Bo Diddley has passed away. The man is one of the most influential rock and roll and blues performers of all time and personal favorite of mine. For my money, you can't beat "Hey Bo Diddley", "Who Do You Love" and "I'm A Man" as three of the greatest rock n' roll songs of all time.

Diddley was born on December 30, 1928, taught himself to play the music of Muddy Waters and formed his first band, The Hipsters, in 1951.

Always a punk at heart, Diddley was one of the first artists to give Ed Sullivan a big fuck you when he refused to perfom a cover song and instead busted into a smoking version of his own "Bo Diddley." He was immediately banned from the show forever.

On a personal note, we were in the negotiations with Bo Diddley to headline our 2006 CMJ Music Marathon party with The Thermals, but he backed out due to illness. I was a real fan of his music and his public persona. He will be missed. Bo knows........

DOWNLOAD: Bo Diddley - "Hey Bo Diddley"
DOWNLOAD: Bo Diddley & Bruce Springsteen - "Hey Bo Diddley / She's The One"
DOWNLOAD: Jesus & Mary Chain - "How Do You Love"