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Chuck Berry

American musician

Chuck Berry

Born:October 18, 1926

Died:March 18, 2017

Age at death:90

Manner of death:Natural Causes

Cause of death:Myocardial Infarction

Zodiac Sign:Libra

Children:4

Born in:St. Louis, United States

Residence:The Ville, United States

Buried in:United States

Languages:American English, English

ComposerSinger-songwriterSingerRock MusicianGuitaristMusicianRestaurateur

Links

WikipediaOfficial WebsiteIMDbFacebookInstagramYouTube

Famous For

Notable Work

Johnny B. GoodeRoll Over BeethovenRock and Roll MusicMaybellene

Bands

Chuck Berry & His Combo

Movies & TV

Alice in the CitiesGo, Johnny Go!Rock, Rock, RockThis Could Be the NightAmerican Hot Wax

Songs & Albums

Johnny B. GoodeRock and Roll MusicSweet Little SixteenYou Never Can TellMaybellene

Awards

Polar Music Prize (2014)Kennedy Center Honors (2000)star on Hollywood Walk of Fame (1987)Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986)Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1984)

Biography

Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the pioneers of 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). 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. Born into a middle-class 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. 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's rhythm and blues chart. 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. 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 sex. After his release in 1963, Berry had several more successful songs, including "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell", "Nadine" and the novelty song "My Ding-a-Ling"—his only number-one single. However, none of them achieved the same 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. 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." 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. 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". "Johnny B. Goode" is the only rock-and-roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record.

This biography uses content from the Wikipedia article “Chuck Berry”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Quotes

“I wanted to write about school because most of my audience at the particular time was of a school element.”

— Introducing "School Days" on The History of Rock and Roll, (1978), Hour 1: "The Birth of Rock & Roll"

“Baby I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days Gonna put a false charge again ya That'll be the very thing that'll send ya I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty=-= days”

— "Thirty Days" (1955)

“As I was motivatin' over the hill I saw Maybellene in a Coup de Ville A Cadillac arollin' on the open road Nothin' will outrun my V8 Ford The Cadillac doin' about ninety-five She's bumper to bumper, rollin' side by side Maybellene”

— "Maybellene" (1955); this song was also credited by the record company to other "co-composers", in what has been generally accepted as a form of "payola".

Quotes sourced from the Wikiquote article "Chuck Berry", available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Photos

Chuck Berry

500px provided description: Chuck Berry [#old ,#concert ,#music ,#live ,#guitar ,#legend ,#Chuck Berry]

Chuck Berry

"The Biggest Show of Stars For ’57" concert in Edmonton, Alberta. Richard G. Proctor Photography Limited fonds, Provincial Archives of Alberta, RP166/6.

Chuck Berry

The red Cadillac of musician Chuck Berry at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry performing in Steinegg 2013

Chuck Berry

Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Aankomst Chuck Berry (zanger) op Schiphol, naast hem zijn zuster Lucy Ann Datum : 3 februari 1965 Locatie : Noord-Holland, Schiphol Trefwoorden : aankomsten, zangers, zusters Persoonsnaam : Chuck Berry Fotograaf : Bilsen, Joop van / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende : Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort : Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris : bekijk toegang 2.24.01.04 Bestanddeelnummer : 917-3996

Chuck Berry

Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Aankomst Chuck Berry (zanger) op Schiphol, Chuck Berry en Lucy Ann tijdens persconferentie Datum : 3 februari 1965 Locatie : Noord-Holland, Schiphol Trefwoorden : aankomsten, persconferenties, zangers Persoonsnaam : Chuck Berry Fotograaf : Bilsen, Joop van / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende : Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort : Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris : bekijk toegang 2.24.01.04 Bestanddeelnummer : 917-3999

Chuck Berry

Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Aankomst Chuck Berry (zanger) op Schiphol Datum : 3 februari 1965 Locatie : Noord-Holland, Schiphol Trefwoorden : aankomsten, muziek, vliegvelden, zangers Persoonsnaam : Berry Chuck Fotograaf : Bilsen, Joop van / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende : Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort : Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris : bekijk toegang 2.24.01.04 Bestanddeelnummer : 917-4000

Chuck Berry

Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Aankomst Chuck Berry (zanger) op Schiphol, Chuck Berry en Lucy Ann tijdens persconferentie Datum : 3 februari 1965 Locatie : Noord-Holland, Schiphol Trefwoorden : aankomsten, persconferenties, zangers Persoonsnaam : Chuck Berry Fotograaf : Bilsen, Joop van / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende : Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort : Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris : bekijk toegang 2.24.01.04 Bestanddeelnummer : 917-3997

Chuck Berry

Photographs of President William Jefferson Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton hosting a gala on the South Lawn for the Georgetown University Class of 1968 reunion. Views of Chuck Berry and his band performing at the gala on the South Lawn. These images were photographed by Ralph Alswang on June 5, 1993.

Chuck Berry

Photographs of President William Jefferson Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton hosting a gala on the South Lawn for the Georgetown University Class of 1968 reunion. Views of Chuck Berry and his band performing at the gala on the South Lawn. These images were photographed by Ralph Alswang on June 5, 1993.

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