CHUCK BERRY - OCT 19, 1985 - PHOTO PASS.

Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958).[1] Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.

Oct. 18, 1926: Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry in St. Louis.

Oct. 28, 1948: Marries Themetta Suggs with whom he has four children.

Dec. 31, 1952: Needing a replacement for an ailing musician for a New Year's Eve show, pianist/bandleader Johnnie Johnson calls acquaintance Berry.

May 1, 1955: Berry signs with Chess Records.

May 21, 1955: Berry records "Maybellene," his version of "Ida Red."

Aug. 1, 1955: "Maybellene" reaches No. 5 on Billboard's Best Sellers chart, goes on to top R&B chart.

June 30, 1956: Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" hits No. 2 on the R&B chart, No. 29 on pop chart.

May 1957: Berry's first album, "After School Session," released; single "School Day" reaches No. 3 on pop chart.

Feb. 24, 1958: Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" released. Weeks later, reaches No. 2 on Billboard's pop chart and tops the R&B chart.

June 14, 1958: "Johnny B. Goode," his tribute to Johnson, makes the Top Ten.

1962: Convicted of transporting a minor girl across state lines.

June 1, 1966: Berry leaves Chess for Mercury Records. Re-signs with Chess in 1970.

May 1, 1972: "The London Chuck Berry Sessions" released, including novelty song "My Ding-a-Ling." Album becomes Berry's best seller, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard chart.

1973: Johnson leaves Berry's band.

June 1, 1979: Berry performs at White House at President Carter's request, months before serving several months in prison on tax evasion.

Feb. 26, 1985: Berry given Lifetime Achievement Award at annual Grammy Awards.

Jan. 23, 1986: Berry inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1987: Release of "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll," the documentary of the Fox Theatre concert in St. Louis to celebrate Berry's 60th birthday.

1988, 1989: Berry sued for allegedly punching a woman in New York and later for allegedly videotaping women secretly while they were using the restroom at his St. Louis-area restaurant.

1996: Berry begins performing monthly at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room in St. Louis.

November 2000: Berry sued by Johnnie Johnson, who seeks share of royalties on songs he co-wrote with Berry but were credited to Berry alone.

April 13, 2005: Johnnie Johnson dies following dismissal of lawsuit, resumption of his and Berry's friendship, and a few more concerts together at Blueberry Hill.

Oct. 18. 2016: Berry announces on his 90th birthday that he plans to release his first album since 1979, called "Chuck," sometime in 2017. A specific release date isn't set.

March 18, 2017: Berry dies at his home in suburban St. Louis.

Born into a middle-class African-American family in St. Louis, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to a reformatory, where he was held from 1944 to 1947. After his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant. By early 1953, influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of the blues musician T-Bone Walker, Berry began performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio.[3] His break came when he traveled to Chicago in May 1955 and met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records. With Chess, he recorded "Maybellene"—Berry's adaptation of the country song "Ida Red"—which sold over a million copies, reaching number one on Billboard magazine's rhythm and blues chart.[4]

By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star, with several hit records and film appearances and a lucrative touring career. He had also established his own St. Louis nightclub, Berry's Club Bandstand.[5] He was sentenced to three years in prison in January 1962 for offenses under the Mann Act—he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines.[3][6][7] After his release in 1963, Berry had several more hits, including "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell", and "Nadine". But these did not achieve the same success, or lasting impact, of his 1950s songs, and by the 1970s he was more in demand as a nostalgic performer, playing his past hits with local backup bands of variable quality.[3] In 1972 he reached a new level of achievement when a rendition of "My Ding-a-Ling" became his only record to top the charts. His insistence on being paid in cash led in 1979 to a four-month jail sentence and community service, for tax evasion.

Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986; he was cited for having "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance."[8] Berry is included in several of Rolling Stone magazine's "greatest of all time" lists; he was ranked fifth on its 2004 and 2011 lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[9] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll includes three of Berry's: "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", and "Rock and Roll Music".[10] Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" is the only rock-and-roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record.