Chuck Berry 100th anni

On 18 October 1926, Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born in St. Louis, Missouri. A century later, it is hard to find a rock guitarist who doesn't owe him something.

From St. Louis to Chess Records

In 1955 Berry travelled to Chicago, met Muddy Waters and was sent on to Chess Records. His first single, Maybellene, a country fiddle tune rebuilt as a car chase, became a national hit that summer.

The run of hits

Roll Over Beethoven (1956), Rock and Roll Music (1957), Sweet Little Sixteen and Johnny B. Goode (both 1958): within three years Berry had written the songs that the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys would learn first. He wrote about what teenagers actually cared about, and the guitar intros he played became the language of the genre.

Into space

In 1977 Johnny B. Goode was chosen for the Golden Record on board Voyager 1 and 2, the only rock and roll song among Bach, Beethoven and folk music from around the world. Both probes have since left the solar system, carrying it with them.

A long life

Berry was in the first class inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. He kept touring into his eighties, and died on 18 March 2017, aged 90. His last album, Chuck, was released a few months later.

Follow his life, year by year, on the timelines below.