Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry had a long career as a pioneering rock 'n' roll musician that influenced rock 'n' roll's future. His incredible showmanship and guitar solos impressed the audience, leading to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry in Missouri on October 18, 1926, Chuck Berry was an outstanding American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His work shaped rhythm and blues into the new genre of rock 'n' roll.
Berry's interest in music took shape while he was in high school. Tragically, he was convicted of armed robbery and spent three years in a Missouri prison. During this time, he formed a singing quartet that performed in public until his release at the age of 21.
Just a year later, Berry married Themetta "Toddy" Suggs with a child fathered by Darlin Ingrid Berry. He took odd jobs in St. Louis to support his family, from automobile factory worker to janitor to beautician. By 1950, his family had a small house, now a historic place on the National Register.
Berry performed locally in his free time. He was referred by Muddy Waters to Chess Records, and his version of an old country song named "Ida Red" impressed Leonard Chess who hired him.
He named it “Maybellene,” and the song was a runaway success, selling over one million copies and topping the rhythm and blues Billboard chart in 1955. In ‘56, he was touring with great success with another hit song named "Roll Over Beethoven." In ‘57, he toured the U.S. in the "Biggest Show of Stars for 1957" with Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers.
From 1957 to 1959, he had more than a dozen hit singles including "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Johnny B. Goode." He acted in films and played himself in "Go, Johnny, Go!"
In 1959, he was arrested for violation of the Mann Act and sentenced to three years in prison. After he was released and resuming his career, he released five albums and toured the U.K. The Beach Boys hit "Surfin' U.S.A." is a rewrite of his "Sweet Little Sixteen." He saw chart-topping success in '72, with his light-hearted single, "My Ding-A-Ling."
In the 1990s he was sued by various women for having a video camera in the bathroom of his restaurant. His settlement was over one million dollars. Later, he pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and served six months. In 2000, his former pianist, Johnnie Johnson, claimed he co-wrote many of Berry's songs, but it was dismissed.
When asked about his meteoric rise, he replied, "Well, actually they begin to listen to it, you see, because certain stations played certain music. The music that we, the blacks, played, the cultures were so far apart, we would have to have a play station in order to play it. The cultures begin to come together, and you begin to see one another's vein of life, then the music came together."