Songfacts®:

• "Who Do You Love?" was written and originally recorded by Bo Diddley in 1956. George Thorogood is a huge Bo Diddley fan and paid tribute by recording the song.
  
  Diddley is known for his signature beat - "da da da da da... da da da" - but his version of "Who Do You Love?" doesn't use it. Thorogood, though, used it in his cover version, widely associating the song with the "Bo Diddley beat." He wasn't the first to do so: Earlier cover versions by Tom Rush and Quicksilver Messenger Service both brought Diddley's beat into the song.
• "Who Do You Love?" is part of George Thorogood's second album, Move It On Over, released in 1978. He wasn't well established at this time, so the song didn't chart. Thorogood kept it in his setlist though, and when he landed some hits in the '80s ("Bad To The Bone," "I Drink Alone" and got on MTV, many of his new fans dug into his back catalog and learned about "Who Do You Love?" In the '90s, the song was big on Classic Rock radio.
• Thorogood discovered Bo Diddley through The Rolling Stones, who often talked up didn't and used the Bo Diddley beat in some of their early songs, including "I Need You Baby (Mona)" and "Not Fade Away." Thorogood bought the album Bo Diddley's 16 All-Time Greatest Hits, which includes "Who Do You Love?" and played it constantly.
• Another song that uses the Bo Diddley beat is "Willie And The Hand Jive," first recorded by Johnny Otis in 1958. When George Thorogood covered that song in 1985, he changed the lyric to include Diddley:
  
  A doctor, a lawyer and an Indian Chief
  They all dig that Diddley beat
  
  That same year, Thorogood played Live Aid, where he brought Diddley on as a guest to perform "Who Do You Love?"