With the passing away of legendary rock musician Bo Diddley, the golden days of rock’n’roll come to an end as well, leaving musical epigones to make the best of the tremendous legacy left to them.

The rock’n’roll pioneer that introduced the bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp beat, to the inspiration of generations of musicians to come, died aged 79 at his home in Archer, Florida. He had been ill for many months and died of heart failure, his publicist said.

A little over a year ago, in mid-May, Diddley suffered a stroke while touring in Iowa and was admitted to intensive care. Three months later, he suffered a heart attack. During recovery from the massive stroke and heart attack, which affected his ability to speak, he returned to Florida.

“One of the founding fathers of rock ‘n’ roll has left the building he helped construct,” a statement from his management agency reverentially said.

He was born in 1928 as Ellas Bates in McComb, Miss., and adopted by his mother’s cousin, whose surname he took, becoming Ellas McDaniel. At the tender age of 11, he started performing on the streets of Chicago, where he had moved with his family.

From here on music was omnipresent in Diddley’s life.

“Bo Diddley” was his first single, in 1955. He released his first records via Chicago-based Chess Records, between 1958 and 1963. Among his unbeaten songs are “Say Man,” “Shave and a Haircut,” “Uncle John,” “Who Do You Love?” and “The Mule.”

He has been paid tribute to since the early 1960s, with a plethora of artists and bands covering his songs and ensuring their immortality: the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Doors, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, U2 and many, many others.

In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A decade later, he received a lifetime achievement award at the Grammy Awards. The recognition however remained bittersweet, as he complained to the Associated Press that “it didn’ put no figures in my checkbook.”

“If you ain’t got no money, ain’t nobody calls you honey,” he remarked.

Diddley continued to perform and record well into his senectitude. He only stopped after suffering the stroke last year.

He is survived by four children, fifteen grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. A public funeral will be held next Saturday in Gainesville.

While Diddley’s blood runs through his successors, it is perhaps Tom Petty, as quoted by Newsday, who put best in words what the rock’n’roll pioneer founded with his musical genius:

“If Bo Diddley was English, I think he should be knighted. Actually, this country should build a monument in every state to Bo Diddley. Elvis is King. But Diddley is Daddy.”