Bo Diddley was born Otha Elias Bates. He would get the legendary “Bo Diddley” nickname growing up as a youth in the streets on the South Side of Chicago, although he claims not to know what the name means. After four decades of performing, touring, and recording, Bo Diddley has earned the unique distinction of sounding like no one but Bo Diddley. His playing has driving rhythms and a hard-edged guitar sound. Even his clothing style was unique, not to mention his very unusual rectangular Gretsch guitar. Bo is one of the few artists who straddles rock-and-roll, blues, and rhythm-and-blues styles. His first major hit was I'm a Man in 1955 on Chess Records.

Before his music career took off, Bo Diddley had a variety of jobs while he was trying to support his family. One of his jobs was being a prizefighter, and the others included construction and day labor jobs. Whenever he could, he would do gigs with local musicians, and eventually Diddley was discovered by the Chess brothers. Bo Diddley's effect was so far-reaching in the Chicago rhythm-and-blues scene that even Muddy Waters cut a few tunes similar to Bo's. Today, you can hear a lot of Bo Diddley's music in commercials for myriad products including cars, which only seems fitting for a man some call “The Originator.”