Chuck Berry Biography

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an immensely influential guitarist, singer, and composer, and one of the pioneers of rock & roll music. Berry was born in St. Louis, Missouri and was part of the first group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2000.
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As a young man, Berry served a three-year term in reform school for attempted burglary. He was later arrested for stealing a car. Chuck Berry had been playing a form of the "blues" since his teens and by early 1953 was performing with "Sir John's Trio," a band that played at a popular club in St. Louis. In May of 1955, he traveled to Chicago where he met Muddy Waters who suggested he contact Chess Records. Signed to a contract, that September he released a unique version of the Bob Wills song, "Ida Red," under the title, "Maybellene." The song eventually peaked at #5 on the Billboard charts. At the end of June 1956, his song "Roll Over Beethoven" reached #29 on the Billboard charts. In the autumn of 1957, Berry joined the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and other rising stars of the new rock and roll to tour the United States.

In December 1959, Berry had legal problems after he invited a 14-year-old Apache waitress he met in Mexico to work as a hat check girl at Berry's Club Bandstand, his nightclub in St. Louis. The girl was arrested on a prostitution charge and Berry was arrested under the Mann Act (transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes). Berry was convicted, fined $5,000, and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in 1963, but his best years were behind him.

Berry toured for many years carrying only his Gibson guitar, confident that he could hire a band that already knew his music no matter where he went. Among the many bandleaders performing this backup role were Bruce Springsteen and Steve Miller. Springsteen backed Berry again when he appeared at the Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

After traveling the "oldies" circuit in the 1970s, Berry was in trouble with the law again in 1979, when he pled guilty to income tax evasion and was sentenced to four months imprisonment and 1,000 hours of community service doing benefit concerts.

In the late 1980s, Berry owned a restaurant in Wentzville, Missouri, called The Southern Air. Berry also owns an estate in Wentzville called Berry Park. For many years, Berry hosted rock concerts throughout the summer at Berry Park. He eventually closed the estate to the public due to the riotous behavior of many guests.

Although in his late 70s, Berry continues to perform regularly, playing both throughout the United States and overseas. He performs one Wednesday each month at Blueberry Hill, a restaurant and bar located in the Delmar Loop neighborhood in St. Louis.

A documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll was made about him and a concert he did in 1987.

Berry was also the subject of attention in the early 1990s for his alleged voyeurism of female guests in the bathrooms.

CHUCK BERRY PICTURES

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CHUCK BERRY BIOGRAPHY