Bo Diddley, one of the early pioneers of rock n roll, has shuffled off this mortal coil aged 79.

His unique style, which some say made all of his records sound exactly the same, was copied by rockabilly wannabes the world over. Buddy Holly openly admitted stealing the riff for his 1957 hit Not Fade Away, while other such as The Rolling Stones, The Smiths and even U2 have credited Diddley with helping create their sound.

And so did Bo Diddley.

As anyone will tell you, the man with the oblong guitar rarely showed signs of humility, making regular sweeping statements such as

“I was the first dude out there”
 “I thank you in advance for the great round of applause I'm about to get”
“I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob.”
“I create rhythms that'd drive you nuts”

One of his biggest hits was even called ‘Bo Diddley’ presumably so he could have people chant his name in order to feel even more warm and wanted.

Diddley died of a heart attack in his Florida home on Monday.