Bo Diddley

The wicked guitarist who was a rock-’n’-roll giant

Bo Diddley

1928–2008

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In 1964, when the Beatles were asked at their first U.S. press conference what they most looked forward to seeing in the States, John Lennon replied, “Bo Diddley!” Diddley, who died this week of heart failure, was a blues guitarist who helped create rock ’n’ roll. With Chuck Berry and Little Richard, he infused early rock with the sounds of Southern gospel, R&B, and black patois, creating a daring and sexually charged musical genre that heavily influenced artists as diverse as the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and the Clash.

“Diddley began life as an accident,” said Rolling Stone. “His mother, who was 15 or so, had gotten pregnant by a local boy whom he would never know.” Born Ellas Otha Bates in McComb, Miss., he sang in church and began playing guitar at 12. He eventually drifted north to Chicago, where he was soon “busking in the streets” with a group he called the Hipsters. “There are at least a dozen stories about where his name came from—from the one-stringed folk instrument the diddley bow, from a local performer, from street slang for a bully.” What’s certain is that after years in local clubs, Diddley broke through in 1955 by riffing off the old lullaby “Hush Little Baby” and adding hip new lyrics: “Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring / If that diamond ring don’t shine / He gonna take it to a private eye.” The song, with his name as its title, went to No. 2 on the Billboard chart.

With tunes such as “Mona,” “Who Do You Love,” and “Say Man,” Diddley became a legend, said The New York Times. There were several keys to his musical magic. One was his signature “syncopated beat—bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp”—which may have derived from “the drumbeats of the Yoruba and Kongo cultures” and turned up in such tunes as Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and Johnny Otis’ “Willie and the Hand Jive.” Another ingredient was Diddley’s technique. His big fingers made moving around the fret board difficult, so he emphasized reverb, distortion, and “bubbling tremolo.” And then there was his presence. “His smile was wicked. He hopped and strutted and shimmied on stage, playing his guitar between his legs, over his head, with his teeth.”

For decades, Diddley played to appreciative audiences and parlayed his hat-wearing, bluesy persona into a featured role in the 1983 film Trading Places, said the Chicago Tribune. He also performed at the inaugurals of Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, received an honorary lifetime Grammy Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But his later years were laced with bitterness over artists who got credit for his style, especially Elvis Presley: “He copied me, with his legs moving and all that.” Worse, like many black singers of the 1950s, Diddley never got royalties; he once estimated that record companies owed him as much as $10 million. “You go out and buy Bo Diddley’s greatest hits, and I don’t get one dime from it,” he said. “It’s a good old rip-off.”

Diddley had been in poor health following a stroke he suffered during a concert last year. Married four times, he is survived by four children, 15 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.