Bo Diddley in 1970
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Rock-and-roll pioneer Bo Diddley died early Monday morning (June 2), of heart failure, at his home in Archer, Florida. He was 79 years old.

Diddley's given name was Ellas McDaniel. He was born in Mississippi but moved as a child to Chicago, where he first learned to play the violin (an instrument to which he returned on "The Clock Strikes Twelve," the B-side of 1959's "Say Man," one of his biggest hits). It was as a guitarist, though, that he began working on the streets of the South Side, and later made his most important contribution to rock music with the pummeling "Bo Diddley beat." This instantly recognizable rhythm figure, drenched in tremolo, was featured on the 1955 single "Bo Diddley," his first release on Chicago's Checker Records. (Checker was a subsidiary of Chess, which helped launch the rock-and-roll era that same year with Chuck Berry's epochal "Maybelline.")

Although he never really stopped working, Bo's biggest chart period was from the mid-1950s into the early '60s, with such memorable hits as "You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover," "Road Runner" and "Who Do You Love?" His influence, however, reverberated further. His 1957 "Mona" and 1959 "Crackin' Up" were covered by the Rolling Stones; and "I'm a Man," the flip side of "Bo Diddley," was resurrected (and kicked into overdrive) by the Yardbirds. And Bo's beat was the clear inspiration for the Buddy Holly hit "Not Fade Away" (which the Stones also covered), the 1958 Johnny Otis smash "Willie and the Hand Jive" (itself covered by Eric Clapton) and the Strangeloves' 1965 "I Want Candy" (which has been covered by everyone from Bow Wow Wow to Good Charlotte).

Since it's not possible to copyright a beat, Bo Diddley never received any royalties from the hits other musicians created around his trademark rhythm — a situation he always found annoying. There were other, less-remunerative compensations, though: In 1987, Bo was among the second round of legendary performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

• Bo Diddley

Jessica Alba
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

"I love challenging authority," Jessica Alba told In Style for the magazine's June issue. "It probably wasn't easy being my parents," the actress said. "The second somebody says, 'No,' to me is the second I'm going to jump up and say, 'Yes!' " Alba also said she's happy to be taking on eclectic roles that don't typecast her as "some kind of little tart." "Because obviously, if you have a womanly figure, you're not allowed to have a brain or any idea of the world whatsoever," she said facetiously. "You just have to be hot and use your body to get ahead."...

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Deryck Whibley, cooking and MySpace — Avril Lavigne is way into the first two, she reveals in the June/July issue of CosmoGirl!, but not so much the third. In the magazine, due on newsstands Tuesday, the singer talks about finding love with the Sum 41 frontman ("I first kissed Deryck when I was 17, and I have been kissing him ever since"); compares herself to Martha Stewart ("I'm really good at cooking. Breakfast, soup, salads, vegetarian stuff ... my favorite food is Italian"); and says she's "so not a computer person" — and isn't really down with "the whole MySpace thing." "I'll change my pictures and sometimes I'll write a blog," she explained. "Some bands go on every day. I can't do that — it's confusing." ...

"American Idol" will skip the traditional remote broadcasts from the hometowns of finalists Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis on Wednesday's finale. The Arizona Republic reported that city officials in Glendale, Arizona, announced May 9 that portions of the show would be broadcast from a free viewing party with a celebrity host at Jobing.com Arena in Sparks' hometown. But Thursday, a city spokesperson said the show had canceled the segments from the contestants' hometowns. An "Idol" spokesperson issued a "no comment" to MTV News on the unexplained change of plans. ... Kanye West will perform July 13 as part of the Québec City Summer Festival, which runs from July 5-15. Billy Talent are also on the lineup, with additional artists expected to be announced in the coming weeks. ...

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Los Angelinos strapped for cash but hoping to see Prince perform, you're in luck: The artist is expected to add a seven-week stay at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel on top of his "21 Nights in London" tour, according to the Los Angeles Times. Starting June 15, the hotel lobby will be shut down at 9 p.m., and at 11:30, Prince will play a two-hour set for a few hundred guests. His private chef will take over the hotel restaurant at 2 a.m., turning it into an after-hours jazz club that will be entertained by His Purpleness until 4 a.m. The same regiment will follow for the six ensuing Fridays, with special guests expected to join Prince on each occasion. ... Yellowcard will release Paper Walls, their third LP for Capitol, July 17. The Florida rockers' set will feature 13 cuts, including "Shrink the World," "Shadows and Regrets" and "You and Me and One Spotlight." ...

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05.21.2007

Amy Lee spoke candidly about her recent marriage and the recent departure of two Evanescence members in a post on the band's message board over the weekend. Calling marriage "the most incredible thing to happen in my life so far," Lee explained that she returned from her honeymoon and "discovered the fact that I was unable to defend myself for a week [and] was taken advantage of quite a bit." Lee said guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray, who left the lineup earlier this month and were recently replaced by Dark New Day's Will Hunt and Troy McLawhorn, "both made it clear they were ready to move on." LeCompt and Gray "were very vocal about the fact that they didn't really care about Evanescence at all and just stayed around for the money," the post continued. "They were miserable. They are no longer playing with us because I love this band too much to see it driven into the ground." Lee also said that Gray didn't quit, as he's claimed; she contends he was fired after weeks of threatening to quit. ...

Avril Lavigne has remixed her hit song "Girlfriend" with none other than teen heroine Lil Mama of "Lip Gloss" fame. The remix keeps the same beat and lyrics, with Mama throwing on her raps. ...

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When tickets for the Smashing Pumpkins' nine-night residency at Asheville, North Carolina's Orange Peel went on sale Sunday, TicketWeb servers weren't able to handle the load, and the demand for tickets crashed the site, bringing sales to a halt. Tickets will now be sold via Ticketmaster instead, but Orange Peel spokeswoman Liz Whalen told Asheville's Citizen-Times on Monday morning (May 21) that the venue wasn't sure whether tickets would be available Monday or Tuesday — tickets were unavailable via Ticketmaster at press time. The band has also added three more dates to its residency at San Francisco's Fillmore. ...

The Killers have announced new dates for two shows that had to be postponed last week due to frontman Brandon Flowers' bronchitis. The band's Thursday show at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado — which the guys cut short after only two songs — has been rescheduled for September 4. Their Seattle show — scheduled for this past Sunday — will now take place May 27. Tickets for the original shows will be honored at the makeup concerts. ... Franz Ferdinand are planning to play a gig in New York and a few small club shows in their native stomping grounds of Glasgow, Scotland, but dates and venue information has yet to be made available. According to frontman Alex Kapranos, the band continues work on its next LP and plans to debut some new material during the concerts. ...

Phil Spector's chauffeur wrongly implicated the music producer in the death of actress Lana Clarkson, Spector's defense argued in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, The Associated Press reports. Adriano De Souza — who previously testified that Spector said, "I think I killed somebody," after exiting his mansion with a gun in hand the morning of the shooting — originally told officers that Spector said, "I think I shot somebody," according to defense attorney Bradley Brunon. De Souza said he had heard Spector speak clearly but that he was also tired and frightened. ... Former Creed singer Scott Stapp was arrested at his Boca Raton, Florida, home on Sunday and was charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony. A judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor on Monday, AP reports, after the Palm Beach County sheriff's office determined that the bottle of Orangina that Stapp allegedly threw at his wife, Jaclyn Nesheiwat, was not a deadly weapon. Stapp was scheduled for supervised release Monday, and will be subject to random drug and alcohol testing. ...

Before Paris Hilton was sentenced to jail for violating her probation, she posed with on-again friend Nicole Richie for a Harper's Bazaar June cover story titled "Partners in Crime" that features the pair dressed in stripes — zebra, not prison — and posing as jewel thieves. "I think I get in more trouble just because of who I am," Hilton said in the Bazaar interview. "[Police] just pull me over to hit on me. It's really annoying. ... And the paparazzi, of course, take a picture. All the time. I have so many cops' business cards." Richie — who is in some hot water of her own, facing a DUI charge stemming from a December arrest that could land her in jail for 90 days thanks to a prior conviction — said she can't catch a break. "Every mistake I make, there's consequences," she explained. "I don't take anything lightly." The June issue of Bazaar hits newsstands Tuesday. ...

Bow Wowand Crime Mob performed Saturday at Utopia's Paradise Theater in the Bronx, New York, with 20 percent of the proceeds of the show benefiting the surviving family members of two African immigrant families that combined lost nine children and one adult in a tragic March 7 fire. A spokesperson for the families told local news channel NY1 that they will donate the funds back to the community. ...

A week after the attorneys general of eight states accused MySpace of dragging its feet in handing over information on registered sex offenders using the site, the company announced Monday that it would provide the AGs with the requested materials. According to a press release from MySpace, the popular social-networking site will hand over information on registered sex offenders that it has identified and deleted from the site using the Sentinel SAFE program, which it began using earlier this month. "We have zero tolerance for sexual predators on MySpace and took the initiative to create this first of its kind tool ourselves because nothing previously existed," MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said. "We look forward to working collaboratively with the attorneys general on all future efforts to make the Internet a safer place for teens." ... Sylvester Stallone won't be doing hard time Down Under. The "Rocky" actor dodged a bullet on Monday when a judge in New South Wales, Australia, fined the brawny 60-year-old $2,500 plus court costs for illegally bringing 48 vials of human-growth hormone to the country during a promotional trip in February, according to a Reuters report. Stallone explained to customs officials at the time that he was prescribed the drugs to give his body a boost and to look "good" during his current shoot of a "Rambo" sequel in Asia.

• 'Idol' Hometowns: Where It All Started

• In Focus: Jessica Alba

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• Matisyahu
• Bo Diddley

December 18 [10:00 EDT] -- The 1998 Grammy Awards will be honoring Roy Orbison, Bo Diddley, Paul Robeson and the Mills Brothers with lifetime achievement awards at the live event set for February 25, according to the Associated Press.

The bespectacled Bo Diddley, a pioneer of rock n' roll guitar, is best known for a rhythmic style that came to be known as the Bo Diddley Beat, which is showcased in dozens of his songs like "Who Do You Love." He has been seen on MTV as the pool player opposing George Thorogood (a man who has covered several Diddley hits) in the video for Bad to the Bone. Bo Diddley continues an active career in the industry to this day.

Roy Orbison's trademark three-octave range garnered him hit after hits from the fifties right through to his death in 1988 including "Pretty Woman," "Crying" and "Only the Lonely." Just prior to his passing, he was a member of the all-star Travelling Wilburys alongside Tom Petty, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne.

Paul Robeson, who died in 1976, is known for deep resonant voice on standards including "Old Man River," and for his career as a gospel singer. The Mills Brothers enjoyed eight decades of success from the early 1930's harmonizing on such hits as "Tiger Rag" and "Cab Driver." Donald Mills is the quartet's only surviving member.

For more Grammy news, check out the MTV News Grammy Archive.

• Bo Diddley
• Roy Orbison