One of the founding fathers of rock and roll – whose distinctive rhythmic playing has been emulated by hundreds of acts over the past 60 years - has died at the age of 79.
The guitarist, a hero to millions and a pioneer who has collaborated with dozens of stars including U2, died after a long period of poor health. His spokeswoman said he died of heart failure. He had previously suffered a heart attack and a stroke in 2007 which had affected his ability to speak.
Artists including The Who, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello are among those who have absorbed the style which Diddley created and was showcased on tracks such as You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover, Shave and a Haircut and Who Do You Love?.
Diddley often claimed that the DJ Alan Freed was talking about him when the radio host first used the term rock’n’roll. Diddley his music had been introduced by Freed with the words: “Here is a man with an original sound, who is going to rock and roll you right out of your seat.”
Born Otha Ellas Bates (and later known as Ellas McDaniel) Diddley began his career as a boxer – at which he point he picked up the name which would stick with him throughout his musical career, but by the mid-1950s he was working the blues clubs of Chicago.
Mick Jagger was among those who paid tribute to Diddley. He said: ''He was a wonderful, original musician who was an enormous force in music and was a big influence on The Rolling Stones . He was very generous to us in our early years and we learned a lot from him. We will never see his like again."
6:38 PM | 02/06/2008
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