Charles Edward Berry was born in St. Louis on the 18th of October 1926. It could be said that he was the inventor of rock'n'roll as he was able to graft together country and western and rhythm & blues as he proved with his very first single 'Maybellene' in 1955. He was one of the first to shape big-beat blues into what came to be called rock'n'roll and to achieve widespread popularity among white audiences.

In the early fifties, while working in various daytime jobs, he led a blues trio that played in black nightclubs in the St Louis area. When rock'n'roll became ever more popular, Chuck Berry remained at the forefront of popularity as a performer and composer with such great songs as "Roll Over Beethoven", "School Days", "Johnny Be Goode", "Rock and Roll Music" "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Memphis"

His repertoire, and not only his hits, but lesser known songs were being eagerly covered by many of the British Invasion acts at a time when Berry was serving a two year prison sentence. On his release in 1964 he proved that he was far from finished by recording some great rock'n'roll classics such as "No Particular Place To Go", "You Never Can Tell" and "Promised Land". His songs were still being covered by others and in 1963 the Beach Boys "Surfin' USA" so blatantly copied the melody and rhythm of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" that he sued and won a song writing credit. He achieved his only No 1 in 1972 with "My Ding-a-Ling"

His music is required listening for any serious rock fan and there are very few rock musicians who don't have a number of Chuck Berry songs in their act. This is a measure of the standing of one of the greatest rock'n'roll legends of all time.