Rock 'n' roll pioneer Bo Diddley, best known for hits like Who Do You Love and I'm a Man, has died at his home in north Florida, a spokeswoman for the musician said Monday.

The 79-year-old singer and guitarist suffered several major health setbacks last year. In May 2007, he suffered a stroke during a concert performance in Iowa. The stroke impaired his speech and speech recognition, as well as his mobility.
Bo Diddley, seen here at New York's B.B. King's Blues Club in 2006, continued to perform in recent years.Bo Diddley, seen here at New York's B.B. King's Blues Club in 2006, continued to perform in recent years. (Jeff Christensen/Associated Press)


Diddley, whose real name was Elias Bates McDaniel, was born in McComb, Miss. He once said that he adopted his stage name from a moniker given to him by other youngsters in Chicago, where he moved with his family at the age of five.
Even before he hit his teen years, Diddley had started playing guitar on Chicago street corners. However, he first gained renown in 1955 when he topped R&B charts with Bo Diddley. Eventually, he became recognizable by his black glasses, low-slung, rectangular guitar and "hambone rhythm" style of playing.
Songs such as Who Do You Love and I'm a Man became rock and blues staples, and his music was often covered by other acts, from the Yardbirds to the Clash.

The riff that keeps on giving
Mr. Brownstone by Guns N' Roses (1987)

Leave it to L.A.’s most hard-living sleazoids to find a home for Diddley’s rhythm in the rough and tumble world of ‘80s metal. Axl, Slash and Co. most prominently deploy the beat in the intro of this ode to the junkie lifestyle.

Desire by U2 (1988)

After the world-conquering success of The Joshua Tree, these earnest Dubliners went looking for the soul of America. They found it in the form of the Bo Diddley beat. This single — the band’s first No. 1 single in the UK — was atypically brash and rhythmic.

A pioneer of the electric guitar, Diddley was inducted into Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and was honoured with a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement about a decade later.

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The man in action

The man was truly a pioneer. RIP

Let's hope he had a Rock n' Roll nurse.

It's a bit of a shame the way recognition seems to have eluded him, but very rarely are the true pioneers credited.

R.I.P
Yeah Billy, the world loses another Blues Icon.


Just wanna say kudos to Kenny Wayne Sheperd, for making the 10 Days Out CD & DVD Compilation a few years back to capture most of the remaining Blues greats together that are left before the world slowly loses em forever...(awesome CD DVD)

True... Affliction, it's a shame but those who know... know.

I love the sound of his Guitar; built it himself apparently. I want one... badly.

Bo Diddley youtube

Check out at 2:20... why if it's not our Syd Boggle getting down to the rhythm.

Excellent, thanks for the heads up.. I'm going to check it out.

R.I.P., His influence in blues and rock will continue to live on...

You got me, was the days before the bitterness set in.......

RIP BO

I agree


Truly an inspiration and one of the most important figures of Rock/Blues even if most people don't r ecognise his name.


RIP Bo.

Yeah, it's the truth...why didn't Bo Diddly get the recognition he deserved? I was talking to a friend and told him about Bo Diddly's passing and he had no idea who he was. It astounded me!

Diddly was a TRUE pioneer. An original. His unique sound can still be heard today by guitarist's who have no idea who they're borrowing it from. It's ashame.

We love you, Bo. You'll truly be missed.

It reminds me of that quote about the current generations being able to see far because we stand on the shoulders of giants. He was one of those giants.

Mr Diddley was a wild performer: jumping, lurching, balancing on his toes and shaking his knees as he wrestled with his instrument, sometimes playing it above his head. Elvis Presley, it has long been supposed, borrowed from Mr. Diddley’s stage moves; Jimi Hendrix, too.

Still, for all his fame, Mr. Diddley felt that his standing as a father of rock ’n’ roll was never properly acknowledged. It frustrated him that he could never earn royalties from the songs of others who had borrowed his beat. He was a hero to those who had learned from him, including the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. A generation later, he became a model of originality to punk or post-punk bands like the Clash and the Fall.


“I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob,” he told The New York Times in 2003.

Bo Diddley, Who Gave Rock His Beat...

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Born in McComb, Mississippi, USA as Ellas Otha Bates,[1] he was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed, becoming Ellas McDaniel. The family moved to Chicago when he was seven.[2] He took violin lessons as a youth, but was inspired to become a guitarist after seeing 'John Lee Hooker'.

In 1951, he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club on Chicago's South Side, with a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker and [b]Muddy Waters. BD Wiki