orig. Charles Edward Anderson Berry
born Oct. 18, 1926, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.
U.S. singer-songwriter.
Though first interested in country music, in the early 1950s Berry led a blues trio that played in black nightclubs around St. Louis. In 1955 he traveled to Chicago and made his first hit record, "Maybellene," which was soon followed by "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Johnny B. Goode," "Rock and Roll Music," and "Roll Over, Beethoven." He was one of the first to shape big-beat blues into what came to be called rock and roll (see rock music ) and to achieve widespread popularity with white audiences. After two trials tainted by racist overtones, in 1959 he began a five-year prison sentence for immoral behaviour. In 1972 he achieved his first number one hit, "My Ding-A-Ling." He continued to perform into the 1990s. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were among the many rock bands greatly influenced by Berry.