Hey, Bo Diddley.

Yesterday I discovered a 1965 YouTube video of Bo Diddley singing a song in which both he and his backup singers sang the words “Hey, Bo Diddley.” It rocks!

This morning it occurred to me that I don’t recall any other singers singing their own names in their songs. Did the Rolling Stones ever sing Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone?” Did the Beatles ever mention “Beatles” or “beetles” in any of their music? I can easily imagine Prince singing about Prince, but I don’t recall him ever naming himself in any of his songs.

Then I did a Google search and discovered that, indeed, in 1995 the Stones played Dylan’s song, “Like a Rolling Stone,” as Mick Jaggers sang along with Bob Dylan, in a huge outdoor concert in Rio de Janiero.

That was a surprise! I’ve seen the Stones perform live and I’ve seen Dylan perform live (in San Diego, both times, back in the ‘60s), but I never imagined that they would appear together on the same stage singing the same song!

Do you know of any other songs in which singers refer to themselves or their band by name?