Editing Bo Diddley

{{Short description|American guitarist and singer (1928–2008)}}
{{About|the singer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Bo Diddley
| image           = Bo Diddley (1957 publicity portrait).jpg
| caption         = Diddley in 1957
| birth_name      = Ellas Otha Bates<ref name="EagleLeBlanc2013">{{cite book |last1=Eagle |first1=Bob L. |last2=LeBlanc |first2=Eric S. |title=Blues: A Regional Experience |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-34424-4 |page=227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZNfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA227 |language=en}}</ref>
| alias           = {{Flatlist|
*Ellas Bates McDaniel
*The Originator
}}
| birth_date      = {{birth date|1928|12|30}}
| birth_place     = [[McComb, Mississippi]], U.S.
| death_date      = {{death date and age|2008|06|2|1928|12|30}}
| death_place     = [[Archer, Florida]], U.S.
| instrument      = {{Flatlist|
* Guitar
* vocals
}}
| genre           = {{Hlist|[[Rock and roll]]<ref name=Erlewine>{{cite web |url= https://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/the-story-of-bo-diddley |title=The Story of Bo Diddley |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |date=June 2, 2008 |work=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 2, 2023 |quote=the biggest and baddest of all the original rock & rollers [...] there was far, far more to Bo than his patented beat and walloping gut-bucket blues [...] he could ease into dirty psychedelic funk-rock in the '70s}}</ref>|[[blues]]<ref name=Erlewine/>|[[psychedelic funk]]<ref name=Erlewine/>}}
| occupation      = {{Flatlist|
* Musician
* singer
* songwriter
* guitarist
}}
| years_active    = 1943–2008
| label           = {{Flatlist|
* [[Checker Records|Checker]]
* [[Chess Records|Chess]]
* [[RCA Victor|RCA]]
* [[Triple X Records|Triple X]]
* [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
}}
| associated_acts =
| website         = [http://www.bodiddley.com BoDiddley.com]
}}
'''Ellas Otha Bates''' (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as '''Bo Diddley''', was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the [[blues]] to [[rock and roll]]. He influenced many artists, including [[Buddy Holly]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2007/03/20/7496086/bo-diddleys-unique-rhythm-continues-to-inspire|title=Bo Diddley's Unique Rhythm Continues to Inspire|website=NPR.org |publisher=NPR|access-date=October 13, 2019|archive-date=February 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212214606/https://www.npr.org/2007/03/20/7496086/bo-diddleys-unique-rhythm-continues-to-inspire|url-status=live}}</ref> [[the Beatles]], [[the Rolling Stones]],<ref name="independent_bo">{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Jonathan|title=Bo Diddley, Guitarist Who Inspired the Beatles and the Stones, Dies Aged 79|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/bo-diddley-guitarist-who-inspired-the-beatles-and-the-stones-dies-aged-79-838868.html|access-date=April 26, 2012|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=June 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322215856/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/bo-diddley-guitarist-who-inspired-the-beatles-and-the-stones-dies-aged-79-838868.html|archive-date=March 22, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> [[the Animals]], [[George Thorogood]], [[Syd Barrett]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Syd Barrett interview |url=http://www.sydbarrett.net/subpages/articles/syd_barrett_interview1.htm |access-date=May 5, 2023 |website=www.sydbarrett.net}}</ref> and [[the Clash]].<ref name= "influences">{{cite news |last=Partridge |first=Kenneth |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/04/how-the-clash-can-lead-to-a-great-record-collection/ |title=How The Clash Can Lead to a Great Record Collection |work=[[Consequence of Sound]] |date=April 11, 2017 |access-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926134649/https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/04/how-the-clash-can-lead-to-a-great-record-collection/ |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

His use of [[Music of Africa|African rhythms]] and a [[Bo Diddley beat|signature beat]], a simple five-[[Accent (music)|accent]] [[clave (rhythm)|hambone rhythm]], is a cornerstone of [[hip hop music|hip hop]], [[rock music|rock]], and [[pop music]].<ref name="independent_bo"/><ref name="Rock Hall"/><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Bo Diddley|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bo-diddley/biography|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=April 26, 2012|year=2001|archive-date=August 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822091715/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bo-diddley/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> In recognition of his achievements, he was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1987, the [[Blues Hall of Fame]] in 2003, and the [[Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame]] in 2017.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.blueshalloffame.com/Artists_Exhibit_Pages/Bo_Diddley_Exhibit.html|title=Bo Diddley Exhibit in The Blues Hall of Fame|website=blueshalloffame.com|access-date=November 5, 2019|archive-date=November 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105035653/http://www.blueshalloffame.com/Artists_Exhibit_Pages/Bo_Diddley_Exhibit.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Rock Hall">{{cite web |url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bo-diddley |title=Bo Diddley |access-date=February 20, 2011 |publisher=The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |archive-date=February 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212064701/http://rockhall.com/inductees/bo-diddley/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the [[Rhythm and Blues Foundation]] and the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards|title=Lifetime Achievement Award|website=Recording Academy Grammy Awards|access-date=November 5, 2019|archive-date=November 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120230905/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards|url-status=live}}</ref> Diddley is also recognized for his technical innovations, including his use of tremolo and reverb effects to enhance the sound of his distinctive rectangular guitars.<ref name="PrownNewquist1997">{{cite book |last1=Prown |first1=Pete |last2=Newquist |first2=H. P. |title=Legends of Rock Guitar |year=1997 |publisher=Hal Leonard |isbn=978-1-4768-5093-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gkRMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PP21 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Larson2004">{{cite book |last1=Larson |first1=Tom |title=History of Rock and Roll |year=2004 |publisher=Kendall Hunt |isbn=978-0-7872-9969-9 |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGJ7XmA8rjIC&pg=PA37 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Bo Diddley was born in [[McComb, Mississippi]],{{refn|group=nb|Some sources give his birthplace as [[Magnolia, Mississippi]], saying that his mother moved to [[McComb, Mississippi]], when he was an infant.<ref name="SewellDwight1984">{{cite book |last1=Sewell |first1=George A. |last2=Dwight |first2=Margaret L. |title=Mississippi Black History Makers |date=1984 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-390-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ve8QmE8kdjIC&pg=PA312 |language=en}}</ref>}} as Ellas Otha Bates (also stated as Otha Ellas Bates or Elias Otha Bates).<ref name="Abjorensen2017">{{cite book |last1=Abjorensen |first1=Norman |title=Historical Dictionary of Popular Music |year=2023|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-0215-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZyrDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |language=en |page=58}}</ref> He was the only child of Ethel Wilson, a  sharecropper's teenaged daughter, and Eugene Bates,<ref name="GatesDubois2004">{{cite book |last1=Saniek |first1=David|editor1-last=Gates |editor1-first=Henry Louis Jr.|editor2-last=DuBois |editor2-first=W. E. B. |editor3-last=Higginbotham |editor3-first=Evelyn Brooks |title=African American Lives |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516024-6 |pages=230–232 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYgRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA230 |language=en |chapter=Diddley, Bo}}</ref> whom he never knew. Wilson was only sixteen, and being unable to support a family, she gave her cousin, Gussie McDaniel,<ref name="Sawyers2012">{{cite book |last1=Sawyers |first1=June Skinner |title=Chicago Portraits: New Edition |year=2012 |publisher=Northwestern University Press |isbn=978-0-8101-2649-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qojgLBuEFEUC&pg=PA95 |language=en |page=95}}</ref> permission to raise her son.<ref name="SewellDwight1984" /> McDaniel eventually adopted him, and he assumed her surname.<ref name="Finkelman2009">{{cite book |last1=Finkelman |first1=Paul |title=Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: J-N |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516779-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&pg=PA261 |language=en |page=261}}</ref> Diddley denied ever having the name "Otha" in a 2001 interview, saying "I don't know where they got that 'Otha' from",<ref>{{Citation |title=Speaking Freely: Bo Diddley | date=July 21, 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqvx2evI0eE@t=2m7s |issue=Ep.209 |type=Video recording |publisher=www.newseuminstitute.org |language=en |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref> but his website, maintained by his estate, confirms it as his middle name.

After his adoptive father Robert died in 1934, when Diddley was five years old,<ref name="Collis1998">{{cite book |last1=Collis |first1=John |title=The Story of Chess Records |year=1998 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-58234-005-0 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZASIpS00zv8C&pg=PA112 |language=en}}</ref> Gussie McDaniel moved with him and her three children to the [[South Side, Chicago|South Side]] of Chicago;<ref name="Pruter1996" />{{refn|group=nb|Some sources say Gussie McDaniel moved to Chicago in 1935 rather than 1934.}} he later dropped Otha from his name and became Ellas McDaniel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bodiddley.com/history.html|title=Bo Diddley -History|website=Bodiddley.com|access-date=March 2, 2019|archive-date=February 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011528/http://www.bodiddley.com/history.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He was an active member of Chicago's [[Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church (Chicago)|Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church]],<ref name="Charry2020">{{cite book |last1=Charry |first1=Eric |title=A New and Concise History of Rock and R&B through the Early 1990s |year=2020 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=978-0-8195-7896-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nzZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 |language=en |page=59}}</ref> where he studied the [[trombone]] and the [[violin]],<ref name="Pruter1996">{{cite book |last1=Pruter |first1=Robert |title=Doowop: The Chicago Scene |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-06506-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j06dhDdsgioC&pg=PA72 |language=en |pages=72–73}}</ref> becoming so proficient on the violin that the musical director invited him to join the orchestra, in which he played until he was 18. However, he was more interested in the joyful, rhythmic music he heard at a local [[Pentecostal Church]] and took up the guitar;<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2066171/Bo-Diddley.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Bo Diddley, who has died aged 79, was one of the most important influences in the development of popular music, even though for much of his career he was seldom in the charts or in the recording studio. | date=June 2, 2008 | access-date=April 26, 2010 | archive-date=November 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091101173449/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2066171/Bo-Diddley.html | url-status=live }}</ref> his first recordings were based on that frenetic church music.<ref name="Capace2001">{{cite book |last1=Capace |first1=Nancy |title=Encyclopedia of Mississippi |date=2001 |publisher=Somerset Publishers, Inc. |isbn=978-0-403-09603-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlLDIiQv9twC&pg=PA170 |language=en}}</ref> Diddley said he thought that the trance-like rhythm he used in his rhythm and blues music came from the [[Original Church of God or Sanctified Church|Sanctified]] churches he had attended as a youth in his Chicago neighborhood.<ref name="Sullivan2013">{{cite book |last1=Sullivan |first1=Steve |title=Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings |date=2013 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-8296-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWBPAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA86 |page= 86 |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Inspired by a [[John Lee Hooker]] performance,<ref name='Rock Hall'/> Diddley supplemented his income as a carpenter and mechanic by [[busking|playing on street corners]] with friends,<ref name="Crispin2008">{{cite book |last1=Crispin |first1=Nick |title=Bo Didley: 1928–2008 Memorial Songbook (PVG) |year=2008 |publisher=Wise Publications |isbn=978-1-78759-097-7 |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wn9cDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT4 |language=en}}</ref> including [[Jerome Green]], in the Hipsters band, later renamed the Langley Avenue Jive Cats.<ref name="Pruter1996" /> Green became a near-constant member of McDaniel's backing band, the two often trading joking insults with each other during live shows.<ref name="SoundsShow">{{cite news |title= The R&B Show |first= Martin |last= Hayman |newspaper=[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]] |publisher= Spotlight Publications |date= August 28, 1971|page= 13}}</ref><ref name="Unterberger2012">{{cite book |last1=Unterberger |first1=Richie |title=Say Man |publisher= Rolling Stone |year=2012 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/say-man-51012/}}</ref> In the summers of 1943 and 1944, he played at the [[Maxwell Street]] market in a band with [[Earl Hooker]].<ref name="Danchin2010">{{cite book |last1=Danchin |first1=Sebastian |title=Earl Hooker, Blues Master |date=2010 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-62846-841-0 |pages=10–11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2vqzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 |language=en}}</ref> By 1951 he was playing on the street with backing from Roosevelt Jackson on [[washtub bass]] and [[Jody Williams (blues musician)|Jody Williams]], who had played harmonica as a boy but took up guitar in his teens after he met Diddley at a talent show,<ref name="KomaraLee2004">{{cite book |last1=Komara |first1=Edward |last2=Lee |first2=Peter |title=The Blues Encyclopedia |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-95832-9 |pages=1081–1082 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQU3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1081 |language=en}}</ref> with Diddley teaching him some aspects of playing the instrument,<ref name="Dahl, Bill 2002">Dahl, Bill (2002). CD liner notes. "Jody Williams, ''Return of a Legend''".</ref> including how to play the bass line.<ref name="Obrecht2000">{{cite book |last1=Obrecht |first1=Jas |title=Rollin' and Tumblin': The Postwar Blues Guitarists |year=2000 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-87930-613-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qBIaN63ZJEMC&pg=PA205 |language=en |page=205}}</ref> Williams later played lead guitar on "[[Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley song)|Who Do You Love?]]" (1956).<ref name="Dahl, Bill 2002"/><ref name="Sullivan2013" />

In 1951, he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club, on Chicago's South Side,<ref name="Sewell1984">{{cite book |last1=Sewell |first1=George Alexander |last2=Dwight |first2=Margaret L. |title=Mississippi Black History Makers |date=1984 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-61703-428-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z74vTOrw5mYC&pg=PA31 |page=31 |language=en}}</ref> with a repertoire influenced by [[Louis Jordan]], John Lee Hooker, and [[Muddy Waters]].<ref name="Crispin2008" /> In late 1954, he teamed up with harmonica player [[Billy Boy Arnold]], drummer Clifton James and [[Bassist|bass player]] Roosevelt Jackson and recorded [[Demo (music)|demos]] of "[[I'm a Man (Bo Diddley song)|I'm a Man]]" and "[[Bo Diddley (Bo Diddley song)|Bo Diddley]]". They re-recorded the songs at [[Universal Recording Corp.]] for [[Chess Records]], with a backing [[musical ensemble|ensemble]] comprising [[Otis Spann]] (piano), [[Lester Davenport]] (harmonica), Frank Kirkland (drums), and Jerome Green (maracas). The record was released in March 1955, and the [[A-side and B-side|A-side]], "Bo Diddley", became a number one R&B hit.<ref name="Edmondson2013">{{cite book |last1=Edmondson |first1=Jacqueline |title=Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories that Shaped our Culture [4 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shaped Our Culture |year=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-39348-8 |page=346 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQPXAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA346 |language=en}}</ref>

===Origins of stage name===
The origin of the stage name Bo Diddley is unclear. McDaniel said his peers gave him the name, which he suspected was an insult.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19748/m1/ |title=Show 3 – The Tribal Drum: The Rise of Rhythm and Blues. [Part 1&#93; : UNT Digital Library |access-date=April 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402115233/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19748/m1/ |archive-date=April 2, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Diddly'' is a truncation of ''diddly squat'', which means "absolutely nothing".<ref>{{cite book |last = Spears |first = Richard A. |title = McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions |publisher = McGraw-Hill |edition = 4th |year = 2005 |page = 425 |isbn = 978-0-07-146107-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1 = Lighter |first1 = J. E. |last2 = O'Connor |first2 = J. |last3 = Ball |first3 = J. |title = Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang |publisher = Random House |volume = 1 (A–G) |year = 1994 |isbn = 978-0-394-54427-4 |url = https://archive.org/details/randomhousehisto01ligh }}</ref> Diddley also said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother knew. Harmonicist [[Billy Boy Arnold]] said that it was a local comedian's name, which [[Leonard Chess]] adopted as McDaniel's stage name and the title of his first single.<ref name="ArnoldField2021">{{cite book |last1=Arnold |first1=Billy Boy |last2=Field |first2=Kim |title=The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold |date=2021 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-80920-5 |pages=121–123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqs_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 |language=en}}</ref> McDaniel also stated that his school classmates in Chicago gave him the nickname, which he started using when sparring and boxing in the neighborhood with The Little Neighborhood Golden Gloves Bunch.<ref>{{cite interview |subject=Bo Diddley |interviewer=Arlene R. Weiss |title=Bo Diddley interview: "I'm the son-of-a-bitch that did it" |url=http://guitarinternational.com/2011/08/29/bo-diddley-interview-i’m-the-son-of-a-bitch-that-did-it/ |date=May 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916174706/http://guitarinternational.com/2011/08/29/bo-diddley-interview-i%E2%80%99m-the-son-of-a-bitch-that-did-it/ |archive-date=September 16, 2011 |access-date=October 19, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.celebrityrockstarguitars.com/rock/diddley_bo.htm |title=Ed Roman on Bo' Diddley RIP |author=Ed Roman |year=2005 |work=Celebrity Rock Star Guitars |access-date=May 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504040119/http://celebrityrockstarguitars.com/rock/diddley_bo.htm |archive-date=May 4, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the 1921 story "Black Death", by [[Zora Neale Hurston]], Beau Diddely was a womanizer who impregnates a young woman, disavows responsibility, and meets his undoing by the powers of the local [[hoodoo (spirituality)|hoodoo]] man. Hurston submitted it in a contest run by the academic journal ''[[Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life|Opportunity]]'' in 1925, where it won an honorable mention, but it was never published during her lifetime.<ref name="Storm2016">{{cite web |author1=Anna Storm |title=Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Zora Neale Hurston, and the Creation of "Authentic Voices" in the Black Women's Literary Tradition |url=https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2424&context=etd |access-date=August 11, 2020 |date=2016 |archive-date=November 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107020332/https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2424&context=etd |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hurston020">{{cite news |author1=Zora Neal Hurston |title=Black Death |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/books/review/hitting-a-straight-lick-with-a-crooked-stick-by-zora-neale-hurston-an-excerpt.html |access-date=August 11, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=January 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114101052/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/books/review/hitting-a-straight-lick-with-a-crooked-stick-by-zora-neale-hurston-an-excerpt.html |archive-date=January 14, 2020}}</ref>

A [[diddley bow]] is a homemade single-string instrument that survived in the American [[Deep South]],<ref name="Kubic2009">{{cite book |last1=Kubik |first1=Gerhard |title=Africa and the Blues |year=2009 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-728-8 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YfCzP-SB8d4C&pg=PA16 |language=en}}</ref> especially in Mississippi. Played mainly by children,<ref name="Evans1970">{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=David |title=Afro-American One-Stringed Instruments |journal=Western Folklore |date=1970 |volume=29 |issue=4 |doi=10.2307/1499045 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1499045 |issn=0043-373X |pages=242–243 |jstor=1499045 |quote=The drum patterns, then, have been transferred to the guitar with  the one-stringed instrument as the medium of exchange. Thus the one-stringed instrument functions  virtually the same way in Liberia and Mississippi. It is mainly a children's instrument on which rhythms and patterns (signals) are learned for later use on the adult instruments, the drum and guitar... The reason the blues of  Mississippi guitarists should be so especially percussive doubtless  lies in the fact that drums and their functional equivalent, the  "diddley bow," are still played in that state.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the diddley bow in its simplest form was made by nailing a length of broom wire to the side of a house, using a rock placed under the string as a movable bridge, and played in the style of a bottleneck guitar, with various objects used as a slider.<ref name="Palmer2011">{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Robert |title=Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer |year=2011 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-9975-3 |pages=114–115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hx0ZdtoJzc8C&pg=PA114 |language=en}}</ref> The apparent consensus among scholars is that the diddley bow is derived from the monochord zithers of central Africa.<ref name="Komara2006">{{cite book |last1=Komara |first1=Edward M. |title=Encyclopedia of the Blues |year=2006 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-92699-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-w-uGwm_LhcC&pg=PA268 |pages=267–268 |language=en}}</ref>

===Success in the 1950s and 1960s===
On November 20, 1955, Diddley appeared on the popular television program ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''. According to legend, when someone on the show's staff overheard him casually singing "[[Sixteen Tons]]" in the dressing room, he was asked to perform the song on the show. One of Diddley's later versions of the story was that upon seeing "Bo Diddley" on the cue card, he thought he was to perform both [[Bo Diddley (Bo Diddley song)|his self-titled hit single]] and "Sixteen Tons".<ref name="Austen2005">{{cite book |last1=Austen |first1=Jake |title=TV-a-Go-Go: Rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol |date=2005 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1-56976-241-7 |pages=14–15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYa5olqdl4UC&pg=PA14 |language=en}}</ref> Sullivan was furious and banned Diddley from his show, reputedly saying that he would not last six months. Chess Records included Diddley's cover of "Sixteen Tons" on the 1963 album ''[[Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger]]''.<ref name="Dahl2001">{{cite book |last1=Dahi |first1=Bill |editor1-last=Bogdanov |editor1-first=Vladimir |editor2-last=Woodstra |editor2-first=Chris |editor3-last=Erlewine |editor3-first=Stephen Thomas |title=All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music |year=2001 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-87930-627-4 |page=116 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xR7MdpuSlAEC&pg=PA116 |language=en}}</ref>

Diddley's hit singles continued in the 1950s and 1960s: "[[Pretty Thing]]" (1956), "[[Say Man]]" (1959), and "[[You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover]]" (1962). He also released numerous albums, including ''Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger'' and ''Have Guitar, Will Travel''. These bolstered his self-invented legend.<ref name="SoundsShow"/> Between 1958 and 1963, [[Checker Records]] released eleven full-length Bo Diddley albums. In the 1960s, he broke through as a crossover artist with white audiences (appearing at the [[Alan Freed]] concerts, for example),<ref name="SoundsShow"/> but he rarely aimed his compositions at teenagers. Diddley was among those musicians who capitalized on the mid-1960s surfing and beach party craze in the United States, and released the albums ''[[Surfin' with Bo Diddley]]'' and '' Bo Diddley's Beach Party''.<ref name="Komara2006" /> These featured heavy, distorted blues, played on his [[Gretsch]] guitar with bended notes and minor key riffs, unlike the clean, undistorted sounds of the Fender guitars used by the California surf bands. The cover of ''Surfin' with Bo Diddley'' had a photograph of two surfers riding a big wave.<ref name="KennedyGadpaille2016">{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Victor |last2=Gadpaille |first2=Michelle |title=Symphony and Song: The Intersection of Words and Music |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-5733-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fe62DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA234 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1963, Diddley starred in a UK concert tour with the [[Everly Brothers]] and [[Little Richard]] along with the Rolling Stones (a little-known band at that time).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fe62DQAAQBAJ&q=Bo+diddley+1963&pg=PA234|title=Symphony and Song: The Intersection of Words and Music|last1=Kennedy|first1=Victor|last2=Gadpaille|first2=Michelle|date=December 14, 2016|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443857338|language=en|access-date=October 16, 2020|archive-date=December 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203161727/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fe62DQAAQBAJ&q=Bo+diddley+1963&pg=PA234|url-status=live}}</ref>

Diddley wrote many songs for himself and also for others.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bo-diddley/biography|title=Bo Diddley Biography|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=September 19, 2017|archive-date=September 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912120339/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bo-diddley/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1956, he and guitarist Jody Williams co-wrote the pop song "[[Love Is Strange]]", a hit for [[Mickey & Sylvia]] in 1957, reaching number 11 on the chart.<ref name="Bogdanov2003">{{cite book |last1=Bogdanov |first1=Vladimir |title=All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul |date=2003 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-87930-744-8 |page=470 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o552g5xRRiwC&pg=PA470 |language=en}}</ref>  Mickey Baker claimed that he (Baker) and Bo Diddley's wife, Ethel Smith, wrote the song.<ref name="Gregory1995">{{cite book |last1=Gregory |first1=Hugh |title=Soul Music A-Z |year=1995 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-80643-8 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ibMzAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Love%20Is%20Strange%22 |language=en}}</ref> Diddley also wrote "Mama (Can I Go Out)", which was a minor hit for the pioneering rockabilly singer [[Jo Ann Campbell]], who performed the song in the 1959 rock and roll film ''[[Go Johnny Go]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jo Ann Campbell {{!}} Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jo-ann-campbell-mn0000111523/biography|access-date=June 19, 2020|website=AllMusic|language=en-us|archive-date=June 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620045616/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jo-ann-campbell-mn0000111523/biography|url-status=live}}</ref>

After moving from Chicago to Washington, D.C., Diddley built his first [[home recording]] studio in the basement of his home at 2614 Rhode Island Avenue NE. Frequented by several of Washington, D.C.'s musical luminaries, the studio was the site where he recorded the Checker LP (Checker LP-2977) ''Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger''.<ref name="Harrington2006">{{cite news |last1=Harrington |first1=Richard |title=For Bo Diddley, the Beat Goes On and On |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/02/AR2006110200568.html |date=November 3, 2006 |access-date=November 23, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Diddley also produced and recorded several up-and-coming groups from the Washington, D.C. area. One of the first groups he recorded was local doo-wop group the Marquees, featuring [[Marvin Gaye]] and baritone-bass Chester Simmons, who moonlighted as Diddley's chauffeur.<ref name="2011McArdle">{{cite news |last1=McArdle |first1=Terence |title=Reese Palmer, lead singer of Washington doo-wop group the Marquees, dies at 73 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/reese-palmer-lead-singer-of-washington-doo-wop-group-the-marquees-dies-at-73/2011/10/31/gIQASOcRjM_story.html |access-date=November 27, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 3, 2011}}</ref>

The Marquees appeared in talent shows at the [[Lincoln Theatre (Washington, D.C.)|Lincoln Theatre]], and Diddley, impressed by their smooth vocal delivery, let them rehearse in his studio. Diddley got the Marquees signed to [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] subsidiary label [[OKeh Records]] after unsuccessfully attempting to get them a contract with his own label, [[Chess Records|Chess]].<ref name="2011McArdle" /> The OKeh label rivaled Chess in the promotion of rhythm and blues. On September 25, 1957, Diddley drove the group to [[New York City]] to record "Wyatt Earp", a novelty song written by Reese Palmer, lead singer of the Marquees. Diddley produced the session, with the group backed by his own band. They cut their first record, a single with "Wyatt Earp" on the A-side and "Hey Little School Girl" on the B-side,<ref name="Gaye2003">{{cite book |last1=Gaye |first1=Frankie |title=Marvin Gaye, My Brother |year=2003 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-1-61713-248-3 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVRMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT19 |language=en}}</ref> but it failed to become a hit.<ref name="Dyson2008">{{cite book |last1=Dyson |first1=Michael Eric |title=Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye |date=2008 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-7867-2247-1 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=83s6mwmjXBcC&pg=PT15 |language=en}}</ref> Diddley persuaded [[Moonglows]] founder and backing vocalist [[Harvey Fuqua]] to hire Gaye. Gaye joined the Moonglows as first tenor;<ref name="GatesWest2oo2">{{cite book |last1=Gates |first1=Henry Louis |last2=West |first2=Cornel |title=The African-American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Country |year=2002 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-86415-0 |pages=288–289 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ih5ePspKSeAC&pg=PA288 |language=en |quote=In 1957, he formed his own group, the Marquees, and recorded "Wyatt Earp" on the Okeh label with Bo Diddley. But it was his 1958 meeting with Harvey Fuqua, which led to a spot singing first tenor in Fuqua's smooth-harmony rhythm and blues group the Moonglows, that launched Gaye's musical career.}}</ref> the group then moved to Detroit with the hope of signing with [[Motown Records]]<ref name='Rock Hall'/> founder [[Berry Gordy Jr.]]

Diddley included women in his band: [[Norma-Jean Wofford]], also known as The Duchess; Gloria Jolivet; [[Peggy Jones (musician)|Peggy Jones]], also known as Lady Bo, a lead guitarist (rare for a woman at that time); and Cornelia Redmond, also known as Cookie V.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Porter|first=Dick|title=Journey to the Centre of the Cramps|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1783053735|chapter=Ch. 1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/arts/music/03diddley.html|title=Bo Diddley, Who Gave Rock His Beat, Dies at 79|date=June 3, 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 14, 2020|archive-date=March 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320201006/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/arts/music/03diddley.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Later years===
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2017}}

In early 1971, writer-musician Michael Lydon, a founding editor of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', conducted a lengthy, rambling interview of Diddley, at his then home in the San Fernando Valley, California. Lydon described him as a "protean genius" whose songs were "hymns to himself", and led the published piece with a Diddley quote: "Everything I know I taught myself."<ref name="Lydon1971">{{cite news |last1=Lydon |first1=Michael |title=The Second Coming Of Bo Diddley |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-second-coming-of-bo-diddley |access-date=December 1, 2021 |work=Ramparts |issue=May |date=May 1, 1971 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506010820/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-second-coming-of-bo-diddley |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |page=22}}</ref>

[[File:Bo-Diddley.jpg|thumb|Diddley on tour in Japan with the Japanese band Bo Gumbos]]
Over the decades, Diddley's performing venues ranged from intimate clubs to stadiums. On March 25, 1972, he played with the [[Grateful Dead]] at the [[Academy of Music (New York City)|Academy of Music]] in New York City.<ref name="Trager1997">{{cite book |last1=Trager |first1=Oliver |title=The American Book of the Dead |year=1997 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-81402-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbRsHp57CqwC&pg=PA96 |language=en}}</ref> The Grateful Dead released part of this concert as [[Dick's Picks Volume 30|Volume 30]] of the band's concert album series, ''[[Dick's Picks]]''. Also in the early 1970s, the soundtrack of the ground-breaking animated film ''[[Fritz the Cat (film)|Fritz the Cat]]'' contained his song "Bo Diddley", in which a crow dances<ref name="Davies2015">{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Clive |title=Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Write About |page=487 |year=2015 |publisher=SCB Distributors |isbn=978-1-909394-06-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co5XDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT487 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Fingerstyle guitar|finger-pops]] to the track.<ref name="WaltersMansfield1998">{{cite book |last1=Walters |first1=Neal |last2=Mansfield |first2=Brian |title=MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide |date=1998 |publisher=Visible Ink |isbn=978-1-57859-037-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qznaAAAAMAAJ&q=%22finger-popped%20to%20the%20tune%22 |language=en}}</ref>

Diddley spent some years in [[New Mexico]], living in [[Los Lunas, New Mexico|Los Lunas]] from 1971 to 1978, while continuing his musical career. He served for two and a half years as a deputy sheriff in the [[Valencia County, New Mexico|Valencia County]] Citizens' Patrol; during that time he purchased and donated three highway-patrol pursuit cars.<ref name="NMMC2008">{{Cite web|author= Staff, Associated Press | url=http://www.newmexicomusic.org/noteable.php?select=5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815163720/http://www.newmexicomusic.org/noteable.php?select=5|url-status=dead|title=Bo Diddley|archive-date=August 15, 2008 |publisher=New Mexico Music Commission}}</ref> In the late 1970s, he left Los Lunas and moved to [[Hawthorne, Florida|Hawthorne]], [[Florida]], where he lived on a large estate in a custom-made log cabin, which he helped to build. For the remainder of his life he divided his time between [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]] and Florida, living the last 13 years of his life in [[Archer, Florida]],<ref name="WillistonPioneer2012">{{cite news |author1=Staff |title=Son wants to tell Bo Diddley's story |url=https://www.willistonpioneer.com/content/son-wants-tell-bo-diddley%E2%80%99s-story |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122030105/https://www.willistonpioneer.com/content/son-wants-tell-bo-diddley%E2%80%99s-story |archive-date=November 22, 2021 |access-date=November 22, 2021 |work=Williston Pioneer Sun News |date=March 8, 2012}}</ref> a small farming town near [[Gainesville, Florida|Gainesville]].

In 1979, he appeared as an opening act for [[the Clash]] on their US tour.<ref name="Gruen2015">{{cite book |last1=Gruen |first1=Bob |title=The Clash: Photographs by Bob Gruen |date=2015 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78323-489-9 |page=147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T20bCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT147 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1983, he made a cameo appearance as a Philadelphia pawn shop owner in the comedy film ''[[Trading Places]]''.<ref name="Larkin2013">{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues |year=2013 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4481-3274-4 |page=cxix |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QeaHodj5fwC&pg=PR119 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Tong2020">{{cite magazine |last1=Tong |first1=Alfred |title=Dan Aykroyd's Trading Places watch is worth much more than $50 |journal=British GQ |date=June 12, 2020 |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/article/trading-places-rochefoucauld-world-complication |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718084906/https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/article/trading-places-rochefoucauld-world-complication |archive-date=July 18, 2021 |access-date=November 22, 2021 |publisher=Condé Nast}}</ref> He also appeared in [[George Thorogood|George Thorogood's]] music video for the song "Bad to the Bone," portraying a guitar-slinging pool shark.<ref name="Lovitt1984">{{cite book |last1=Lovitt |first1=Chip |title=Video Rock Superstars |date=1984 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-917657-03-0 |page=70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_S4MRzgRSIC&q=%22rock%20pioneer%20Bo%20Diddley%22 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1985, he appeared on [[George Thorogood|George Thorogood's]] set, alongside fellow blues legend [[Albert Collins]], on the [[Live Aid]] American stage to perform Thorogood's popular cover of Diddley's song [[Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley song)|Who Do You Love?]]".<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 30, 2015|title=Looking Back On Live Aid|url=https://outandaboutnow.com/2015/06/30/looking-back-on-live-aid/|access-date=July 29, 2021|website=Out & About Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1989, Diddley and his management company, Talent Source,<ref>{{Cite web |title=TALENT SOURCE MANAGEMENT {{!}} Exclusive representatives of The Estate of Bo Diddley |url=http://www.talentsourcemanagement.com/ |access-date=January 25, 2023 |website=www.talentsourcemanagement.com}}</ref> entered into a licensing  with the sportswear brand, Nike. The Wieden & Kennedy-produced commercial in the "[[Bo Knows]]" campaign teamed Diddley with dual sportsman [[Bo Jackson]].<ref name="CohenGraybow2008">{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Jonathan |last2=Graybow |first2=Steve |title=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |date=June 14, 2008 |page=9 |language=en}}</ref> The agreement ended in 1991,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://richlabonte.net/exonews/xtra4/diddley_sues.htm |title=Diddley Sues Nike For Using His Image |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614163231/http://richlabonte.net/exonews/xtra4/diddley_sues.htm |archive-date=June 14, 2015 }}</ref> but in 1999, a T-shirt of Diddley's image and "You don't know diddley" slogan was purchased in a Gainesville, Florida, sports apparel store. Diddley felt that Nike should not continue to use the slogan or his likeness and fought Nike over the copyright infringement. Despite the fact that lawyers for both parties could not come to a renewed legal arrangement, Nike allegedly continued marketing the apparel and ignored cease-and-desist orders,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,617695,00.html|title=Bo Diddley Sues Nike|newspaper=[[People (magazine)|People]]|access-date=June 13, 2015|archive-date=June 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614155946/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,617695,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a lawsuit was filed on Diddley's behalf, in Manhattan Federal Court.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bo-sues-nike-diddly-article-1.873023|title=Bo Sues Nike, Says He Got Diddly|newspaper=New York Daily News|location=New York|access-date=June 13, 2015|archive-date=June 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614184307/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bo-sues-nike-diddly-article-1.873023|url-status=live}}</ref>

Diddley played a blues and rock musician named Axman in the 1990 comedy film ''[[Rockula]]'', directed by [[Luca Bercovici]] and starring [[Dean Cameron]].

In ''Legends of Guitar'' (filmed live in Spain in 1991), Diddley performed with Steve Cropper, [[B.B. King]], [[Les Paul]], [[Albert Collins]], and [[George Benson]], among others. He joined the Rolling Stones on their 1994 concert broadcast of ''[[Voodoo Lounge]]'', performing "[[Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley song)|Who Do You Love?]]" at Joe Robbie Stadium, in Miami.
[[File:BoDiddley1997.jpg|thumb|left| Bo Diddley at the Long Beach Jazz Festival, 1997 with drummer Dave Johnson]] In 1996, he released ''A Man Amongst Men'', his first major-label album (and his final studio album) with guest artists like Keith Richards, Ron Wood and [[The Shirelles]]. The album earned a Grammy Award nomination in 1997 for the Best Contemporary Blues Album category.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Bo Diddley.jpg|thumb|upright|Bo Diddley in 2002]]

Diddley performed a number of shows around the country in 2005 and 2006, with fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer [[Johnnie Johnson (musician)|Johnnie Johnson]] and his band, consisting of Johnson on keyboards, Richard Hunt on drums and Gus Thornton on bass. In 2006, he participated as the headliner of a [[grassroots]]-organized fundraiser concert to benefit the town of [[Ocean Springs, Mississippi]], which had been devastated by [[Hurricane Katrina]]. The "Florida Keys for Katrina Relief" had originally been set for October 23, 2005, when [[Hurricane Wilma]] barreled through the [[Florida Keys]] on October 24, causing flooding and economic mayhem.

In January 2006, the Florida Keys had recovered enough to host the fundraising concert to benefit the more hard-hit community of Ocean Springs. When asked about the fundraiser, Diddley stated, "This is the United States of America. We believe in helping one another". The all-star band included members of the Soul Providers, and famed artists Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band, Joey Covington of Jefferson Airplane, Alfonso Carey of The Village People, and Carl Spagnuolo of Jay & The Techniques.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.floridakeysforkatrinarelief.com/KatrinaRelief/organizers_and_volunteers.htm|title=Organizers and Volunteers|website=Floridakeysforkatrinarelief.com|access-date=March 2, 2019|archive-date=October 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012051507/http://www.floridakeysforkatrinarelief.com/KatrinaRelief/organizers_and_volunteers.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.floridakeysforkatrinarelief.com/musical_performers.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929222848/http://www.floridakeysforkatrinarelief.com/musical_performers.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |title=Musical Performers |publisher=Floridakeysforkatrinarelief.com |date=January 8, 2006 |access-date=February 20, 2011 }}</ref> In an interview with Holger Petersen, on ''[[Saturday Night Blues]]'' on [[CBC Radio]] in the fall of 2006,<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/snb/latestshow.html]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928074108/http://www.cbc.ca/snb/latestshow.html|date=September 28, 2009}}</ref> he commented on racism in the music industry establishment during his early career. Diddley sold the rights to his songs early on, and until 1989 he received no [[royalties]] from the most successful part of his career.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 2, 2008|title=Bo Diddley|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jun/02/popandrock2|access-date=May 16, 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Harrington |first1=Richard |title=For Bo Diddley, the Beat Goes On and On |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2006/11/03/for-bo-diddley-the-beat-goes-on-and-on/cbd36241-4bcd-40ea-a9cc-9494559cdb4a/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 3, 2006}}</ref>

His final guitar performance on a studio album was with the [[New York Dolls]] on their 2006 album ''[[One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This]]''. He contributed guitar work to the song "Seventeen", which was included as a bonus track on the limited-edition version of the disc.

In May 2007, Diddley suffered a stroke after a concert the previous day in [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.eonline.com/news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521074739/http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=60a08a4d-9f34-45ac-b395-c284d9a5ef50&entry=index|url-status=dead|title=Breaking Celeb News, Entertainment News, and Celebrity Gossip|archive-date=May 21, 2012|website=E! News}}</ref> Nonetheless, he delivered an energetic performance to an enthusiastic crowd. A few months later he had a heart attack.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/arts/music/03diddley.html|title=Bo Diddley, Who Gave Rock His Beat, Dies at 79|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|date=June 3, 2008|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-date=March 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320201006/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/arts/music/03diddley.html|url-status=live}}</ref> While recovering, Diddley came back to his hometown of McComb, Mississippi, in early November 2007, for the unveiling of a plaque devoted to him on the [[Mississippi Blues Trail]]. This marked his achievements and noted that he was "acclaimed as a founder of rock-and-roll." He was not supposed to perform, but as he listened to the music of local musician Jesse Robinson, who sang a song written for this occasion, Robinson sensed that Diddley wanted to perform and handed him a microphone, the only time that he performed publicly after his stroke.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7305146&nav=menu119_3 |title=Bo Diddley Honored in Hometown |publisher=Wlbt.com |date=January 1, 2010 |access-date=February 20, 2011 |archive-date=February 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212024318/http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7305146&nav=menu119_3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Personal life ==

=== Marriages and children ===
Bo Diddley was married four times. His first marriage, at 18, to Louise Willingham, lasted a year.<ref name="Komara2006" /> Diddley married his second wife Ethel Mae Smith in 1949; they had two children.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2066171/Bo-Diddley.html|title=Bo Diddley|date=June 2, 2008|work=The Telegraph|issn=0307-1235|access-date=April 5, 2018|archive-date=February 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201105208/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2066171/Bo-Diddley.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He met his third wife, Kay Reynolds, when she was 15, while performing in [[Birmingham, Alabama]].<ref name=":5" /> They soon moved in together and married, despite taboos against [[interracial marriage]].<ref name=":5" /> They had two daughters.<ref name=":7" /> He married his fourth wife, Sylvia Paiz, in 1992; they were divorced at the time of his death.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="Komara2006" />

=== Health problems ===
On May 13, 2007, Diddley was admitted to [[intensive care]] in [[Creighton University Medical Center]] in [[Omaha, Nebraska]], following a stroke after a concert the previous day in [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]].<ref name=":4" /> Starting the show, he had complained that he did not feel well. He referred to smoke from the wildfires that were ravaging south Georgia and blowing south to the area near his home in Archer, Florida. The next day, as he was heading back home, he seemed dazed and confused at the airport, and 911 was called, and he was immediately taken by ambulance to Creighton University Medical Center where he stayed for several days. He was then flown to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, where it was confirmed that he had suffered a stroke.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eonline.com/news|title=Breaking Celeb News, Entertainment News, and Celebrity Gossip|website=E! News|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521074744/http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=5c8535ca-4223-4537-834e-ecb19af35ddf|archive-date=May 21, 2012}}</ref> Diddley had a history of [[hypertension]] and [[diabetes]], and the stroke affected the left side of his brain, causing receptive and expressive [[aphasia]] (speech impairment).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/entertainment/13334586/detail.html|title=Publicist: Bo Diddley Hospitalized After Stroke – Entertainment News Story – WTAE Pittsburgh|date=May 16, 2007|publisher=Thepittsburghchannel.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104225614/http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/entertainment/13334586/detail.html|archive-date=January 4, 2009|access-date=February 20, 2011}}</ref> The stroke was followed by a heart attack, which he suffered in Gainesville on August 28, 2007.<ref name=":5" />

==Death==
Bo Diddley died on June 2, 2008, of [[Congestive heart failure|heart failure]] at his home in Archer, Florida, at the age of 79.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Doug | last=Levine | title=Rock 'n' Roll Guitar Legend Bo Diddley Dies | date=June 2, 2008 | work=VOA News | publisher=Voice of America | url=http://voanews.com/english/archive/2008-06/2008-06-02-voa52.cfm | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715094652/http://voanews.com/english/archive/2008-06/2008-06-02-voa52.cfm | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 15, 2012 | access-date=January 3, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/music/orl-bk-bo-diddley-dead-06022008,0,3137748.story |title=Topic Galleries |work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=February 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906151611/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/music/orl-bk-bo-diddley-dead-06022008,0,3137748.story |archive-date=September 6, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Many family members were with him when he died at 1:45&nbsp;am. EDT at his home. His death was not unexpected. "There was a Gospel song that was sung, at his bedside, and when it was done, he opened his eyes, gave a thumbs up, and said, 'Wow! I'm goin' to Heaven!' The song was 'Walk Around Heaven', and those were his last words."<ref>{{cite news |last=Loney |first=Jim |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0228500620080602 |title=Rock 'n roll legend Bo Diddley dies in Florida |work=Reuters |date=June 2, 2008 |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-date=May 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519074714/http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0228500620080602 |url-status=live }}</ref>

He was survived by his children, Evelyn Kelly, Ellas A. McDaniel, Pamela Jacobs, Steven Jones, Terri Lynn McDaniel-Hines, and Tammi D. McDaniel; a brother, the Rev. Kenneth Haynes; and eighteen grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.<ref name=":5" />

Diddley's funeral, a four-hour "homegoing" service, took place on June 7, 2008, at Showers of Blessings Church in Gainesville, Florida. Many in attendance chanted "Hey Bo Diddley" as members of his band played a subdued version of the song.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bo-diddley-funeral-a-rocking-sendoff/|title=Bo Diddley Funeral A Rocking Sendoff|website=CBS News|date=June 7, 2008}}</ref> 

A number of notable musicians sent flowers, including Little Richard, [[George Thorogood]], [[Tom Petty]] and [[Jerry Lee Lewis]]. Little Richard, who had been asking his audiences to pray for Bo Diddley, throughout his illness, had to fulfill concert commitments in Westbury and New York City, the weekend of the funeral. He remembered Diddley at the concerts, performing his namesake tune. Eric Burdon of the Animals flew to Gainesville to attend the service.<ref>Farrington, Brendon. [http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/561840.html "Bo Diddley Gets a Rocking Sendoff at Fla. Funeral"], ''The Miami Herald'' (June 8, 2008). Retrieved June 9, 2008</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Calgary Herald|url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=55a1635a-bd00-4662-9dfd-26fe5f5eb6e6 |title=Bo Diddley |website=Canada.com |date=June 8, 2008 |access-date=February 6, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315235622/http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=55a1635a-bd00-4662-9dfd-26fe5f5eb6e6 |archive-date=March 15, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jambase.com/Articles/14179/Weekend-of-Legends-06.06-06.08-NYC |title=Weekend of Legends &#124; 06.06–06.08 &#124; NYC on JamBase |publisher=Jambase.com |access-date=February 6, 2013 |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117233854/http://www.jambase.com/Articles/14179/Weekend-of-Legends-06.06-06.08-NYC |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the funeral service, a tribute concert was held at the Martin Luther King Center in Gainesville, featuring guest performances by his son and daughter, Ellas A. McDaniel and Evelyn "Tan" Cooper; long-time background vocalist (and original Boette), Gloria Jolivet, and long-time bassist and bandleader, Debby Hastings, Eric Burdon, and former Bo Diddley & Offspring guitarist, Scott Free. In the days following his death, tributes were paid by then-President [[George W. Bush]], the [[United States House of Representatives]], and musicians and performers including [[B. B. King]], [[Ronnie Hawkins]], [[Mick Jagger]], [[Ronnie Wood]], [[George Thorogood]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[Tom Petty]], [[Robert Plant]], [[Elvis Costello]], [[Bonnie Raitt]], [[Robert Randolph and the Family Band]] and [[Eric Burdon]]. Burdon used video footage of the McDaniel family, and friends in mourning, for a video promoting his ABKCO Records release "Bo Diddley Special".{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Hastings is quoted as having said, "He was the rock that the roll was built on."

In November 2009, the guitar used by Bo Diddley in his final stage performance sold for $60,000 at auction.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Music Icons and Steve Tyler Auctions – Auction Results|url=http://www.juliensauctions.com/auctions/2009/music-icons/results.html|publisher=Julien's Auctions|access-date=January 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115184603/http://www.juliensauctions.com/auctions/2009/music-icons/results.html|archive-date=January 15, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2019, members of Bo Diddley's family sued to regain control of the music catalog held in trust by attorney Charles Littell. The family was successful in appointing a new trustee, music industry veteran Kendall Minter.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bo Diddley Oral History Zine|url=https://issuu.com/spohpatuf/docs/bo_diddley_1_|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=Issuu|date=July 7, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The family was represented by Charles David of Florida Probate Law Group in the 2019 lawsuit.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Swirko|first=Cindy|title=Bo Diddley's family gets OK to hire new estate trustee|url=https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190203/bo-diddleys-family-gets-ok-to-hire-new-estate-trustee|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=Gainesville Sun|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=February 6, 2020|title=What I Learned From The Bo Diddley Trust Litigation|url=https://www.floridaprobatelawgroup.com/blog/what-i-learned-from-the-bo-diddley-trust-litigation/|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=Florida Probate Blog|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Accolades==
Bo Diddley was [[Posthumous recognition|posthumously]] awarded a [[Doctor of Fine Arts]] degree by the [[University of Florida]] for his influence on American popular music. In its ''People in America'' radio series, about influential people in American history, the [[Voice of America]] radio service paid tribute to him, describing how "his influence was so widespread that it is hard to imagine what rock and roll would have sounded like without him." [[Mick Jagger]] stated that "he was a wonderful, original musician who was an enormous force in music and was a big influence on the Rolling Stones. He was very generous to us in our early years and we learned a lot from him". Jagger also praised the late star as a one-of-a-kind musician, adding, "We will never see his like again".<ref name="Mick">{{cite web|url=http://showbizspy.com/news/06032008/mick-jagger-leads-tribute-for-diddley|title=Mick Jagger Leads Tribute for Diddley|last=Wenn|date=June 3, 2008|work=showbizspy.com|access-date=October 27, 2008|archive-date=November 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122030542/http://www.showbizspy.com/news/06032008/mick-jagger-leads-tribute-for-diddley|url-status=live}}</ref> The documentary film ''[[Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street]]'' by director [[Phil Ranstrom]] features Bo Diddley's last on-camera interview.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maxwellstreetdocumentary.com|title=Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street|publisher=Maxwellstreetdocumentary.com|access-date=April 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103041025/http://www.maxwellstreetdocumentary.com/|archive-date=January 3, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He achieved numerous accolades in recognition of his significant role as one of the founding fathers of rock and roll.
* 1986: Inducted into the [[Washington, D.C.|Washington Area]] Music Association's Hall of Fame.
* 1987: Inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]<ref name="Rock Hall" />
* 1987: Inducted into the [[Rockabilly Hall of Fame]]
* 1990: Lifetime Achievement Award from ''[[Guitar Player]]'' magazine
* 1996: Lifetime Achievement Award from the [[Rhythm and Blues Foundation]]
* 1998: [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]]<ref name=":3" />
* 1999: His 1955 recording of his song "Bo Diddley" inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/hall-of-fame#b|title=Grammy Hall of Fame|website=Recording Academy Grammy Awards|url-status=live|access-date=November 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904084225/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/hall-of-fame#b|archive-date=September 4, 2017}}</ref>
* 2000: Inducted into the [[Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.msmusic.org/mississippi-rhythm-and-blues-musicians.html|title=Inductees: Rhythm and Blues (R & B)|website=Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame|access-date=November 5, 2019|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727012901/http://www.msmusic.org/mississippi-rhythm-and-blues-musicians.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2000: Inducted into the North Florida Music Association's Hall of Fame
* 2002: Pioneer in Entertainment Award from the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
* 2002: Honored as one of the first [[Broadcast Music Incorporated|BMI]] Icons at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards, along with BMI affiliates [[Chuck Berry]] and [[Little Richard]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233284|title=BMI ICON Awards Honor Three of Rock & Roll's Founding Fathers|date=June 30, 2002 |publisher=bmi.com|access-date=October 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925212455/http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233284|archive-date=September 25, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2003: Inducted into the [[Blues Hall of Fame]]<ref name=":1" />
* 2008: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree posthumously conferred on Diddley by the [[University of Florida]] in August (the award had been confirmed before his death in June).
* 2020: Induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame
* 2010: Induction into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rosica.com/2008/01/02/hit-parade-hall-of-fame-announces-first-inductees/|title=Hit Parade Hall of Fame Announces First Inductees {{!}} Rosica|website=Rosica.com|date=January 2, 2008 |access-date=December 13, 2017|archive-date=December 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213203134/https://www.rosica.com/2008/01/02/hit-parade-hall-of-fame-announces-first-inductees/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2017: Inducted into the [[Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://www.rbhalloffame.com/index.php/hall-of-fame/inductees|title=Inductees|website=National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame|url-status=dead|access-date=January 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020080929/https://www.rbhalloffame.com/index.php/hall-of-fame/inductees|archive-date=October 20, 2019}}</ref>
* 2021: Inducted into the [https://nmmhof.org New Mexico Music Hall of Fame].

In 2003, U.S. Representative [[John Conyers]] paid tribute to Bo Diddley in the [[United States House of Representatives]], describing him as "one of the true pioneers of rock and roll, who has influenced generations".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.s9.com/Biography/Diddley-Bo |title=Ellas Bates McDaniel, Bo Diddley biography |publisher=S9.com |access-date=February 20, 2011 |archive-date=September 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930103646/http://www.s9.com/Biography/Diddley-Bo |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2004, [[Mickey Baker|Mickey]] and [[Sylvia Vanderpool|Sylvia's]] 1956 recording of "[[Love Is Strange]]" (a song first recorded by Bo Diddley but not released until a year before his death) was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] as a recording of qualitative or historical significance. Also in 2004, Bo Diddley was inducted into the [[Blues Foundation]]'s Blues Hall of Fame and was ranked number 20 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.<ref>{{cite magazine| title = The Immortals: The First Fifty| magazine = [[Rolling Stone]]| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939214/the_immortals_the_first_fifty| access-date = August 24, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100411041126/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939214/the_immortals_the_first_fifty| archive-date = April 11, 2010| url-status = dead}}</ref>

In 2005, Bo Diddley celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with successful tours of Australia and Europe and with coast-to-coast shows across North America. He performed his song "Bo Diddley" with [[Eric Clapton]] and [[Robbie Robertson]] at the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]'s 20th annual induction ceremony. In the UK, ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]'' magazine included his 1957 debut album, ''Bo Diddley'', in its listing of the '100 Music, Movie & TV Moments That Have Changed the World'.

Bo Diddley was honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission with a [[Mississippi Blues Trail]] historic marker placed in [[McComb, Mississippi|McComb]], his birthplace, in recognition of his enormous contribution to the development of the blues in Mississippi.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues_trail/
|title=Mississippi Blues Commission – Blues Trail
|publisher=Msbluestrail.org
|access-date=May 28, 2008
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509122945/http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues_trail/
|archive-date=May 9, 2008
|url-status=live
}}</ref> On June 5, 2009, the city of Gainesville, Florida, officially renamed and dedicated its downtown plaza the Bo Diddley Community Plaza. The plaza was the site of a benefit concert at which Bo Diddley performed to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless in [[Alachua County]] and to raise money for local charities, including the [[Red Cross]].

== Beat ==
{{Main|Bo Diddley beat}}
The "Bo Diddley beat" is essentially the [[clave rhythm]], one of the most common [[bell pattern]]s found in [[sub-Saharan African music traditions]].<ref>Peñalosa, David (2010: 244). ''The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins''. Redway, California: Bembe. {{ISBN|1-886502-80-3}}.</ref> One scholar found this rhythm in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by [[Johnny Otis]] from 1948.<ref>Tamlyn, Garry Neville (1998). ''The Big Beat: Origins and Development of Snare Backbeat and Other Accompanimental Rhythms in Rock 'n' Roll''. PhD thesis. Table 4.16. page 284.</ref>

Bo Diddley gave different accounts of how he began to use this rhythm. [[Ned Sublette]] says, "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas [heard on the record], 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets."<ref>Sublette, Ned (2007: 83). "The Kingsmen and the Cha-cha-chá." Ed. Eric Weisbard. ''Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music''. Duke University Press. {{ISBN|0822340410}}.</ref> The Bo Diddley beat is similar to "[[Juba dance|hambone]]", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes.<ref>Roscetti, Ed (2008). ''Stuff! Good Drummers Should Know''. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 16. {{ISBN|1-4234-2848-X}}.</ref> Somewhat resembling the [[Shave and a Haircut|"shave and a haircut, two bits"]] rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play [[Gene Autry]]'s "(I've Got Spurs That) [[Jingle, Jangle, Jingle]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/298/Blues+Reflections:+2003 |title=Blues Reflections |publisher=Afropop.org |date=April 3, 1970 |access-date=February 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605102906/http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/298/Blues+Reflections:+2003 |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Three years before his "Bo Diddley", a song with similar syncopation titled "Hambone" was cut by the [[Red Saunders (musician)|Red Saunders]] Orchestra with the Hambone Kids. In 1944, "[[Rum and Coca Cola]]", containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by the [[the Andrews Sisters|Andrews Sisters]]. [[Buddy Holly]]'s "[[Not Fade Away (song)|Not Fade Away]]" (1957) and [[Them (band)|Them's]] "[[Mystic Eyes]]" (1965) used the beat.<ref name="Sixties">Hicks, Michaël (2000). ''Sixties Rock'', p.36. {{ISBN|978-0-252-06915-4}}.</ref>
[[File:Bo Diddley beat.png|thumb|280px|right|"Bo Diddley beat"<ref name="Sixties" />/[[Son clave]] {{audio|Bo Diddley beat.mid|Play}}.]] In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a one-bar or a two-bar phrase. Here is the count as a one-bar phrase: '''One''' e and '''ah''', two e '''and''' ah, three e '''and''' ah, '''four''' e and ah (the boldface counts are the [[Clave (rhythm)|clave]] rhythm).

Many songs (for example, "[[Hey Bo Diddley]]" and "[[Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley song)|Who Do You Love?]]") often have no [[chord (music)|chord]] changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that the rhythms create the excitement, rather than having the excitement generated by harmonic [[tension (music)|tension and release]]. In his other recordings, Bo Diddley used various rhythms, from straight [[beat (music)|back beat]] to [[Popular music|pop]] [[ballad]] style to [[doo-wop]], frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eder |first1=Bruce |title=Artist Biography of Jerome Green |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerome-green-mn0000325428/biography |website=All Music |access-date=May 3, 2020 |archive-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603083250/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerome-green-mn0000325428/biography |url-status=live }}</ref> His 1955 rhythm and blues hit, "Bo Diddley", had a "driving African rhythm and ham-bone beat".<ref name="Auuila2000">{{cite book |last1=Aquila |first1=Richard |title=That Old-time Rock & Roll: A Chronicle of an Era, 1954–1963 |date=2000 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-06919-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJxfiKtxrRsC&pg=PA209 |language=en}}</ref> Beginning that same year, Diddley collaborated with various doo-wop vocal groups, using [[the Moonglows]] as a backing group on his first album, ''Bo Diddley'', released in 1958. In one of the most well-known of his 1958 doo-wop sessions, Diddley added harmonies by the Carnations recording as the Teardrops, who sang smooth, polished doo-wop in the backgrounds on the songs "I'm Sorry", "Crackin' Up", and "Don't Let it Go".<ref name="Pruter1996" />

An influential guitar player, Bo Diddley developed many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack, particularly the "shimmering" tremolo sound,<ref name="Larson2004" /><ref name="Schiller2019">{{cite book |last1=Schiller |first1=David |title=Guitar: The World's Most Seductive Instrument |year=2019 |publisher=Workman Publishing |isbn=978-1-5235-0850-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnKHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |language=en}}</ref> and amp reverb. His trademark instrument was his self-designed, one-of-a-kind, rectangular-bodied "Twang Machine" (referred to as "cigar-box shaped" by music promoter [[Dick Clark]]), built by [[Gretsch]]. He had other uniquely shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers throughout the years, most notably the "Cadillac" and the rectangular "Turbo 5-speed" (with built-in envelope filter, flanger and delay) designs, made by Tom Holmes (who also made guitars for ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, among others). In a 2005 interview on [[Triple J|JJJ]] radio in Australia, he implied that the rectangular design sprang from an embarrassing moment. During an early gig, while jumping around on stage with a [[Gibson L5]] guitar, he landed awkwardly, hurting his groin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jayandthedoctor/listen/boone_m1035862.mp3 |title=Mp3 file : Jay and the Doctor |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624195337/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jayandthedoctor/listen/boone_m1035862.mp3 |archive-date=June 24, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jayandthedoctor/listen/bodidleytw_m1035870.mp3 |title=Mp3 file : Jay and the Doctor |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624195333/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jayandthedoctor/listen/bodidleytw_m1035870.mp3 |archive-date=June 24, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He then went about designing a smaller, less-restrictive guitar that allowed him to keep jumping around on stage while still playing his guitar. He also played the violin, which is featured on his mournful [[instrumental rock|instrumental]] "The Clock Strikes Twelve", a [[twelve-bar blues]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oldies.about.com/od/buyersguides/gr/diddleymasters.htm |title=Bo Diddley – I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955–1958 – CD review |publisher=Oldies.about.com |date=February 25, 2008 |access-date=February 20, 2011 |archive-date=July 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075606/http://oldies.about.com/od/buyersguides/gr/diddleymasters.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Diddley often created lyrics as witty and humorous adaptations of [[folk music]] themes. His first hit, "Bo Diddley", was based on [[Juba dance|hambone]] rhymes.<ref name="Wald2014">{{cite book |last1=Wald |first1=Elijah |title=Talking 'bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-939404-3 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9gVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |language=en}}</ref> The first line of his song "Hey Bo Diddley" is derived from the nursery rhyme "[[Old MacDonald]]".<ref name="Elliott2017">{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=Richard |title=The Sound of Nonsense |year=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-5013-2456-7 |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzI7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84 |language=en}}</ref> The song "Who Do You Love?" with its [[roots of hip hop|rap]]-style boasting, and his use of the African-American game known as "[[the dozens]]" on the songs "Say Man" and "Say Man, Back Again," are cited as progenitors of hip-hop music;<ref name="Aquila2016">{{cite book |last1=Aquila |first1=Richard |title=Let's Rock!: How 1950s America Created Elvis and the Rock and Roll Craze |year=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-6937-8 |page=229 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=340xDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA229 |language=en}}</ref> for example, in the dialogue of the song, "Say Man", percussionist Jerome Green says the lines: "You've got the nerve to call somebody ugly. Why, you so ugly till the stork that brought you in the world oughta be arrested."<ref name="Wald2014"/>

==Discography==
{{Main|Bo Diddley discography}}
{{Quotebox|quote=I used to get mad about people recording my things; now I got a new thing going&nbsp;... I don't get mad about them recording my material because they keep me alive. |source=Bo Diddley, 1969 ''[[Pop Chronicles]]'' interview<ref name=pc29>{{cite web |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19784/m1/ |title=Show 29 – The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!: The U.S.A. is invaded by a wave of long-haired English rockers. [Part 3&#93;: UNT Digital Library |work=[[Pop Chronicles]] |publisher=Digital.library.unt.edu |year=1969 |access-date=February 20, 2011 |archive-date=December 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208160051/http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19784/m1/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |width=25%|bgcolor = #E0E6F8 |align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

===Studio albums===
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* ''[[Bo Diddley (1958 album)|Bo Diddley]]'' ([[Checker Records|Checker]], 1958)
* ''[[Go Bo Diddley]]'' (Checker, 1959)
* ''[[Have Guitar Will Travel (Bo Diddley album)|Have Guitar Will Travel]]'' (Checker, 1960)
* ''[[Bo Diddley in the Spotlight]]'' (Checker, 1960)
* ''[[Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger]]'' (Checker, 1960)
* ''[[Bo Diddley Is a Lover]]'' (Checker, 1961)
* ''[[Bo Diddley's a Twister]]'' (Checker, 1962)
* ''[[Bo Diddley (1962 album)|Bo Diddley]]'' (Checker, 1962)
* ''[[Bo Diddley & Company]]'' (Checker, 1963)
* ''[[Surfin' with Bo Diddley]]'' (Checker, 1963)
* ''[[Hey! Good Lookin' (album)|Hey! Good Lookin']]'' (Checker, 1965)
* ''[[500% More Man]]'' (Checker, 1965)
* ''[[The Originator (album)|The Originator]]'' (Checker, 1966)
* ''[[The Black Gladiator]]'' (Checker, 1970)
* ''[[Another Dimension]]'' ([[Chess Records|Chess]], 1971)
* ''[[Where It All Began (Bo Diddley album)|Where It All Began]]'' (Chess, 1972)
* ''[[The London Bo Diddley Sessions]]'' (Chess, 1973)
* ''[[Big Bad Bo]]'' (Chess, 1974)
* ''20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll'' (RCA Victor, 1976)
* ''Ain't It Good to Be Free'' (New Rose, 1983)
* ''Living Legend'' (New Rose, 1989)
* ''[[Breakin' Through the B.S.]]'' (Triple X, 1989)
* ''[[This Should Not Be]]'' (Triple X, 1992)
* ''[[A Man Amongst Men]]'' (Atlantic, 1996)
}}

===Collaborations===
* ''[[Berry Is on Top]]'', with [[Chuck Berry]] (Chess, 1959)
* ''[[Two Great Guitars]]'', with [[Chuck Berry]] (Checker, 1964)
* ''[[Super Blues]]'', with [[Muddy Waters]] and [[Little Walter]] (Checker, 1967)
* ''[[The Super Super Blues Band]]'', with [[Muddy Waters]] and [[Howlin' Wolf]] (Checker, 1968)

===Chart singles===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single
! colspan="3"| Chart Positions
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="40"| [[Billboard Hot 100|US Pop]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2003|title=Top Pop Singles 1955–2002|edition=1st|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-155-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/193 193]|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/193}}</ref>
! width="40"| [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|US<br>R&B]]<ref name="whitburnr&b">{{cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=1996 |publisher=Record Research |isbn=0-89820-115-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstopr00whit/page/114 114] |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstopr00whit/page/114 }}</ref>
! width="40"| [[UK Singles Chart|UK]]<ref name="betts">{{cite book| first= Graham| last= Betts| year=2004| title= Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2004| edition= 1st|publisher= Collins| location= London| isbn= 0-00-717931-6| page=217}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1955
| align="left"| "[[Bo Diddley (Bo Diddley song)|Bo Diddley]]" /<br>"[[I'm a Man (Bo Diddley song)|I'm a Man]]"
| -
| 1
| -
|-
| align="left"| "[[Diddley Daddy]]"
| -
| 11
| -
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1956
| align="left"| "[[Pretty Thing]]"
| –
| 4
| 34<br><small>(in&nbsp;1963)</small>
|-
| rowspan="4"| 1959
| align="left"| "I'm Sorry"
| –
| 17
| –
|-
| align="left"| "Crackin Up"
| 62
| 14
| –
|-
| align="left"| "[[Say Man]]"
| 20
| 3
| –
|-
| align="left"| "Say Man, Back Again"
| –
| 23
| –
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1960
| align="left"| "[[Road Runner (Bo Diddley song)|Road Runner]]"
| 75
| 20
| –
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1962
| align="left"| "[[You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover]]"
| 48
| 21
| –
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1965
| align="left"| "Hey Good Lookin'"
| –
| –
| 39
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1967
| align="left"| "Ooh Baby"
| 88
| 17
| –
|-
|}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Books ==
* Arsicaud, Laurent (2012). ''Bo Diddley, Je suis un homme''. Camion Blanc editions.
* {{cite book |last=White |first=George R. |year=2001 |title=Bo Diddley: Living Legend |publisher=Sanctuary Publishing Ltd. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwGAPQAACAAJ |isbn=9781860742927}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bo Diddley}}
* {{Official website|1=http://www.bodiddley.com}}
* {{Pop Chronicles|3|5}}
* {{IMDb name|0225775}}
* {{Rockhall}}
* "[https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/bo-diddley Bo Diddley Talks About His Early Days, Including His Twelve Years of Classical Music Training]"

{{Bo Diddley}}
{{1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diddley, Bo}}
[[Category:Bo Diddley| ]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:African-American Christians]]
[[Category:African-American guitarists]]
[[Category:African-American rock musicians]]
[[Category:African-American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American adoptees]]
[[Category:American blues guitarists]]
[[Category:American blues singers]]
[[Category:American evangelicals]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:American rock guitarists]]
[[Category:American rock singers]]
[[Category:American rock songwriters]]
[[Category:Atlantic Records artists]]
[[Category:Black Lion Records artists]]
[[Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Checker Records artists]]
[[Category:Chess Records artists]]
[[Category:Deaths from diabetes in Florida]]
[[Category:Electric blues musicians]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Florida]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Mississippi Blues Trail]]
[[Category:People from Hawthorne, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Los Lunas, New Mexico]]
[[Category:People from McComb, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Psychedelic funk musicians]]
[[Category:RCA Records artists]]
[[Category:Rock and roll musicians]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Florida]]
[[Category:Triple X Records artists]]
[[Category:African American adoptees]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]