Monday, June 2, 2008

Rock and Roll Legend Bo Diddley Dies At Age 79

Bo Diddley, one of the pioneers of rock and roll has died at the age of 79. According to his spokeswoman, Diddley died Monday morning of heart failure at his home in Archer, FL. He had suffered a heart attack in August 2007, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

Earlier, I had written another post about Bo Diddley in honor of his 79th birthday. You can access it by clicking the following link:

Happy birthday

Below is a clip of Bo Diddley performing on the 1966 concert showcase "The Big TNT Show". Bo may be gone, but his music lives on.

9 comments:

Candy Minx said...

A massive loss. Lovely post Malcolm.

The Rock Chick said...

This is a huge loss to the music world. This past week we've lost Harvey Korman, Sydney Pollack and now Bo Diddley. Unbelievable.

BeckEye said...

I just heard this today, so sad. He was just on the cover of "Rolling Stone," too with a bunch of other guitar greats.

BeckEye said...

I just realized that was B.B. King I saw on the "Rolling Stone" cover. I'm an idiot. I honestly do know the difference. Actually, I've always liked B.B. King a bit more, but that doesn't mean that I'm still not sad to hear about Bo!

Jessica said...

Sad. :(

pjazzypar said...

I missed this yesterday. I can't get that song out of my head (Hey Bo Diddley). You always here about Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and to a lesser extent, Fats Domino, not Bo. Bo Diddley was a master that has been underrated and largely cast aside, by those other than true Rock and Roll fans of the fifties and sixties. He had a following and performed up until his stroke last year.

Cool video. In fact it takes me back to the 80's when a house full of company was watching it and Bobby got up and started doing that dance. We laughed until we cried.

Bar L. said...

I knew you'd have a great tribute so I linked here today.

Chris' Sports Angle said...

Hi Malcolm,
Thanks for commenting on my blog. Bo Diddley was a legend and will be missed. Rolling Stone named him the the 20th greatest artists of all time.

Malcolm said...

Candy: When I first saw the link on Yahoo that Bo had died, I was like "Aw man!" Thanks for the kind words.

The Rock Chick: They say that deaths come in threes, but they have been piling up as of late. Along with the ones you mentioned, another celeb who recently passed away is comic Dick Martin of Rowan and Martin fame. I think there is probably somebody else in that timeframe. If there is, their name escapes me.

BeckEye: Because I consider you a pop culture goddess, if someone told me you didn't know the difference between B.B. and Bo, I would call them a liar. Because I am more of a rock and roll fan than blues maven, I've always preferred Bo over B.B. King. However, that's not to say that I don't enjoy some of B.B.'s tunes.

Jessica: Yes it is

Pjazzy: "Hey Bo Diddley" is my favorite tune by him. I think it may come down to the fact that Bo had less hits than the other rockers you mentioned. However, that doesn't diminish his impact.

When I would read about Bo and other early rockers such as Chuck Berry still touring well into their 70s, I always felt that it was a damn shame. Although I believe that they enjoyed performing, I also feel that they also had to tour out of financial necessity due to them never being properly compensated for their work. Ah yes, I remember Bobby doing that dance. If I think to, I'm going to ask him to do it again.

Barbara: Thanks for the positive feedback and for linking to me from your blog.

Chris: Thanks for stopping by and commenting, as well as for informing me of the Rolling Stone list. There is a sports radio show that I listen to that I believe discussed this list a couple of years ago. I'll go online to see if I can find the list.

 
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