Chuck Berry
1926 – 2017 American singer, songwriter, guitarist
One of the founders of rock and roll, whose guitar style and songwriting shaped the music that followed.
- Affiliations
- Chess Records
Chuck Berry recorded Maybellene in 1955 for Chess Records in Chicago, one of the songs that fused rhythm and blues, country, and showmanship into rock and roll. His guitar riffs, storytelling lyrics, and stage moves influenced nearly every rock musician who came after, from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones. As a Black artist crossing into a white teenage market, he shaped a music whose commercial rewards were often uneven, and his own career included run-ins with the law and disputes over money.
Connections
- associate of Elvis Presley — A fellow founder of rock and roll in the mid-1950s.
- mentor of The Beatles — An early influence whose songs they covered.
In the timeline
- 1954 Elvis Presley and the birth of rock and roll a founding figure of the music
- 1955 Chuck Berry releases Maybellene artist