Mona may refer to:

• Mona (deity) in Saxon mythology
• Cercopithecus mona, a long tailed African Monkey
• Mona (elephant) (1947 - 2007) at Birmingham Zoo in the United States
• Mona (name), a female given name and surname
• Mona Mahmudnizhad, a Bahá'í woman executed by Iran over her beliefs in 1983
• Mona Charen, American columnist
• Mona, ring name of Nora Greenwald
• MONA Missouri Nurses Association

Ships and boats

• Lifeboat Mona, a lifeboat based at Broughty Ferry in Scotland
• USS Mona II (1918), a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1918 to 1919
• MV Mona, a Swedish coaster in service 1957-63

In arts and entertainment:

• Mona (band), a Nashville-located alternative rock band
• Mona (film), a 2008 independent film
• Mona (opera), a 1912 opera by Horatio Parker
• "Mona" (song) by US pop band, the Beach Boys
• "Mona", a song by Bo Diddley
• Mona – The Carnivorous Circus, record by The Deviants
• Mona the Vampire, an animated children's TV show or its protagonist
• Mona Simpson (The Simpsons), a character from the animated cartoon television show
• Mona Sax, a video game and film character in the Max Payne series
• Mona (WarioWare), a character from the Nintendo video game
• A fictional animated Disney character in Christmas Maximus (in Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas)
• Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci's painting
• Mona the Virgin Nymph, also known as Mona, a 1970 film that was one of the first pornographic films made for theatrical release in the United States
• Mona's Dream, a movie being worked on by Jack Lenz about Mona Mahmudnizhad
• Mona Mayfair, from the novels of Anne Rice
• Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles, USA
• Museum of Old and New Art the largest privately funded museum in the southern hemisphere in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• MONA FOMA, an arts festival held annually in Hobart, Tasmania curated by Brian Ritchie, formerly of the Violent Femmes

In computing:

• Monā, a Shift JIS art character in the Japanese BBS, 2channel
• Mona (operating system), an operating system from Japan
• Mona, unseen character of famous Gillette commercials in the 70s. Wife of unnamed onscreen character

Places:

• Mona, Jamaica, a residential neighbourhood of Kingston and home to the University of the West Indies' main campus
• Mona, Puerto Rico, an island in the Mona Passage (from the Atlantic to the Caribbean Sea)
• Mona, Utah, a town in the United States
• Mona, Anglesey, a village on the Welsh island Anglesey (in the UK), also Latin name of that island
• Two British isles, in poetic language (from their Latin name):
  • Anglesey (Môn)
  • Isle of Man
• Isle of Mona, a fictionalized version of the Isle of Anglesey in Lloyd Alexander's "The Chronicles of Prydain" series

See also[link]

• MoNA (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Tom Petty
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Earl Petty
Also known as	Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr Muddy Wilbury
Born	(1950-10-20) October 20, 1950 (age 61)
Origin	Gainesville, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Rock and roll, roots rock, heartland rock, Southern rock, blues-rock, psychedelic rock, country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, harmonica, piano, keyboards, percussion, bass, organ, harpsichord, drums
Years active	1973–present
Labels	Shelter, Backstreet, MCA, Warner Bros., American, Reprise
Associated acts	Epics, Mudcrutch, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys, Stevie Nicks, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Grateful Dead, Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Dwight Twilley
Website	tompetty.com
Notable instruments
Rickenbacker 660/12 Vox Mark III Gibson Dove Fender Stratocaster

Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty (born October 20, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr. and Muddy Wilbury.

He has recorded a number of hit singles with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist, many of which remain heavily played on adult contemporary and classic rock radio. His music, and notably his hits, have become popular among younger generations as he continues to host sold-out shows.^[1] Throughout his career, Petty and his collaborators have sold 60 million albums.^[2]

Childhood and early life[link]

Tom Petty was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida, and attended Gainesville High School. His interest in rock and roll music began at age 10 when he met Elvis Presley.^[3] In the summer of 1961, his uncle was working on the set of Presley's film Follow That Dream in nearby Ocala, Florida and invited Petty to come down and watch the shoot.^[4] He instantly became an Elvis Presley fan and soon traded his Wham-O slingshot for a box of Elvis 45s.^[5] In a 2006 interview on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air, Petty said that he knew he wanted to be in a band the moment he saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.^[6] One of his first guitar teachers was Don Felder, a fellow Gainesville resident, who would later join the Eagles.^[7] As a young man, Petty worked briefly on the grounds crew for the University of Florida, but never attended as a student. An Ogeechee lime tree that he planted while employed at the University is now called the Tom Petty tree.^[8][9]

Petty also overcame a difficult relationship with his father, who found it hard to accept that his son was "a mild-mannered kid who was interested in the arts" and subjected him to verbal and physical abuse on a regular basis. Petty was extremely close to his mother, and remains close to his brother Bruce.^[10][11][12]

Recording career[link]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1976–1987)[link]

Shortly after forming his musical aspirations, Petty started a band known as the Epics, later to evolve into Mudcrutch. Although the band, which featured future Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, were popular in Gainesville, their recordings went unnoticed by a mainstream audience. However, their only single, "Depot Street", remains popular amongst fans. The original Mudcrutch included guitarist Danny Roberts who was later replaced by bass guitarist Charlie Souza.

After Mudcrutch split up, Petty reluctantly agreed to pursue a solo career. Tench decided to form his own group, whose sound Petty appreciated. Eventually, Petty and Campbell collaborated with Tench and fellow members Ron Blair and Stan Lynch, resulting in the first line-up of the Heartbreakers. Their first album, simply titled Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, gained minute popularity amongst American audiences, achieving more success in Britain. The single "Breakdown" was re-released in 1977 and peaked at #40 in early 1978 after the band toured in the United Kingdom in support of Nils Lofgren. The debut album was released by Shelter Records, which at that time was distributed by ABC Records.^[13]

Their second album, You're Gonna Get It!, marked the band's first Top 40 album^[13] and featured the singles "I Need to Know" and "Listen To Her Heart". Their third album, Damn the Torpedoes, quickly went platinum, selling nearly two million copies; it includes their breakthrough singles "Don't Do Me Like That", "Here Comes My Girl" and "Refugee".^[14]

In September 1979, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed at a Musicians United for Safe Energy concert at Madison Square Garden in New York.^[15] Their rendition of "Cry To Me" was featured on the resulting No Nukes album.^[16]

1981's Hard Promises became a top-ten hit, going platinum and spawning the hit single "The Waiting". The album also featured Petty's first duet, "Insider" with Stevie Nicks.

Bass player Ron Blair quit the group, and was replaced on the fifth album (1982's Long After Dark) by Howie Epstein; the resulting line-up would last until 1994. In 1985, the band participated in Live Aid, playing four songs at Philadelphia's John F. Kennedy Stadium. Southern Accents was also released in 1985. This album included the hit single "Don't Come Around Here No More", which was produced by Dave Stewart. The song's video featured Petty dressed as the Mad Hatter, mocking and chasing Alice from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, then cutting and eating her as if she were a cake. The ensuing tour led to the live album Pack Up the Plantation: Live! and to an invitation from Bob Dylan; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers joined him on his True Confessions Tour and also played some dates with the Grateful Dead in 1986 and 1987. Also in 1987, the group released Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) which includes "Jammin' Me" which Petty wrote with Dylan.^[17]

Traveling Wilburys, solo career, and "return" to the Heartbreakers (1988–1991)[link]

In 1988, Petty became a founding member of the Traveling Wilburys, along with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne. The band's first song, "Handle With Care", was intended as a B-side of one of Harrison's singles, but was judged too good for that purpose and the group decided to record a full album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. A second Wilburys album, mischievously titled Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 and recorded without the recently deceased Orbison, followed in 1990. The album was named Vol. 3 as a response to a series of bootlegged studio sessions being sold as Travelling Wilburys Vol. 2. In recent years, Petty has begun to incorporate Travelling Wilburys songs into his live shows, consistently playing "Handle With Care" in shows from 2003–2006, and for his 2008 tour making "End of the Line" a staple of his setlist.

In 1989, Petty released Full Moon Fever, which featured hits "I Won't Back Down", "Free Fallin'" and "Runnin' Down a Dream". It was nominally his first solo album, although several Heartbreakers and other well-known musicians participated: Mike Campbell co-produced the album with Petty and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, and backing musicians included Campbell, Lynne, and fellow Wilburys Roy Orbison and George Harrison (Ringo Starr appears on drums in the video for "I Won't Back Down", but they were actually performed by Phil Jones). Since all the original Traveling Wilburys except Bob Dylan participated on the album, it is sometimes considered the unofficial Traveling Wilbury's "Volume Two".^{[by whom?]}

Petty & the Heartbreakers reformed in 1991 and released Into the Great Wide Open, which was co-produced by Lynne and included the hit singles "Learning To Fly" and "Into The Great Wide Open", the latter featuring Johnny Depp, Gabrielle Anwar, Faye Dunaway, and Matt LeBlanc in the video.

Before leaving MCA Records, Tom and the Heartbreakers got together to record, live in the studio, two new songs for a Greatest Hits package. "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air". This was Stan Lynch's last recorded performance with The Heartbreakers. Tom commented "He left right after the session without really saying goodbye." The package went on to sell over ten million copies, therefore receiving diamond certification by the RIAA.

Move to Warner Bros. Records (1991–present)[link]

In 1989, while still under contract to MCA, Petty secretly signed a lucrative deal with Warner Bros. Records, to which the Traveling Wilburys had been signed.^[18] His first album on his new label, 1994's Wildflowers (Petty's 2nd of 3 solo albums), included the singles "You Don't Know How It Feels", "You Wreck Me," "It's Good to Be King" and "A Higher Place". The album, produced by Rick Rubin, sold over three million copies in the U.S.

In 1996, Petty, with the Heartbreakers, released a soundtrack to the movie She's the One, starring Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston (see Songs and Music from "She's the One"). The album's singles were "Walls (Circus)" (featuring Lindsey Buckingham), "Climb that Hill" and a song written by Lucinda Williams, "Change the Locks." The album also included a cover of "Asshole," a song by Beck. The same year, the band accompanied Johnny Cash on Unchained, for which Cash would win a Grammy for Best Country Album (Cash would later cover Petty's "I Won't Back Down" on American III: Solitary Man).

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performing live in Indianapolis, June 23, 2006.

In 1999, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers released their last album with Rubin at the helm, Echo. Two songs were released as singles in the U.S., "Room at the Top" and "Free Girl Now". The album reached number 10 in the U.S. album charts.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers played "I Won't Back Down" at the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert for victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The following year, they played "Taxman", "I Need You", and "Handle With Care" (joined for the last by Jeff Lynne, Dhani Harrison, and Jim Keltner) at the Concert for George in honor of Petty's friend and former bandmate George Harrison.

2002's The Last DJ included several attacks on the music industry, criticizing it for greed, watering down music, and releasing pop music made by scantily-clad young women and reached number 9 on the U.S. charts. Tom has commented though that he didn't like being called "bitter" by the media and that The Last DJ is full of hope, if you look for it.

In 2005, Petty began hosting his own show "Buried Treasure" on XM Radio, on which he shares selections from his personal record collection.

In February 2006, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers agreed to be the headline act at the fifth annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Following that announcement came the itinerary for Tom & the Heartbreakers' "30th Anniversary Tour". Special guests included Stevie Nicks, Pearl Jam, The Allman Brothers, Trey Anastasio, The Derek Trucks Band, and The Black Crowes (who also opened for Petty on their 2005 Summer Tour). Stevie Nicks would join Tom and the Heartbreakers on stage for renditions of "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and "Insider," and "I Need to Know" where Nicks took the lead vocal spot. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam also joined Tom and the Heartbreakers on stage at some shows where Vedder sang the lead on "The Waiting" (which is available on the Runnin' Down a Dream package: bonus features) and a verse in the concert-closer "American Girl".

In July 2006, Petty released a new solo album titled Highway Companion, which included the hit "Saving Grace". It debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200, becoming Petty's highest chart position since the introduction of the Nielsen SoundScan system for tracking album sales in 1991. Highway Companion was briefly promoted on the "30th Anniversary Tour" with the Heartbreakers in 2006 with performances of "Saving Grace", "Square One", "Down South," and "Flirting with Time".

In 2006, the American Broadcasting Company hired Petty to do the music for its National Basketball Association playoffs coverage.

During the summer of 2007, Petty reunited with his old bandmates Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh along with Heartbreakers Benmont Tench & Mike Campbell to reform his pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch. The band originally formed in 1967 in Gainesville, Florida before relocating to California where they released one single in 1974 before breaking up. The quintet recorded this self titled new album of fourteen songs that was released on April 29, 2008 (on iTunes, an additional song "Special Place" was available if the album was pre-ordered). The band supported the album with a brief tour of California in the spring of 2008.

In 2007, artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, Lenny Kravitz and Paul McCartney paid tribute to Fats Domino on the double-CD covers set Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. The album's sales helped buy instruments for students in New Orleans public schools and they contributed to the building of a community center in the city’s Hurricane Katrina-damaged Ninth Ward. Tom and the Heartbreakers’ contributed a critically acclaimed cover of “I'm Walkin'" to the package.^[19]

In January 2008, it was announced that the band would be embarking on a North American Tour which was set to start on May 30 following the appearance at Super Bowl XLII.^[20] Steve Winwood served as the opening act, who joined Petty and the Heartbreakers on stage at select shows, starting on June 6, 2008 in Philadelphia, PA. Winwood's Spencer Davis Group hit "Gimme Some Loving" was performed and occasionally his Blind Faith hit "Can't Find My Way Home" was performed before it.

On February 3, 2008, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers performed during the halftime-show of Super Bowl XLII at the University of Phoenix Stadium. They played "American Girl", "I Won't Back Down", "Free Fallin'", and "Runnin' Down a Dream", in that order. 'I Won't Back Down' was used in the closing credits of the coverage on BBC Two.

The Live Anthology is the most-recently announced project of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.^{[dated info]} Its announcement comes nearly a year after Petty's last record, Extended Play Live, by Mudcrutch.

In November 2009, Petty told Rolling Stone that he is working on a new album with the Heartbreakers, saying "It's blues-based. Some of the tunes are longer, more jam-y kind of music. A couple of tracks really sound like the Allman Brothers — not the songs but the atmosphere of the band." In February 2010, Petty announced a new Heartbreakers Album, Mojo to be released on June 15, 2010.^{[dated info]} This was followed by a North American Summer Tour beginning on June 1, 2010.^{[dated info]} The band also appeared as musical guests on the season finale of Saturday Night Live on May 15, 2010.

Petty has been managed by Tony Dimitriades since 1976.^[5]

Acting[link]

Petty's first appearance in film took place in 1978, when he had a cameo in FM. He later had a small part in 1987's Made in Heaven, and appeared in several episodes of It's Garry Shandling's Show between 1987 and 1990, playing himself as one of Garry Shandling's neighbors. Petty was also featured in Shandling's other show, The Larry Sanders Show, as one of the Story within a story final guests. In the episode, Petty gets bumped from the show and nearly comes to blows with Greg Kinnear.

Petty appeared in the 1997 movie The Postman, directed by and starring Kevin Costner, as The Bridge City Mayor (from the dialogue it is implied that he is playing a future version of himself).

In 2002, he appeared on The Simpsons in the episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation". In it, he spoofed himself as a "tutor" to Homer Simpson on the art of lyric writing, composing a brief song about a drunk girl driving down the road while concerned with the state of public schools. Later in the episode, he loses a toe during a riot.

Petty had a recurring role as the voice of Elroy "Lucky" Kleinschmidt in the animated comedy series King of the Hill.

In 2008, Petty made a guest appearance as himself in the Comedy Central show Lil Bush's season 2 finale. He is asked to write a song for Bush and his cronies. At the end, he is shown riding off into the sunset in a flying car alongside Iggy Pop, who is a regular voice actor on the people.

In 2010, Petty made a 5-second cameo appearance with comedian Andy Samberg in a musical video titled "Great Day" featured on the bonus DVD as part of Lonely Island's new album "Turtleneck & Chain". In this video, Samberg plays an enthusiastic, upbeat cocaine addict who believes that Alec Baldwin (who also co-stars) and Tom Petty are his very best friends--only to be quickly rejected by both. After finding out the hard way they are quite the opposite and feeling heartbroken, the addict then briefly sings about losing them.

Awards and accolades[link]

In 1994, You Got Lucky, a Tom Petty tribute album featuring such bands as Everclear and Silkworm was released.

In April 1996, Petty received the UCLA's George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement. The next month, Petty won the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' Golden Note Award.

Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

In 1999 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their contribution to the recording industry.

In 2002, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On December 6, 2005, Petty received the Billboard Century Award for his lifetime achievements. The same year, Conversations with Tom Petty, an oral history/biography composed of interviews conducted in 2004 and 2005 with Petty by music journalist Paul Zollo was published (ISBN 1-84449-815-8).

On September 21, 2006, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received the keys to the city of Gainesville, Florida, where he and his bandmates either lived or grew up.^[21] From July 2006 until 2007 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio featured an exhibit of Tom Petty items. Much of the content was donated by Petty himself during a visit to his home by some of the Hall's curatorial staff.

Peter Bogdanovich's documentary film on Petty's career entitled Runnin' Down A Dream (film) premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 14, 2007.

Views on artistic control[link]

Petty is known as a staunch guardian of his artistic control and artistic freedom. In 1979, he was dragged into a legal dispute when ABC Records was sold to MCA Records. He refused to be transferred to another record label without his consent. In May 1979, he filed for bankruptcy and was signed to the new MCA subsidiary Backstreet Records.

In early 1981, the upcoming Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album, which would become Hard Promises, was slated to be the next MCA release with the new list price of $9.98, following Steely Dan's Gaucho (album) and the Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu soundtrack. This so-called "superstar pricing" was $1.00 more than the usual list price of $8.98.^[22] Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album and naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase.^[23] In 1987, Petty sued tire company B.F. Goodrich for $1 million for using a song very similar to his song "Mary's New Car" in a TV commercial. The ad agency that produced the commercial had previously sought permission to use Petty's song but was refused. A judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting further use of the ad and the suit was later settled out of court.^[24]

Some have claimed that the Red Hot Chili Peppers single "Dani California", released in May 2006, is very similar to Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance".^[25] Petty told Rolling Stone, "I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock 'n' roll songs sound alike. Ask Chuck Berry. The Strokes took 'American Girl' for their song '[[Last Nite]]', and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you' ... If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe [I'd sue]. But I don't believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs."^[26]

Personal life[link]

His first marriage, to Jane Benyo, lasted 22 years from March 26, 1974 to September 9, 1996. He spent most of those years working, on the road or in the studio. Petty and Benyo have two daughters; Adria is a film director and AnnaKim Violette is an artist. Since June 3, 2001 he is married to Dana York, whom he first met years earlier when she visited one of his concerts. Petty has a stepson from York's first marriage named Dylan.^[27]

On May 17, 1987, an arsonist set fire to Petty's house in Encino, California. Firefighters were able to salvage the basement recording studio and the original tapes stored there, as well as his Gibson Dove acoustic guitar. His signature gray top hat, however, was destroyed. Petty later rebuilt the house with fireproof materials.^[28][29]

Musical equipment[link]

Petty owns and has used a number of guitars over the years. From 1976-1982, his main instrument was a sunburst 1964 Fender Stratocaster. He has also used a number of Rickenbacker guitars from 1979 onward, notably a 1965 Rose Morris 1993 and 1987 reissue of the Rose Morris 1997, a 1967 360/12 and 1989 660/12TP. The Rickenbacker 660/12TP was designed by Petty (specifically the neck) and featured his signature from 1991 to 1997.^[30] Other electrics currently used on tour include a Gretsch Tennessean, two 1960s Fender Telecasters and a Gibson Firebird.

For acoustic guitars, Petty has had a signature C.F. Martin HD-40, and has written virtually all of his songs on a Gibson Dove acoustic saved from his 1987 house fire. He currently uses a Gibson J-200 in a natural finish and a late '70s Guild D25 12-string acoustic.

Petty's current amplifer setup features 2 Fender Vibro-King 60 watt combos.^[31]

Heartbreakers lineup[link]

Discography[link]

See also[link]

• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart
• List of best-selling music artists

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Petty

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tom Petty

• Official website
• Official Fan Club
• Tom Petty at Myspace
• Tom Petty at YouTube

Bo Diddley
Background information
Birth name	Ellas Otha Bates
Also known as	Ellas McDaniel
Born	(1928-12-30)December 30, 1928 McComb, Mississippi, United States
Died	June 2, 2008(2008-06-02) (aged 79) Archer, Florida, United States
Genres	Chicago blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, blues
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, electric guitar, violin, synthesizer, keyboards, piano, organ, percussion, drums
Years active	1943–2008
Labels	Checker, Chess, BoKay Productions, RCA, MF Productions, Triple X, Atlantic
Website	BoDiddley.com
Notable instruments
Gretsch G6138

Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter (usually as Ellas McDaniel), and rock and roll pioneer. He was also known as "The Originator" because of his key role in the transition from the blues to rock & roll, influencing a host of acts, including Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, The Who, The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton,^[1] The Beatles,^[2] and George Michael, among others.^[3] He introduced more insistent, driving rhythms and a hard-edged electric guitar sound on a wide-ranging catalog of songs, along with African rhythms and a signature beat (a simple, five-accent rhythm) that remains a cornerstone of rock and pop.^[3][2][4] Accordingly, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation^[3][5] and a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He was known in particular for his technical innovations, including his trademark rectangular guitar.

History[link]

Early life and career[link]

Born in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates,^[6] he was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed, becoming Ellas McDaniel. In 1934, the McDaniel family moved to the largely black South Side area of Chicago, where the young man dropped the name Otha and became known as Ellas McDaniel, until his musical ambitions demanded that he take on a more catchy identity. In Chicago, he was an active member of his local Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he studied the trombone and the violin, becoming proficient enough on the latter for the musical director to invite him to join the orchestra, with which he performed until the age of 18. He was more impressed, however, by the pulsating, rhythmic music he heard at a local Pentecostal Church, as well as an interest in the guitar.^[7][8]

Inspired by a concert where he saw John Lee Hooker perform,^[9] he supplemented his work as a carpenter and mechanic with a developing career playing on street corners with friends, including Jerome Green (c. 1934–1973),^[10] in a band called The Hipsters (later The Langley Avenue Jive Cats). During the summer of 1943–44, he played for tips at the Maxwell Street market in a band with Earl Hooker.^[11] By 1951 he was playing on the street with backing from Roosevelt Jackson (on washtub bass) and Jody Williams (whom he had taught to play the guitar).^[12][13] Williams later played lead guitar on "Who Do You Love?" (1956).^[12] In 1951 he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club on Chicago's South Side, with a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters.

In late 1954, he teamed up with harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold, drummer Clifton James, and bass player Roosevelt Jackson, and recorded demos of "I'm A Man" and "Bo Diddley". They re-recorded the songs at Chess Studios with a backing ensemble comprising Otis Spann (piano), Lester Davenport (harmonica), Frank Kirkland (drums), and Jerome Green (maracas). The record was released in March 1955, and the A-side, "Bo Diddley", became a #1 R&B hit.

Stage Name[link]

McDaniel adopted the stage name "Bo Diddley". The origin of the name is somewhat unclear, as several differing stories and claims exist. Diddley claims that his peers gave him the nickname, which he first suspected to be an insult.^[14] Bo Diddley himself said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother was familiar with, while harmonicist Billy Boy Arnold once said in an interview that it was originally the name of a local comedian that Leonard Chess borrowed for the song title and artist name for Bo Diddley's first single, and guitar craftsman Ed Roman reported that another (unspecified) source says it was his nickname as a Golden Gloves boxer.^[15]

A "diddley bow" is a typically homemade American string instrument of African origin, probably developed from instruments found on the coast of west Africa.^[16]

The American slang phrase "bo diddly" meaning "absolutely nothing" goes back possibly to the early 20th century or earlier. "Diddly" is a truncation of "diddly-squat", retaining the same meaning^[17] of "nothing"^[18] and "bo" is an intensifier.^[19]

Success in the 1950s and 1960s[link]

On November 20, 1955, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety show, where he infuriated the host. "I did two songs and he got mad," Bo Diddley later recalled. "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months". The show had requested that he sing the Merle Travis-penned Tennessee Ernie Ford hit "Sixteen Tons", but when he appeared on stage, he sang "Bo Diddley" instead. This substitution resulted in his being banned from further appearances.

The request came about because Sullivan's people heard Diddley casually singing "Sixteen Tons" in the dressing room. Diddley's accounts of the event were inconsistent.^[20]

Diddley was an excellent story teller whose stories varied from time to time, however, Diddley contended to friends and family that he was not trying to double-cross Sullivan and attributed the "misunderstanding" to the fact that; when he saw "Bo Diddley" on a cue card, he was under the impression he was to perform two songs, "Bo Diddley" and "Sixteen Tons".

Chess included Diddley's recording of "Sixteen Tons" on the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger,^[21] which was originally released in 1960.^[22]

He continued to have hits through the rest of the 1950s and even the 1960s, including "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959), and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (1962). He released a string of albums whose titles, including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel, bolstered his self-invented legend. Between 1958 and 1963, Checker Records released 11 full-length albums by Bo Diddley. Although he broke through as a crossover artist with white audiences (appearing at the Alan Freed concerts, for example), he rarely tailored his compositions to teenage concerns.

In 1963, he starred in a UK concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The Rolling Stones, still barely known outside London at that time, appeared as a supporting act on the same bill.

In addition to the many songs recorded by him, in 1956 he co-wrote, with Jody Williams, the pioneering pop song "Love Is Strange", a hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957.^[23]

Bo Diddley was one of the first American male musicians to include women in his band, including "The Duchess" Norma-Jean Wofford, Peggy Jones (aka "Lady Bo"), Cornelia Redmond (aka Cookie), and Debby Hastings, who led his band for the final 25 years of his performing career. After moving from his home in Chicago to Washington, D.C., he set up one of the first home recording studios where he not only recorded the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger but he recorded his valet, Marvin Gaye. The Diddley-penned, Wyatt Earp was a single released on Okeh Records, since the Chess brothers did not want to release the record. Also during this time, Moonglows founder Harvey Fuqua who sang background on many of Diddley's home studio recordings was introduced to Gaye, and asked him to join the Moonglows. When Fuqua went to Motown, Gaye followed.^[9]

Later years[link]

Bo Diddley touring Japan with Japanese band Bo Gumbos.

Over the decades, Bo Diddley's venues ranged from intimate clubs to stadiums. On March 25, 1972, he played with The Grateful Dead at the Academy of Music in New York City. The Grateful Dead released part of this concert as Volume 30 of the band's Dick's Picks concert album series. Also in the early 1970s, the soundtrack for the ground-breaking animated film Fritz The Cat contained his song "Bo Diddley", in which a crow idly finger-pops along to the track.

Bo Diddley spent many years in New Mexico, living in Los Lunas, New Mexico from 1971 to 1978 while continuing his musical career. He served for two and a half years as Deputy Sheriff in the Valencia County Citizens' Patrol; during that time he personally purchased and donated three highway patrol pursuit cars.^[24] In the late 1970s, Diddley left Los Lunas and moved to Hawthorne, Florida where he lived on a large estate in a custom made log-cabin home, which he helped to build. For the remainder of his life he spent time between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Florida, living the last 13 years of his life in Archer, Florida, a small farming town near Gainesville.

He appeared as an opening act for The Clash in their 1979 US tour; in Legends of Guitar (filmed live in Spain, 1991) with B.B. King, Les Paul, Albert Collins, George Benson, among others, and joined The Rolling Stones as a guest on their 1994 concert broadcast of Voodoo Lounge, performing "Who Do You Love?" with the band. Sheryl Crow and Robert Cray also appeared on the pay-per-view special.

Illness[link]

On May 13, 2007, Bo Diddley was admitted to intensive care in Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, following a stroke after a concert in Council Bluffs, Iowa on May 12.^[25] Starting the show, he had complained that he did not feel well. He referred to smoke from the wildfires that were ravaging South Georgia and blowing south to the area near his home in Archer, Florida. Nonetheless, he delivered an energetic performance to an enthusiastic crowd. The next day, as Bo Diddley was heading back home, he seemed dazed and confused at the airport. His manager, Margo Lewis, called 911 and airport security and Bo was immediately taken by ambulance to Creighton University Medical Center and admitted to the Intensive-care unit, where he stayed for several days. After numerous tests, it was confirmed that Bo Diddley had suffered a stroke.^[26] He had a history of hypertension and diabetes, and the stroke affected the left side of his brain, causing receptive and expressive aphasia (speech impairment).^[27] The stroke was followed by a heart attack, suffered in Gainesville, Florida, on August 28, 2007.^[28]

While recovering from the stroke and heart attack, Diddley came back to his home town of McComb, Mississippi, in early November 2007 for the unveiling of a plaque devoted to him on the National Blues Trail stating that he was "acclaimed as a founder of rock and roll." He was not supposed to perform, but as he listened to the music of local musician Jesse Robinson who sang a song written for this occasion, Robinson sensed that he wanted to perform and handed him a microphone. That was the first and last time that Bo Diddley performed publicly after suffering a stroke.^[29]

Death[link]

Bo Diddley died on June 2, 2008 of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida.^[30][31] Garry Mitchell, a grandson of Diddley and one of more than 35 family members at the musician's home when he died at 1:45 a.m. EDT (05:45 GMT), said his death was not unexpected. "There was a gospel song that was sung (at his bedside) and (when it was done) he said 'wow' with a thumbs up," Mitchell told Reuters, when asked to describe the scene at Diddley's deathbed. "The song was 'Walk Around Heaven' and in his last words he said 'I'm going to heaven.'"^[32]

His funeral, a four-hour "homegoing" service, took place on June 7, 2008, at Showers of Blessings Church in Gainesville, Florida and kept in tune with the vibrant spirit of Bo Diddley's life and career. The many in attendance chanted "Hey Bo Diddley" as a gospel band played the legend's music. A number of notable musicians sent flowers, including: George Thorogood, Tom Petty, and Jerry Lee Lewis.^[33][34] Little Richard, who had been asking his audiences to pray for Bo Diddley throughout his illness, had to fulfill concert commitments in Westbury and New York City the weekend of the funeral. He took time to remember Bo Diddley, his friend of a half-century, performing his namesake tune in his honor.^[35]

After the funeral service, a tribute concert was held at the Martin Luther King Center, also in Gainesville, and featured performances by his son and daughter, Anthony McDaniel and Evelyn Kelly, long-time background vocalist Gloria Jolivet, co-producer Scott "Skyntyte" Free, Diddley's touring band, The Debby Hastings Band, and guest artist Eric Burdon.

In the days following his death, tributes were paid to him by then-President George W. Bush, the United States House of Representatives, and an uncounted number of musicians and performers, including Eric Burdon, Elvis Costello, Ronnie Hawkins, Mick Jagger, B. B. King, Tom Petty, Robert Plant, Bonnie Raitt, George Thorogood, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, the Black Lips and Ronnie Wood. He was posthumously awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the University of Florida for his influence on American popular music and in its "People in America" radio series about influential people in American history, the Voice of America radio service paid tribute to him, describing how "his influence was so widespread that it is hard to imagine what rock and roll would have sounded like without him." Mick Jagger stated that "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." Jagger also praised the late star as a one of a kind musician, adding, "We will never see his like again.^[36] As his bass player Debby Hastings said: he was the rock that the roll was built on."^{[citation needed]}

The documentary film Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street by director Phil Ranstrom features Bo Diddley's last on-camera interview.^[37]

In November 2009 the guitar used by Diddley in his last-ever stage performance sold for $60,000 at auction.^{[citation needed]}

Bit acting parts[link]

His pawnbroker character's offering Louis Winthorpe III "fifty bucks" created one of more quoted scenes in 1983's Trading Places. In the late 1980s, he teamed with Bo Jackson in Nike's famous "Bo Knows" commercials, saying his one line: "Bo, you don't know Diddley!"

In 1998, Bo appeared alongside legendary guitarists B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter as members of the Louisiana Gator Boys in the film Blues Brothers 2000.

In 2003, Bo was cast as himself in an episode of According to Jim, titled Bo Diddley.

Music Videos[link]

In 1982, Bo was featured in the music video, Bad To The Bone by George Thorogood and the Destroyers as a pool shark. Bo also had small Part in an Episode of Disney TV Show "So Weird" (1999-2001) playing a Shopkeeper.

Accolades[link]

Bo Diddley achieved numerous accolades in recognition of his significant role as one of the founding fathers of rock and roll.

• 1986: inducted into the Washington Area Music Association's Hall of Fame.
• 1987: inducted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
• 1990: Lifetime Achievement Award from Guitar Player magazine.
• 1998: Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
• 1999: His 1955 recording of his song "Bo Diddley" inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of lasting qualitative or historical significance.
• 2000: Inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and into the North Florida Music Association's Hall of Fame.
• 2002: Pioneer in Entertainment Award from the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
• 2002: Bo Diddley was honored as one of the first BMI Icons at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards. He was presented the award along with BMI affiliates Chuck Berry and Little Richard.^[38]
• 2008: Although confirmed before his death in June 2008, an honorary degree was posthumously conferred upon Diddley by the University of Florida in August 2008.
• 2009: Florida's Secretary of State announces Bo's induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame (induction to occur during Florida Heritage Month, March 2010).
• 2010: Bo Diddley was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, U.S. Representative John Conyers paid tribute to Bo Diddley in the United States House of Representatives describing him as "one of the true pioneers of rock and roll, who has influenced generations".^[39]

In 2004, Mickey and Sylvia's 1956 recording of his song "Love Is Strange" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of qualitative or historical significance, and he was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.^[40]

In 2005, Bo Diddley celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with successful tours of Australia and Europe, and with coast-to-coast shows across North America. He performed his song "Bo Diddley" with Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson, and longtime bassist and musical director Debby Hastings at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 20th annual induction ceremony and in the UK, Uncut magazine included his 1957 debut album "Bo Diddley" in its listing of the '100 Music, Movie & TV Moments That Have Changed The World'.

In 2006, Bo Diddley participated as the headliner of a grassroots organized fundraiser concert, to benefit the town of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The "Florida Keys for Katrina Relief" had originally been set for October 23, 2005, when Hurricane Wilma barreled through the Florida Keys on October 24, causing flooding and economic mayhem. In January 2006, the Florida Keys had recovered enough to host the fundraising concert to benefit the more hard-hit community of Ocean Springs. When asked about the fundraiser Bo Diddley stated, "This is the United States of America. We believe in helping one another.".^[41] In an interview with Holger Petersen, on Saturday Night Blues on CBC Radio in the fall of 2006^[42] Bo Diddley commented about the racism that existed in the music industry establishment during the early part of his career that saw him deprived of his royalties from the most successful part of his career.

Bo Diddley performed a number of shows around the country in 2005 and 2006 with the fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Johnnie Johnson Band, featuring Johnson on keyboards, Richard Hunt on drums, and Gus Thornton on bass. But from 1985 until he died, his touring band consisted of Debby Hastings (bass/musical director), Frank Daley or Nunzio Signore (guitar), Tom Major, Dave Johnson, Yoshi Shimada or Sandy Gennaro (drums), and his personal manager, Margo Lewis (keyboards).

The Bo Diddley beat[link]

Bo Diddley was well known for the Bo Diddley beat, which is essentially the clave rhythm, and one of the most common bell patterns found in sub-Saharan African music traditions.^[43] Bo Diddley has given different accounts of the riff's origins. Sublette asserts: "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas [heard on the record], 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets."^[44] The Bo Diddley beat is similar to "hambone", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes.^[45] Somewhat resembling "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry's "(I've Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle".^[46] Three years before Bo's "Bo Diddley", a song similar syncopation "Hambone", was cut by Red Saunders' Orchestra with The Hambone Kids. In 1944, "Rum and Coca Cola", containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by The Andrews Sisters and later Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" (1957) and Them's "Mystic Eyes" (1965) used the beat.^[47] In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a on-bar, or a two-bar phrase.

Other songs employing the Bo Diddley beat include "Magic Bus by The Who," "Rudie Can't Fail" by The Clash, "Get Me to the World on Time" by The Electric Prunes, "1969" by The Stooges, "Mr. Brownstone" by Guns N' Roses, and "Party at the Leper Colony" by "Weird Al" Yankovic.^[48]

"Bo Diddley beat"^[47]/Son clave  Play (help·info).

Here is the count as a one-bar phrase: One e and ah, two e and ah, three e and ah, four e and ah. The bolded counts are the clave rhythm.

Many songs (for example, "Hey Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love?") often have no chord changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that the rhythms create the excitement, rather than having the excitement generated by harmonic tension and release. In his other recordings, Bo Diddley used a variety of rhythms, from straight back beat to pop ballad style to doo-wop, frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.

Also an influential guitar player, he developed many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack. Bo Diddley's trademark instrument was the rectangular-bodied Gretsch nicknamed "The Twang Machine" (referred to as "cigar-box shaped" by music promoter Dick Clark). Although he had other odd-shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers throughout the years, most notably the "Cadillac" design made by Tom Holmes (who also made guitars for ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, among others), Diddley fashioned the square guitar himself around 1958 and wielded it in thousands of concerts over the years. In a 2005 interview on JJJ radio in Australia, Bo implied that the design sprang from an embarrassing moment. During an early gig, while jumping around on stage with a Gibson L5 guitar, he landed awkwardly hurting his groin.^[49][50] He then went about designing a smaller, less restrictive guitar that allowed him to keep jumping around on stage while still playing his guitar. He also played the violin, which is featured on his mournful instrumental "The Clock Strikes Twelve", a twelve-bar blues.^[51]

He often created lyrics as witty and humorous adaptations of folk music themes. The song "Bo Diddley" was based on the African American clapping rhyme "Hambone" (which in turn was based on the lullaby "Hush Little Baby"). Likewise, "Hey Bo Diddley" is based on the song "Old MacDonald". The rap-style boasting of "Who Do You Love", a wordplay on hoodoo, used many striking lyrics from the African-American tradition of toasts and boasts. His "Say Man" and "Say Man, Back Again," both of which were later cited as progenerators of hip-hop music, share a strong connection to the insult game known as "the dozens". For example: "You got the nerve to call somebody ugly, why you so ugly the stork that brought you into the world ought to be arrested".^[52]

Notable cover versions[link]

Bo Diddley's songs have frequently been covered by other artists.

• Captain Beefheart covered "Diddy Wah Diddy" in 1966. The Blues Band and Tom Petty have played the

song in concert.

• Buddy Holly's rendition of "Bo Diddley" (recorded in 1957) was a posthumous top-10 hit in the UK, peaking at No. 7 in the summer of 1963.
• The Rolling Stones covered several Bo Diddley numbers in concert and in early BBC Radio broadcasts. In 1964 they released "I Need You Baby (Mona)" on the UK version of their first album (the US version featured their cover of the Diddley-inspired Buddy Holly song "Not Fade Away").
• The Kinks covered "Cadillac" on their debut album in 1964.
• The Pretty Things covered "Road Runner", "She's Fine, She's Mine" and "Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut" on their debut album in 1965, where "Road Runner" was featured as the opening track. "Road Runner" has also been covered by Humble Pie, The Zombies, The Animals, The Who and Aerosmith.
• The Animals and Bob Seger have both covered "The Story of Bo Diddley".
• Long John Baldry covered Bo Diddley's song "You Can't Judge a Book" on his 1972 album Everything Stops for Tea.
• The Yardbirds,^[53] The Who, Dr. Feelgood, Tom Petty, The Remains and the Dutch group Q65 covered "I'm a Man".
• The Grateful Dead, The Woolies, George Thorogood, Dion, Townes Van Zandt, Ronnie Hawkins, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Juicy Lucy covered "Who Do You Love", which was also a concert favorite of The Doors.
• Quicksilver Messenger Service covered both "Who Do You Love" and "Mona".
• Creedence Clearwater Revival and Eric Clapton have both covered "Before You Accuse Me".
• The New York Dolls and The Lurkers have both recorded their own versions of the song "Pills".
• Dr. Feelgood led off their second album, Malpractice (1975), with a cover of "I Can Tell."
• The Clash recorded "Mona" during the London Calling sessions.
• Ex-Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker counts Diddley as one of her chief influences and covered "Bo Diddley" on her 1989 solo album, Life in Exile After Abdication.
• Chris Isaak covered "Diddley Daddy" on his third album, Heart Shaped World (1989).
• Craig McLachlan, an Australian soap opera star, reached Number 2 in the UK singles charts in 1990 with a version of "Mona" that inserted the chord change Buddy Holly used in the Diddley-inspired "Not Fade Away"
• Black Strobe covered "I'm a Man" on their Album Burn Your Own Church (2007).
• Tom Petty has played "I Need You Baby (Mona)" in concert, and performed it with Diddley himself in 1999.^[28]

Historic marker and other dedications[link]

Bo Diddley was honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission with a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker placed in McComb, his birthplace, in recognition of his enormous contribution to the development of the blues in Mississippi.^[54]

On June 5, 2009 the city of Gainesville, Florida, officially renamed and dedicated its downtown plaza the Bo Diddley Community Plaza. The plaza was the site of many benefit concerts at which Bo Diddley performed during his lifetime to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless in Alachua County, and to raise money for local charities, including the Red Cross.

The Obamas' dog, Bo, is also said to be named after him.

The Mario characters known as Boos were originally called "Boo Diddleys" in Super Mario Bros. 3 as a reference to Bo Diddley, though this was long before Bo Diddley died.

Peter Cook & Dudley Moore did a sketch in which Moore played a character called "(the famous coloured singer) Bo Dudley" in reference to Diddley. Moore's vocal performance during the sketch, however, was a parody of James Brown's "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag".

Scottish alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain have frequently cited Bo Diddley as an influence. This is most notable via the song 'Bo Diddley Is Jesus', a b-side to their 1987 UK Top Ten hit April Skies, the 12-inch version of which also included a cover of Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love?.

Discography[link]

Books[link]

• George R. White, Living Legend, Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, 1995.
• Laurent Arsicaud, Bo Diddley, Je suis un homme, Camion Blanc editions, 2012.

References[link]