Gibson guitar owned by Chuck Berry, on permanent display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.
Display caption reads, “Gibson Guitar – Nicknamed “Maybellene” after his first hit, this legendary guitar was one of Berry’s earliest touring and recording instruments. Donation by Charles E. Berry.”
Who owns Chuck Berry’s guitar?
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.
