Throwback: Happy 97th Birthday, Bo Diddley!

2025 is almost over. Let’s work towards making 2026 a much calmer and much better year for all of us. 

But in the meantime, December is a busy month for music birthdays, y’all. 

• The Doors‘ John Densmore celebrated his 81st birthday on December 1
• The legendary Lou Rawls was born 92 years ago on December 1
• The Doors‘ John Densmore celebrated his 81st birthday on December 1
• The legendary Lou Rawls was born 92 years ago on December 1
• Def Leppard bassist Rick Savage celebrates his 65th — yes, y’all, 65th! — birthday on December 2
• Nelly Furtado celebrated her 47th birthday on December 2
• Montell Jordan celebrated his 57th birthday on December 3
• Ozzy Osbourne, the “Prince of Darkness” and “Godfather of Metal,” was born 77 years ago on December 3
• One of the greatest and most successful emcees both commercially and critically to ever do it, Jay-Z celebrated his 56th birthday on December 4
• The pioneering and legendary Little Richard was born 93 years ago on December 5
• R.E.M. co-founder and lead guitarist Peter Buck celebrates his 69th birthday on December 6
• R&B, soul legend and Maze founder Frankie Beverly was born 79 years ago on December 6
• The Doors‘ Jim Morrison was born 82 years ago on December 8
• The fearlessly uncompromising Sinead O’Connor was born 59 years ago on December 8 
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ co-founder and guitarist Nick Zinner celebrated his 51st birthday on December 8
• Dinosaur Jr. creative mastermind and grunge pioneer J. Mascis celebrated his 60th — yes, 60th! — birthday on December 9
• The legendary Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was born 99 years ago on December 11
• One of the greatest, most influential jazz pianists of the 20th century, McCoy Tyner was born 87 years on December 11
• Motley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx celebrated his 67th birthday on December 11
• The immensely talented Sheila E celebrated her 68th birthday on December 12
• The Fixx’s frontman Cy Curnin celebrated his 68th birthday on December 12
• Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and smooth jazz pioneer  Grover Washington, Jr. was born 82 years ago on December 12
• Yasiin Bey, one of the greatest living emcees celebrated his 52nd birthday on December 12
• The incomparable, elegant and absolutely legendary Ms. Dionne Warwick celebrated her 85th — yes, y’all, 85th! — birthday on December 12 
• Morris Day and The Time’s Morris Day celebrated his 68th birthday on December 13
• Television‘s Tom Verlaine, one of the most influential and important guitarists of the past 50 years was born on this day 76 years ago on December 13
• The Clash‘s Paul Simonon celebrated his 70th birthday — yes, 70th y’all — on December 15
• Eddie Palmieri, the great salsa composer and pianist was born 89 years ago on December 15
• ZZ Top frontman, guitarist and co-founder Billy Gibbons celebrated his 76th birthday on December 16
• R.E.M co-founder, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Mills celebrated his 67th birthday on December 17
• The co-founder of the legendary Temptations, Eddie Kendricks was born 86 years ago on December 17
• DMX, one of the most electric, captivating emcees to ever spit bars on a record was born 55 years ago on December 18
• The Rolling Stones‘ legendary guitarist Keith Richards celebrated his 82nd birthday on December 18
• The legendary Édith Piaf was born 110 years ago on December 19
• Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White was born 84 years ago on December 19
• The Black Crowes‘ and Chris Robinson Brotherhood (CRB)‘s Chris Robinson celebrated his 59th birthday on December 20
• The legendary Frank Zappa was born 85 years ago on December 21
• The Bee Gee‘s Maurice Gibb and Robin Gibb were born 76 years ago today
• Luther Campbell, a.k.a. Luke Skyywalker, a.k.a Uncle Luke, a.k.a. Luke, the mastermind behind the legendary and controversial The 2 Live Crew celebrated his 65th — yes, 65th, y’all — birthday on December 22
• Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder celebrated his 61st birthday on December 23
• Motörhead founder, frontman — and overall badass — Lemmy Kilmister was born 80 years ago on December 24
• The legendary Cab Calloway was born 118 years ago on December 25
• Isley Brothers co-founder O’Kelly Isley was born 88 years ago on December 25
• Annie Lennox, arguably one of the greatest vocalists ever — and I mean across soul, pop, electro pop, New Wave or anything else, celebrated her 71st birthday on December 25
• George Porter, Jr., the co-founder of the legendary New Orleans-based band The Meters and one of the pioneers of funk, celebrated his 78th birthday on December 27
• Metallica‘s co-founder and drummer Lars Ulrich celebrated his 62nd birthday on December 27
• Roebuck “Pops” Staples, the legendary patriarch and founder of The Staple Singers, which featured his son Pervis and his daughters Mavis, Yvonne and Cleotha, was born 111 years ago on December 28
• The Offspring founder, frontman and primary songwriter Dexter Holland— er, Dr. Dexter Holland — celebrated his 60th — yes, y’all, 60th — birthday on December 29
• The Monkees‘ Micheal Nesmith was born 83 years ago today. And his bandmate Davy Jones was born 80 years ago today

The legendary bluesman Bo Diddley was born 97 years ago today. Born Ellas Otha Bates, the legendary singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer played a major role in the development and solidification of what was to become rock ‘n’ roll. 

Unsurprisingly Bo Diddley’s work was cited as influence on some of rock’s pioneers and beloved artists including Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, George Thorogood, The Clash and a remarkably long list of others. 

Remember y’all: Black history is American history. Black culture is American culture. And without these black artists, much of the slang, culture and music you love wouldn’t be possible. So go and listen to Bo Diddley on his birthday. Without him, some of your favorite artists wouldn’t have sounded as they did. 

Happy birthday, Bo! Happy birthday, wherever you are!

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