BO DIDDLEY, WHO CLAIMED TO BE THE FIRST of the Rock’n'Rollers died at his home in Florida this morning at age 79.  After suffering a series of strokes and heart attacks over the past two years, he died peacefully while surrounded by 35 of his family members.

Reuters

Coming of age in Chicago, the Mississippi-born musician was born in December, 1928 and named Ellas Bates, later changed to Ellas McDaniel after his adoptive mother’s name.  While performing as a street musician he somehow got labeled with his stage name of Bo Diddley and he kept it.

Trained as a classical violinist, he said that he looked around and didn’t see very many black violinists making a living, but there were plenty of black guitarists.  So he picked up the instrument and took off.  His unique musical style that he developed and used througout his career was so distinctive that you can identify his sound after the first two notes.

Using a custom-made guitar that looked like it was homemade from a box, he attacked his music much like a drummer does.  His very first recording, “Bo Diddley” shot to the top of the charts and his future was made.  In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Not one to squander his money, he always managed to live comfortably and follow his star, working right up until last year.

Wikipedia probably has the best biography of him HERE.

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