Chuck Berry

For other uses, see Chuck Berry (disambiguation).

Chuck Berry
Berry in 1957
Born
Charles Edward Anderson Berry

(1926-10-18)October 18, 1926
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
DiedMarch 18, 2017(2017-03-18) (aged 90)
near Wentzville, Missouri, U.S.
Resting placeBellerive Gardens Cemetery, St. Louis
Other namesFather of Rock N' Roll
Occupations
  • Singer
  • musician
  • songwriter
Spouse
Themetta Suggs
​
(m. 1948)​
Children4
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
DiscographyChuck Berry discography
Years active1953–2017
Labels
Websitechuckberry.com

Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957), and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958).[1] Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.[2]

Born into a middle-class black family in St. Louis, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student, he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to a reformatory, where he was held from 1944 to 1947. After his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant. By early 1953, influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of the blues musician T-Bone Walker, Berry began performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio.[3] His break came when he traveled to Chicago in May 1955 and met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records. With Chess, he recorded "Maybellene"—Berry's adaptation of the country song "Ida Red"—which sold over a million copies, reaching number one on Billboard magazine's rhythm and blues chart.[4]

By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star, with several hit records and film appearances and a lucrative touring career. He had also established his own St. Louis nightclub, Berry's Club Bandstand.[5] He was sentenced to three years in prison in January 1962 for offenses under the Mann Act—he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines for the purpose of having sexual intercourse.[3][6][7] After his release in 1963, Berry had several more successful songs, including "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell", and "Nadine". However, these did not achieve the same success or lasting impact of his 1950s songs, and by the 1970s he was more in demand as a nostalgia performer, playing his past material with local backup bands of variable quality.[3] In 1972, he reached a new level of achievement when a rendition of "My Ding-a-Ling" became his only record to top the charts. His insistence on being paid in cash led in 1979 to a four-month jail sentence and community service, for tax evasion.

Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986; he was cited for having "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance."[8] Berry is included in several of Rolling Stone magazine's "greatest of all time" lists; he was ranked fifth on its 2004 and 2011 lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and 2nd greatest guitarist of all time in 2023.[9][10] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll includes three of Berry's: "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", and "Rock and Roll Music".[11] "Johnny B. Goode" is the only rock-and-roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record.[12]

  1. ^ Rosenblatt, Kalhan (March 18, 2017). "Chuck Berry, father of rock 'n' roll, dies at 90". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  2. ^ Campbell, M. (ed.) (2008). Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes On. 3rd ed. Cengage Learning. pp. 168–169.
  3. ^ a b c "Chuck Berry". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  4. ^ Frederick, Jennifer (March 18, 2017). "Chuck Berry, a Founding Father of Rock 'n' Roll, Dies at 90". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  5. ^ "Chuck Berry, a rock 'n' roll originator, dies at age 90". The Salt Lake Tribune. Associated Press. March 18, 2017. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  6. ^ "295 F.2d 192". ftp.resource.org. Archived from the original on October 13, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  7. ^ Pegg (2003, pp. 119–127).
  8. ^ "Chuck Berry". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  9. ^ "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone. No. 946. Archived from the original on June 21, 2008.
  10. ^ "The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone. October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "Experience the Music: One Hit Wonders and the Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Archived from the original on May 9, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  12. ^ "Voyager Interstellar Mission: The Golden Record". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on July 20, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2015.