Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry (Missouri, United States, 1926- 2917) was a singer, songwriter and one of the pioneers of the Rock and Roll. Nicknamed as the "father of rock and roll", he developed the style and created distinctive songs.

His parents were the grandchildren of the black people that was taken from Africa to America to work as slaves. The family didn't have an easy life: they lived in a segregated neighborhood to black people, and the first time Chuck met a white person he was three years old. In addition while he was in the high school he was convicted of arm robbery and served three years in a reformatory.

After his marriage he started playing the guitar with some friends and then was offered to take part in a jazz band. Chuck revitalized the band and introduced some country and pop numbers as well as he developed his guitar style. His break was when he contacted the owner of a record label and was offered to record a song "Maybellene" that sold over a million copies and reached nº 1 of the charts. After that -and being imprisoned again- he wrote many other famous songs. 

Some music experts and important music composers and singers say that Chuck Berry was the musician who most closely captured the essence of rock and roll. He is a legend: the father of rock and roll.

Here, with Bruce Springsteen performing Jonny B. Good