Chuck Berry Dies At 90

Chuck Berry, the colorful, enigmatic, ornery and elusive genius who delivered the seminal guitar chords of rock ‘n’ roll, died Saturday at his St. Louis-area home. He was 90.

St. Charles County police officers responding to a report of a medical emergency found the legendary rocker unconscious about 12:40 p.m., authorities said.

The first-responders attempted to revive Berry, but he couldn’t be saved. He was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m. local time, authorities said.

Social media tributes immediately poured in for the man known as a founding father of rock ‘n’ roll.

“Hail Hail Chuck Berry!!! None of us would have been here without you,” Lenny Kravitz tweeted. “Rock on brother!”

“Thou Shall Have No Other Rock Gods Before Him #ChuckBerry rip” echoed Roots drummer Questlove.

In a way Berry wrote his own epitaph more than a half century ago in his 1958 hit “Johnny B. Goode.”

“He could play a guitar,” Berry wrote, “just like a-ringin’ a bell.”

The classic chords that propelled 1950s Berry hits like “Johnny B. Goode,” “Maybellene,” “School Day,” “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Sweet Little Sixteen” guided virtually every later rock guitarist, starting with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and Eric Clapton.

“Chuck was probably the hardest person I’ve ever had to work with, including Mick Jagger,” Keith Richards said after organizing a 1986 show celebrating Berry’s 60th birthday. “But it was worth it, because he’s where it all started.”

Earlier that year Richards had inducted Berry as the first-ever member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Berry was half of rock ‘n’ roll’s original twin pillars, next to Elvis Presley. He never sold as many records as Elvis, but his sound was just as distinctive and defining — and unlike Elvis, Berry was a lyricist and composer.

“You weren’t a rock guitarist,” wrote critic Dave Marsh, “if you didn’t know the riveting lick that kicks off ‘Johnny B. Goode.’ ”

Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born in St. Louis on Oct. 18, 1926. By the early 1950s he had been a GM worker, a cosmetologist and a three-year reform school student. He was also married to his life partner, Themetta, and the father of two.

To earn extra money he played guitar at night — mostly jazz, though he was conversant with blues, rhythm and blues, country, popular and Latin music.

In the early 1950s he joined the Johnnie Johnson Trio, and in 1955 legendary bluesman Muddy Waters introduced him to Phil and Leonard Chess of Chess Records.

He reconfigured a country standard, “Ida Red,” into “Maybellene,” a humorous tale that likened a car chase between a Cadillac and a V8 Ford to the singer’s pursuit of his gal. “Maybellene” caught on with powerful rock ‘n’ roll deejay Alan Freed, who took half a writer’s credit and promoted Berry heavily on the radio, TV, stage and in the movies “Rock Rock Rock” and “Mr. Rock and Roll.”

In one memorable scene, Freed’s deejay character says his box-office receipts have been frozen, so he can’t pay the artists. Berry assures Freed he will play anyway, saying, “This one’s for rock ‘n’ roll.”

That scene became a classic because the real-life Berry would not play a note until his cash fee was secure in his hands.

Berry became a jukebox icon with a stream of radio hits about cool cars, the malt shop, high school, teenage music and teenage love.

Dismissed by adults as simplistic rhymes, they were some of the first rock ‘n’ roll poetry, full of great one-liners, wit, winks and even subtle social commentary.

“If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry,” John Lennon once said.

Berry was no stranger to controversy.

He was arrested in December 1959 for illegally bringing a minor suspected of being a prostitute across state lines. He was convicted in 1962 and served 18 months in prison.

Behind bars, Barry continued making music, writing the hits that would revive his career — “Promised Land,” “No Particular Place to Go” and “Nadine.”

By the 1970s he had become one of the first “rock ‘n’ roll revival” artists. He toured endlessly and hired local bands to back him — including, one night, a young Bruce Springsteen’s.

In 1972 Berry had his last radio hit, and his only No. 1, with the novelty song “My Ding-A-Ling.”

By the end of the 1970s Berry had been invited by President Jimmy Carter to play at the White House and had served five months in prison for tax evasion.

He won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985 and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987.

Along the way he also sued the late John Lennon because Lennon pinched the line about “a flat-top” from Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me” and used it in the Beatles’ “Come Together.”

Lennon settled by agreeing to record three Berry songs on his “Rock ‘N’ Roll” album.

His reputation took another hit in 1989 when he was sued by several women claiming that he had videotaped them in the bathroom of his restaurant near St. Louis. Berry eventually admitted to the pervy acts and paid restitution to 74 women.

Berry ultimately became wealthy, living with his family and a huge collection of expensive cars at his Wentzville, Mo., estate.

The tireless musician continued performing well into his 80s.

Berry’s final New York performance was a 2011 New Year’s Eve show at B.B. King's where he closed out the night with “Auld Lang Syne" and “Johnny B. Goode.”

His last live show was a hometown appearance at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis, where Berry played more than 200 consecutive monthly concerts.

Because he was reclusive, fans debated for decades whether his experiences with the law and the music business had embittered him.

He said in a 1986 interview he was not bitter, just private.

“I love rock ‘n’ roll,” he said. “It’s been very good to me and I think I’ve given something back.”

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