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Factsheet

• Began playing violin at age 8, when his church took up a collection to buy the instrument and pay for lessons; switched to guitar as a teenager, after his stepsister, Lucille, gave him his first six-string.
• Started his recording career in 1955, releasing the chart-topping "Bo Diddley/I'm a Man" single on Chicago's Chess Records.
• Was the first African-American to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, playing his signature "Bo Diddley" on November 20, 1955.
• An early innovator in rock music, he created his own sound effects when they weren't readily available and custom-built many of his guitars.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, one year after its creation.
• Entered the Blues Hall of Fame in 2004, the same year his 1956 single "Love Is Strange" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.