Bo Diddley
b. Elias Bates (later known as Elias McDaniel), 30 December 1928, McComb, Mississippi, USA. After beginning his career as a boxer, where he received the soubriquet Bo Diddley, the singer worked the blues clubs of Chicago with a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters In late 1954, he teamed up with Billy Boy Arnold and recorded demos of I'm A Man and Bo Diddley. Re-recorded at Chess Studios with a backing ensemble comprising Otis Spann (piano), Lester Davenport (harmonica), Frank Kirkland (drums) and Jerome Green (maracas), the a-side Bo Diddley became an R&B hit in 1955. Before long, Diddley's distorted, amplified, custom-made guitar, with its rectangular shape and pumping rhythm style became a familiar, much-imitated trademark, as did his self-referential songs with such titles as Bo Diddley's A Gunslinger, Diddley Daddy and Bo's A Lumberjack. His jive-talking routine continued with Say Man (a US Top 20 hit in 1959) and Pretty Thing and Hey Good Lookin’, which reached the lower regions of the UK charts in 1963. By then, Diddley was regarded as something of an R&B legend and found a new lease of life courtesy of the UK beat boom. The Pretty Things named themselves after one of his songs while his work was covered by such artists as the Rolling Stones, Animals , Manfred Mann, Kinks, Yardbirds, Downliner's Sect and the Zephyrs. Diddley subsequently jammed on albums by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters, and appeared infrequently at rock festivals. His classic version of Who Do You Love became a staple cover for a new generation of USA acts ranging from Quicksilver Messenger Service to the Doors, Tom Rush and Bob Seger, while the UK's Juicy Lucy took the song into the UK Top 20. 
Like many of his generation, Diddley attempted to update his image and in the mid-'70s released THE BLACK GLADIATOR in the uncomfortable guise of an ageing funkster. WHERE IT ALL BEGINS, produced by Johnny Otis (whose hit Willie And The Hand Jive owed much to Diddley's style), was probably the most interesting of his post '60s albums. In 1979, Diddley toured with the Clash and in 1984 took a cameo roll in the film Trading Places. A familiar face on the revival circuit, Diddley is rightly regarded as a seminal figure in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. His continued appeal to younger performers was emphasized by Craig McLachlan's hit recording of Mona in 1990.