Contents
Chuck Berry
Helping define rock and roll with guitar riffs, teenage stories and songs such as Johnny B. Goode.
Maybellene · Roll Over Beethoven
- Born
- 18 October 1926
- Birthplace
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Died
- 18 March 2017
More people
Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry combined blues and country influences with clear storytelling and a forceful guitar sound. His records supplied later rock musicians with both a musical vocabulary and a model of the performer as songwriter.
Early life
A St. Louis childhood
He grew up in a working family and encountered music through church and school.
Work and local bands
After a troubled adolescence, he worked in several jobs, trained as a beautician and developed his playing in local clubs.
Career
- 1952–1955
A route to Chess Records
Playing with pianist Johnnie Johnson led towards a Chicago recording opportunity and Maybellene.
- 1956–1958
A run of defining songs
Records about school, cars and musical ambition helped establish rock and roll’s language.
- 1960s–1970s
Tours and a comeback hit
He continued touring; My Ding-a-Ling became his first US pop-chart number one in 1972.
- 1986–2017
Recognition and late recording
He entered the first Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class and completed a final album released after his death.
Selected work
Maybellene
A fast-moving car-chase story joins country material to a driving rhythm-and-blues sound.
Roll Over Beethoven
The song announces a new generation’s musical enthusiasm with a memorable guitar opening.
Johnny B. Goode
A fictional guitarist’s rise becomes a compact story of talent and ambition.
Beyond work
A long musical partnership
Pianist Johnnie Johnson played a central part in the sound of many of Berry’s early recordings.
Music beyond Earth
Johnny B. Goode was included on the Voyager Golden Record launched into space in 1977.
Sources & photo credit
Life and career ↗Institutional or specialist reference ↗Voyager recording ↗Photo: Universal Attractions (management). Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
