Today is the birthday of legendary rock 'n' roll guitarist Bo Diddley.

Born Ellas Bates in 1928 in McComb, Miss.,

Diddley created the guitar riff heard in the Who's "Magic Bus,"

Bruce Springsteen's "She's The One," the Strangelove's (and later Bow Wow

Wow's) "I Want Candy" and countless others. Adopted by a sharecropping

family, Diddley moved with them to South Chicago, where he began to study

the violin. It was in Chicago that his elementary school classmates gave him

the nickname Bo Diddley. In his early teens, he learned to build violins and

guitars; he focused on the guitar and began performing on the streets of

Chicago. In 1951, he played his first club gig and became a star

on the burgeoning Chicago blues scene.

Diddley was signed to Checker Records in 1955 and immediately began

recording singles, though he received no royalties for his music and did

not complete a full LP until 1962. He recorded a string of early rock 'n'

roll classics for Checker, including "Bo Diddley," "Who Do You Love" and

"I'm A Man." But his popularity really grew in the '60s, when his songs

were covered by everyone from the Rolling Stones to Quicksilver Messenger

Service. He has recorded sporadically throughout the years and covered

many rock subgenres, releasing albums of surf music, straight-ahead blues

and even funk. He opened for the Clash on their 1979 tour and was

introduced to a whole new generation by being in the video for

George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" and by telling athlete Bo Jackson

that he didn't "know diddley" about playing guitar in a Nike ad. A living

legend, Diddley continues to tour and record to this day.

Other birthdays: Kenny Pentifallo (Southside Johnny and

the Asbury Dukes), 57, and Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra/Traveling

Wilburys), 50.