Sad news today: guitar hero and hugely influential rock pioneer Bo Diddley died today (Mon. June 2) of heart failure at the age of 79. According to new reports, Diddley suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke. Since his earliest days recording side for the old Chess label, he never stopped touring or working until last year. 
Born Ellas Bates (he later changed it to Ellas McDaniel) in Mississippi in 1928, he grew up in Chicago and switched from boxing to playing R&B and blues in the 1950s. His first big break came in 1955, when Chess released his debut single, “Bo Diddley” — bold tune that featured his unique, reverby electric guitar sound and the signature, syncopated rhythmic pattern (nicknamed “shave and a haircut, two bits”). Follow-up hits included “I’m a Man,” the calypso-tinged “Crackin’ Up,” “Who Do You Love,” “Road Runner,” and “Bo Diddley Does Gunslinger” (click audio sample below).
His early band featured a guitar-playing lady named Duchess and a maraca-shakin’ sidekick named Jerome Green. Their repetitive, beat-heavy style influenced just about everyone who followed them — from Buddy Holly and the Rolling Stones to George Thorogood & The Destroyers (he had a role as a pool shark in that band’s “Bad to the Bone” video clip) and The Clash.
Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. He’s rightly considered to be a founding father of rock ’n’ roll.
