Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry (born Oct. 18, 1926 in St. Louis, MO) is a guitarist and singer/songwriter. In 1986, Berry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the Hall's first inductees (as 1986 was the year it begin to enshrine legends).

Berry's beginnings saw him play in his home area of St. Louis. He begin to perform popular songs of the time, which in turn begin to garner larger audiences. He went up to Chicago where he hooked up with Leonard Chess of Chess Records. In 1955 he recorded a cover of Russ Fratto's "Ida Red" - entitled "Maybelline" - which sold over a million copies, reaching #5 on the Hot 100 singles chart. In 1957 Berry toured with the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and others on a national tour of up-and-coming artists.

Berry has had three of his songs included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames' 500 songs that shaped rock and roll: "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", "Rock and Roll Music." Berry's only #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 was 1972's "My Ding-a-ling." In total Berry has released 28 studio albums, and 11 live albums.

Berry still performs on occasion to this day and currently lives in Wentzville, MO.