RIP Chuck Berry

[Drunk Monk]

Legendary musician Chuck Berry dead at 90
By DEAN SCHABNER and MICHAEL ROTHMANMar 18, 2017, 6:42 PM ET





Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Chuck Berry, one of the creators of rock and roll, has died, according to police. He was 90.
St. Charles County, Missouri, police said they responded to a medical emergency on Buckner Road at approximately 12:40 p.m. Inside the home, first responders found an unresponsive man, but despite immediately administering lifesaving techniques, the 90-year-old man could not be revived. He was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m., police said.


The St. Charles County Police Department identified him as Charles Edward Anderson Berry Sr., better known as Chuck Berry.
The rock legend had announced in October, on his 90th birthday that he was releasing a new album.
The album, titled "Chuck," was to debut in 2017. It was his first new album in 38 years.
The "Johnny B. Goode" musician recorded the project in his native St. Louis with his longtime backing group, which includes his children Charles Berry Jr. and Ingrid Berry.
In a statement, Berry dedicated the album to his wife of 68 years, Themetta Berry, whom he refers to by her nickname, "Toddy."
"My darlin’ I’m growing old! I’ve worked on this record for a long time. Now I can hang up my shoes!" he said.


Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry October 18, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry popularized rock and roll with 1950s hits including "Rock and Roll Music," "Johnny B. Goode," "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Maybellene," fusing blues, rockabilly and R&B into a sound that helped define the genre, coupled with guitar virtuosity and showmanship that was emulated by countless performers in the decades after.
He directly influenced the early music of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and The Kinks. Not surprisingly, Berry was among the first group of performers inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Among his many other accolades, Berry received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984, was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2000 and was presented with Sweden's prestigious Polar Music Prize in 2014.
Berry's music even made it into outer space -- his 1958 hit "Johnny B. Goode" is the only rock and roll song included on the so-called "Golden Record" affixed to the Voyager spacecraft that was launched into the cosmos in 1977.
Speaking with ABC News a few years ago, Berry was asked to name the favorite songs he's written, but he said he couldn't choose one.
"Every one of them is tops with me," he said. "Every one of my children the same way."
ABC Radio's Chris Watson contributed to this report.

 
I was a huge fan in my youth. Saw him open for the Dead in Oregon (mid 90s?) and he blew me away. He really only had one riff, but it was smokin hot.

[El Dingo]

Chuck Berry is as close to God as I am going to get.

The man invented Rock and Roll as I know/define it.

He is why I can say traditional Blues doesn't move me, but "Johnny B. Goode" does.

They had people on NPR this morning talking about why he was so influential. It came down to his ability to take 3 chords and combining them with a rhythm that appeals to our Western brains. Basically he was the Einstein of Rock and Roll.

R.I.P. my friend