Ever heard "I Want Candy" or "Not Fade Away" or "Willie & The Hand Jive", Shirley & Company's "Shame, Shame, Shame" or 'U2' to Run DMC, all acknowledged the unique influences of Bo Diddley upon their styles of music. Now in his early 70s, he is still very much active in the recording studio and in the clubs and the concert halls around the world. He performed a rousing version of his classic song "Who Do You Love" with George Thorogood & The Destroyers in front of a TV audience of millions at the Live Aid Concert in Philadelphia in 1985. A couple of years later he was deservedly an early inductee into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. In 1996 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm 'n' Blues Foundation and in 1998 received another Lifetime Achievement Award, this time from The Recording Academy at that year's annual Grammy Awards Ceremony. In 2000 yet another honor was justifiably awarded to him when he was inducted into The Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. In the words of one of his many famous eponymous songs, "Bo Diddley Put The Rock in Rock 'n' Roll", and remember . . . Bo Knows!
As a child, he was taught to play the violin by the music director of his church. One of his fellow students grew up to become jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987.
1960: He moved from Chicago, Illinois, to Washington, DC.
1971: He moved from Granada Hills, California, to Los Lunas, New Mexico.
1978: He moved from Los Lunas, New Mexico, to Hawthorne, Florida.
1934: He moved from McComb, Mississippi, to Chicago, Illinois.
1968: He moved from Washington, DC, to Granada Hills, California.
Wrote the hit song "Love Is Strange", but published it under the name of his wife, Ethel Smith due to a dispute with Leonard Chess, owner of Chess-Checker-Argo Records. The song was a #5 R&B hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957.
He was voted the 20th Greatest Rock n Roll Artist of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Suffered a stroke and a heart attack in 2007.
Following his death, tributes were paid to his lasting impact by many performers of varying ages, including B.B. King , Peter Gabriel , Mick Jagger , Robert Plant , Alex Kapranos , Richard Hawley , Eric Burdon , Mickey Hart , Slash , Albert Hammond Jr. , George Thorogood , Tom Petty and Jerry Lee Lewis.
I opened the door for a lot of people, who just ran through and left me,holding the knob.
