Photos of Les Paul's Life in Music

Multitudes
But Paul wasn't content with merely performing. His innovations, including multi-track recording, changed the face of music. By making, and then combining, individual recordings, "I could take my Mary and make her three, six, nine, 12, as many voices as I wished," Paul recalled. "This is quite an asset." Within a few years, the technique was essential to hundreds of popular records and remains so today.

• Bo Diddley, 1928-2008