Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born on October 18, 1926, in St. Louis, Missouri. Raised in the middle-class Black neighborhood of The Ville, Berry absorbed blues, country, and boogie-woogie guitar styles, performing in local nightclubs while working as a carpenter and cosmetician. In 1955, on the advice of blues legend Muddy Waters, Berry auditioned for Leonard Chess of Chess Records in Chicago, recording "Maybellene"—a revved-up adaptation of the country fiddle tune "Ida Red" that sold over a million copies and hit number one on Billboard's R&B chart.

Berry was the true pioneer who synthesized rhythm and blues with country western guitar licks to forge the unmistakable sound of Rock and Roll. Over the next decade, Berry released an unprecedented string of classics: "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957), "Sweet Little Sixteen" (1958), and his immortal masterpiece "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). His songs captured the essence of mid-century teenage life—fast cars, high school romance, jukeboxes, and generational freedom—paired with electrifying double-stop guitar solos and his trademark one-legged hopping "duck walk."

Berry's influence on global music was foundational. John Lennon famously declared: "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'." The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys built their early careers covering Berry's compositions. In 1977, NASA selected "Johnny B. Goode" as the sole rock and roll recording included on the Golden Record aboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, sent into deep space to represent human musical creativity to extraterrestrial intelligence. In 1986, Berry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as its first member. He passed away on March 18, 2017, at the age of ninety.