Rock pioneer Bo Diddley, 79, passed away at his home in Archer, Fla. Monday after months of poor health.
"One of the founding fathers of rock 'n' roll has left the building he helped construct," said a statement from his management agency, Talent Consultants International.
Diddley was surrounded by more than 35 family members when he passed away at 1:45 a.m. EDT.
"There was a gospel song that was sang and he said 'wow' with a thumbs up," Diddley's grandson Garry Mitchell told Reuters about the scene at the singer's deathbed. "The song was 'Walk Around Heaven' and in his last words he stated that he was going to heaven."
The musician had a heart attack in August, just three months after he had a stroke while on a tour stop in Iowa. MSNBC reports that doctors said the stroke affected his speaking ability.
A founding father of rock ’n’ roll, Diddley was known for his dark, thick-rimmed glasses, black Stetson and rectangular guitar. He had a distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm, dubbed the "Bo Diddley beat," and was considered a pioneer of the electric guitar.
"He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic," E. Michael Harrington, professor of music theory and composition at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., said in 2006.
Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 and was No. 20 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
He influenced musicians from the Grateful Dead to U2.
"He was a wonderful, original musician who was an enormous force in music and was a big influence on the Rolling Stones," Mick Jagger said in a statement. "We will never see his like again."
His management agency said public and private services will be held this weekend.
