, a singer and guitarist who invented his own name, his own guitars, his own beat and, with a handful of other musical pioneers, rock ’n’ roll itself, died Monday at his home in Archer, Fla. He was 79.
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Bo Diddley in 1959. More Photos »
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"I used to crank up Bo Diddley when I was 8 years old and dance around the house. I could have told you then that Elvis didn't invent rock 'n' roll."
Margaret, Santa Barbara
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The cause was heart failure, a spokeswoman, Susan Clary, said. Mr. Diddley had a heart attack last August, only months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa.
In the 1950s, as a founder of rock ’n’ roll, Mr. Diddley — along with Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and a few others — helped to reshape the sound of popular music worldwide, building on the templates of blues, Southern gospel, R&B and postwar black American vernacular culture.
His original style of rhythm and blues influenced generations of musicians. And his Bo Diddley syncopated beat — three strokes/rest/two strokes — became a stock rhythm of rock ’n’ roll.
I think it's time to play some Guitar music and bang the drum slowly.
The scariest folk song lyrics are "My Boy Grew up to be just like me" from cats in the cradle by Harry Chapin
Bo Diddley was truly one of the most influential American musicians of all time. Almost every blues and rock artist of the past forty years has somehow built off of him. Hell, even early punk musicians cite him as an influence. It's unfortunate that so many younger people don't know him, even though they have heard covers of his songs.
