One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Chuck Berry was a influential singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose string of hit songs in the late 1950s helped popularize rock and roll around the world. Berry’s music infused a cross-section of styles including Rockabilly, Country, Blues, and Rhythm & Blues, crafting his own original Rock and Roll sound that was often imitated by British rock groups in the 1960s.

Berry wrote lyrics reflecting the interests of teens and young adults, performing his songs with an over-the-top performance style and guitar solos that would define rock music and become iconic. Berry is acknowledged as a great rock lyricist because of his us of humor and satire.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1926, Berry grew up interested in music but living a working-class life until he first picked up a guitar in the early 1950s. In 1955 Chuck got his big break on a trip to Chicago, when Muddy Waters recommended Berry to popular blues music label Chess Records. Berry recorded many of his early hits there, including his first number one hit song “Maybellene”, followed by “Rock and Roll Music” and “Johnny B. Goode”. Berry’s 1957 hit “Roll over Beethoven” was a watershed in music history, a song whose lyrics point to where Rock and Roll became the dominant music genre as teenagers gained independence over the music of their parent’s generation.

By the end of the 1950s Chuck Berry was already a successful touring performer, but his career took a second wind in the 1960s with new hits such as “Nadine”, “No Particular Place To Go”, and “You Never Can Tell”. Around this time his guitar style began to show its influence on many of the British groups in the 60’s, including The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In fact during the later years of Berry’s career he toured as a nostalgia rock performer, alongside musicians who drew inspiration from his playing style, such as
John Lennon:

Eric Clapton and Keith Richards:

His musical torch having been passed down, in 1986 Chuck Berry was among the first musicians elected in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On 9th of June 2017, Berry released his first new album in 38 years. Sadly, The RocknRoll icon didn’t live to see its release. He died in his home in St. Charles County, Missouri on 18th of March 2017.