Bo Diddley played a crucial role in the birth of Rock & Roll and an impact on the direction of popular music during his 40 year career. His first major label release in twenty years, "A Man Amongst Men", exemplifies his decades-long impact on music through the wide variety of guests that joined him on the album, ranging from Rolling Stones members Keith Richards and Ron Wood, to Jimmie Vaughn and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, to Billy Boy Arnold, Chuck Berry pianist, Johnnie Johnson and Shirelles. It was nominated for the Grammy Award in the category of Best Contemporary Blues Album in 1997. The following year, he was recognized by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences by receiving the Grammy's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award (1998), an acknowledgment by his peers of the importance of that revolutionary sound known as the "Bo Diddley Beat."