Charles Edward Anderson Berry
(October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017)
was an American
singer,
guitarist
and
songwriter
who pioneered
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
black 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 magazine'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",
and
"Nadine".
However,
these did not achieve
the same success
or 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.
In 1972,
he reached a
new level of achievement
when a rendition of
"My Ding-a-Ling"
became his
only record to
top the charts.
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 r
ock-and-roll song
included on the
Voyager Golden Record.
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