Bo Diddley is recognized as one of the first and most influential rock guitarist and musicians. He was born in Pike County, Mississippi, on December 20, 1928. His birth name was Otha Ellas Bates. In ...

For a young black singer and guitarist from Chicago with only a minor hit, getting booked on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1955 was a career-making opportunity. Sullivan asked him to sing Tennessee Ernie ...

The blues icon died Monday at 79, but his signature sound marches on. The "Bo Diddley beat" powers acts from the Rolling Stones to the White Stripes. Musicologist Ned Sublette celebrates Diddley's ...

That was the first thing Bo Diddley said to us before we walked onto the stage of the Music Machine club in West L.A. for two sets in 1983. We were a mix of members of the Blasters and X who had ...

Primal rock and blues musician Bo Diddley, who helped cast the sonic template of rock more than 50 years ago with a signature syncopated rhythm that became universally recognized as “the Bo Diddley ...

Rock ‘n’ roll is the story of amplified personality, but even in an art form that celebrates outsize characters, Bo Diddley was a larger-than-life innovator. He was as essential to the creation of ...

It was the biggest disaster in the history of the music business — and almost nobody knew. This is the story of the 2008 Universal fire. By Jody Rosen And other thoughts on the art of improvisation.