Charles Edward Anderson Berry October 18, — March 18, 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 " , " Roll Over Beethoven " , " Rock and Roll Music " , and " Johnny B.
Goode " 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 to After his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant.
By early , influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of the blues musician T-Bone Walker , Berry began performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio. 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 s, 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. However, these did not achieve the same success or lasting impact of his s songs, and by the s he was more in demand as a nostalgia performer, playing his past material with local backup bands of variable quality.
His insistence on being paid in cash led in to a four-month jail sentence and community service, for tax evasion. Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in ; he was cited for having "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance. Goode", "Maybellene", and "Rock and Roll Music".
