Bo Diddley Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is also recognized for his technical innovations, including his distinctive rectangular guitar, with its unique booming, resonant, shimmering tones. Born in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates, he was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed. In 1934, the McDaniel family moved to the South Side of Chicago, where he dropped the Otha and became Ellas McDaniel. He was an active member of Chicago's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he studied the
New Orleans rhythm and blues New Orleans rhythm and blues New Orleans Rhythm and Blues is a style of R&B that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana and was most popular between the years of 1948-1955, serving as a precursor to Rock & Roll and strongly influencing Ska. Instrumentation typically included drums, bass, piano, horns, electric guitar, and vocals. It is characterized by syncopated "second line" rhythms, a strong backbeat, and soulful vocals. Artists like Roy Brown, Dave Bartholomew, and Fats Domino are representative of the New Orleans R&B sound. The "New Orleans Sound" can be characterized by predominant piano, "singing" horns," and call-and-response elements. Clear