Bo Diddley – rock ‘n’ roll pioneer – is dead

I found it difficult to contain my cynicism on Monday when news reporters and music critics were eulogizing Bo Diddley as “one of rock ‘n’ roll’s true pioneers” who influenced rock stars from Buddy Holly to the Rolling Stones to George Michael.

Because I was mindful that, like so many other (black) pioneers, Diddley got little credit and even less in royalties from these rock stars who pilfered his music so unabashedly. Not to mention the crooked (white) managers who paid themselves from his earnings as if they not only wrote his songs but performed them too.

All the same, the highlights of his career include being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and receiving a Grammy lifetime achievement award. Remarkably, he never won a Grammy for any of his pioneering songs.

Alas, I suspect few of you even know who Bo Diddley was. But suffice it to know that if you like the music of Chuck Berry, Little Richard or BB King, you’re going to love Diddley’s. More to the point, you can pay tribute to him by clicking on the related link below to buy one or two of his CDs.

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida. He was 79.

Farewell Bo Diddley

NOTE: After a rather keen reader questioned my voodoo proposition that “the deaths of famous people come in threes,” I was obliged to remind her that, with the death of Sydney Pollack on May 26 and that of Bo Diddley a week later, the death (at 71) of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent on Sunday makes three.

But since I never had any interest in anything Saint Laurent did during his life, I saw no reason to comment on his death.

Related Link:
Best of Bo Diddley
Death of famous people come in threes
Sydney Pollack, actor, director and producer, is dead
Bo Diddley