- Following his death, tributes were paid to his lasting impact by many performers of varying ages, including B.B. King, Peter Gabriel, Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Alex Kapranos, Richard Hawley, Eric Burdon, Mickey Hart, Slash, Albert Hammond Jr., George Thorogood, Tom Petty and Jerry Lee Lewis.
- As a child, he was taught to play the violin by the music director of his church. One of his fellow students grew up to become jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins.
- Wrote the hit song "Love Is Strange", but published it under the name of his wife, Ethel Smith due to a dispute with Leonard Chess, owner of Chess-Checker-Argo Records. The song was a #5 R&B hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957.
- 1960: He moved from Chicago, Illinois, to Washington, D.C.
- 1971: He moved from Granada Hills, California, to Los Lunas, New Mexico.
- He was voted the 20th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artist of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
- Survived by his children, Evelyn Kelly, Elias A. McDaniel, Pamela Jacobs, Steven Jones, Terri Lynn McDaniel-Hines and Tammi D. McDaniel; a brother, the Reverend Kenneth Hayes; and eighteen grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
- 1978: He moved from Los Lunas, New Mexico, to Hawthorne, Florida.
- 1934: He moved from McComb, Mississippi, to Chicago, Illinois.
- 1968: He moved from Washington, D.C, to Granada Hills, California.
- Inducted into the Washington Area Music Association's Hall of Fame (1986), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987), the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (1987), the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame (2000), the North Florida Music Association's Hall of Fame (2000), the Blues Hall of Fame (2003), the Hit Parade Hall of Fame (2010), the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame (2017), and the Florida Artists Hall of Fame (2020).
- He influenced many artists, including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, George Thorogood and The Clash.
- "Bo Diddley/Go Bo Diddley" (1990), a repackaging of his first two records, is ranked No. 216 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
- Suffered a stroke after playing a concert in Council Bluffs, Iowa on May 13, 2007, and a heart attack in Gainesville, Florida on August 28, 2007.
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