Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who helped create rock and roll. Known as the "Father of Rock and Roll," he took rhythm and blues and shaped it into something new with hits like "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957), and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). His lyrics often dealt with teenage life and buying things, and his style—featuring guitar solos and flashy stage moves—had a huge impact on later rock musicians. Berry grew up in a middle-class home in St. Louis. He got into music early and performed for the first time at Sumner High School. While still a student there, he was convicted of armed robbery and sent to a reformatory, where he stayed from 1944 to 1947. After getting out, he married, worked at a car factory, and by early 1953 was playing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio, inspired by blues guitarist T-Bone Walker. His big break came in May 1955 when he went to Chicago, met Muddy Waters, and was told to contact Leonard Chess at Chess Records. There he recorded "Maybellene," his version of the country song "Ida Red," which sold over a million copies and hit number one on Billboard's R&B chart. By the late 1950s, Berry was a major star with hit records, movie roles, and a busy touring schedule. He also opened his own nightclub in St. Louis, Berry's Club Bandstand. In January 1962, he was sentenced to three years in prison for violating the Mann Act—he had taken a 14-year-old girl across state lines for sex. After his release in 1963, he had more hits, including "No Particular Place to Go," "You Never Can Tell," "Nadine," and the novelty song "My Ding-a-Ling," his only number-one single. But none of these had the lasting impact of his 1950s work, and by the 1970s he was mostly a nostalgia act, playing his old songs with local backup bands of uneven quality. Berry was one of the first musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when it opened in 1986, praised for laying the groundwork for both the sound and the attitude of rock and roll. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked him high on several "greatest of all time" lists: fifth on its 2004 and 2011 lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and second greatest guitarist in 2023. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll includes three of his songs: "Johnny B. Goode," "Maybellene," and "Rock and Roll Music." "Johnny B. Goode" is the only rock-and-roll song on the Voyager Golden Record. **Early life**

Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born on October 18, 1926, in St. Louis, the youngest child of Henry William Berry and Martha Bell Berry (née Banks). He grew up in the Ville, a middle-class neighborhood in north St. Louis. His father was a contractor and deacon at a Baptist church; his mother was a certified public school principal. This upbringing let him pursue music from a young age. He gave his first public performance in 1941 while still at Sumner High School. In 1944, while still a student, he was arrested for armed robbery after robbing three shops in Kansas City, Missouri, and stealing a car at gunpoint with friends. In his autobiography, Berry said his car broke down, so he flagged down another car and stole it with a non-functional pistol. He was convicted and sent to the Intermediate Reformatory for Young Men (now Algoa Correctional Center) in Jefferson City, Missouri, where he formed a singing quartet and boxed. The group got good enough that officials let them perform outside the facility. Berry was released on his 21st birthday in 1947. On October 28, 1948, he married Themetta "Toddy" Suggs. Their daughter Darlin Ingrid Berry was born on October 3, 1950. To support his family, Berry worked various jobs in St. Louis, briefly at two auto assembly plants and as a janitor in the apartment building where he and his wife lived. He then trained as a beautician at the Poro College of Cosmetology, founded by Annie Turnbo Malone. By 1950, he was doing well enough to buy a small three-room brick cottage with a bath on Whittier Street, now listed as the Chuck Berry House on the National Register of Historic Places. **Career**

**1952–1955: Music career beginnings**

By the early 1950s, Berry was playing with local bands in St. Louis clubs for extra money. He had been playing blues since his teens and borrowed guitar riffs and showmanship from T-Bone Walker. He also took guitar lessons from jazz guitarist Ira Harris, which shaped his style. By early 1953, he was performing with Johnnie Johnson's trio, beginning a long partnership with the pianist. The band played blues, ballads, and country. Berry later wrote that his curiosity led him to play country songs for mostly black audiences, who at first laughed but then started requesting the "hillbilly stuff" and enjoyed dancing to it. In 1954, Berry recorded the tracks "I Hope These Words Will Find You Well" and "Oh, Maria!" with the group Joe Alexander & the Cubans.