
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