Blues legend B.B. King [ tickets ], who recently celebrated his 74th birthday, will ring in the year 2000 with a free outdoor concert in Memphis, the city where he began his career 50 years ago.

King's Dec. 31 schedule will include a stop at the Liberty Bowl halftime show, as well as an 8:00 p.m. appearance at B.B. King's Blues Club on Memphis' historic Beale Street. At 11:30 p.m., King is scheduled to take the stage for the free show at Beale Street's Handy Park. The B.B. King Blues Festival wrapped up Sunday (10/3) in St. Louis. King celebrated his birthday this year at the tour's Sept. 16 stop at New York City's Beacon Theater.

The tour's end won't mean a break for King and his guitar, Lucille. They are scheduled to be in Cleveland today at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame to kick off the week-long 1999 American Music Masters Tribute To Louis Jordan. Also scheduled to appear are Ruth Brown, Bo Diddley, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Big Jay McShann and others.

King is set to release a new CD, ''Let The Good Times Roll: The Music Of Louis Jordan'' (MCA) on Oct. 5.

He is also set to perform at the ''Concert of the Century'' in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23, an event that also will feature Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Bono and many other artists. The concert, to be hosted by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary, will benefit VH1's Save The Music campaign, which provides resources to foster music education programs in American schools.

On Nov. 3, PBS will broadcast King's recent taping of ''In Performance At The White House.''

Finally, a new B.B. King Blues Club & Cafe is expected to open its doors in New York's Times Square before the year's end. Other locations are already established in Los Angeles and Memphis.