Rock and roll was invented by American singer, composer, and guitarist Charles Edward Anderson Berry (18 October 1926 – 18 March 2017).
Known as the “Father of Rock and Roll,” he improved and polished rhythm and blues into the essential components that gave the genre its distinctive sound with songs like “Maybellene” (1955), “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956), “Rock and Roll Music” (1957), and “Johnny B. Goode” (1958).
Berry was a huge influence on later rock music, penning lyrics about teen life and consumerism and creating a music genre that featured guitar solos and showmanship.
What is Chuck Berry’s most famous song?
Chuck Berry frequently entered the Billboard Hot 100, but curiously, his only No. 1 single was “My Ding-a-Ling” from 1972.
Berry, who was raised in a black middle-class family in St. Louis, developed a passion for music at a young age and made his stage debut at Sumner High School.
He was convicted of armed robbery while still a high school student and sent to a reformatory, where he was housed from 1944 until 1947. Berry married after being freed from prison and began working at an auto assembly company.
