GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In one of his best-known songs from the 1950s, Bo Diddley proclaimed “I’m a Man.” At his funeral and a celebration that followed, he was also lionized as a musical legend.
Tarik McDaniel, Bo Diddley’s grandson, holds a wreath shaped like his grandfather’s trademark guitar at the funeral Saturday. More Photos »
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The Music They Made: Bo Diddley
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Remembering Bo Diddley
Eric Burdon of the Animals at a celebration of the music of Bo Diddley in Gainesville, Fla. More Photos >
“This is the homecoming of a great man, a legend who touched many hearts around the globe,” said Karl Anderson, a local pastor and family friend who served as master of ceremonies at the funeral Saturday.
The services at the Showers of Blessings Harvest Center here included proclamations, stories and songs — adding up to a scene that was part funeral, part celebration and part a lesson in the roots of American music. The crowd included relatives, friends and musicians who had played with Mr. Diddley over the decades, and as the building filled up, the choir began leading refrains of “Hey, Bo Diddley!” with the crowd responding, “Hey, Bo Diddley!” He died June 2 of complications from a stroke and heart attack last year.
The man whose real name was Ellas Bates McDaniel was also saluted earlier in the day with a parade and festival renamed after him in Archer, Fla., where he had lived for more than 20 years.
“His syncopated rhythm has been used by countless musicians since he created it in the 1950s,” said Rodney J. Long, the commissioner of Alachua County and one of several politicians who attended the funeral. “So to the family, we thank you for sharing this man with the entire world.”
The singer’s family — among them 4 children, 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren — sat in the front rows.
His brother, the Rev. Kenneth Haynes, of Biloxi, Miss., told of losing him once before — when Mr. Diddley, at age 7, moved with Gussie McDaniel, his mother’s first cousin, to Chicago, where he later took her surname — and again last Monday, when he died.
“He’s left again,” Mr. Haynes said. “But now he’s gone to the Lord.”
The mountain of flowers around the casket — including two arrangements of Mr. Diddley’s trademark box-shaped guitar, in red roses and carnations — was so vast that they nearly obscured the pulpit.
“I’ve been a fan of his since 16, 17 years of age — probably one of the first records I ever bought,” said Eric Burdon, lead singer of the Animals, after the service. “I copied the jacket he was wearing for my first major TV appearance in England.”
Mr. Burdon said that the music had such an impact on him that the first song on the Animals’ debut album was “The Story of Bo Diddley,” a song credited to Mr. Burdon and Ellas McDaniel.
After the funeral, a two-hour musical celebration Saturday night at the Martin Luther King Multi-Purpose Center in Gainesville featured several musicians long associated with Mr. Diddley, including the bassist Debby Hastings, who played with him for the last 23 years and was with him in Iowa last May when he had the stroke that ended his performing career.
“We missed him,” Ms. Hastings said of performing without Mr. Diddley. “He was the rock that the roll is built on.”
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