Chuck Berry

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  • Year:
    1986
  • Inducted by:
    Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)
  • Category:
    Performers
Chuck Berry Signature

Introduction

After Elvis Presley, only Chuck Berry had more influence on the formation and development of rock & roll.

The St. Louis native internalized country, blues and R&B influences to create a singular guitar technique.

Hall of Fame Essay

1986

Michael Hill

Chuck Berry describing his first car: “A ’33 Ford. It cost me thirty-four dollars. Man, it took me three months to pay for it, and I had to have some older friend sign for it, ’cause I was only seventeen.” Chuck Berry’s first car song,“Maybellene,” released on the Chess label in 1955, was also his irst smash, reaching Number Five on  the pop  chart and Number One on the R&B chart. 

If it had been up to Berry himself, though, “May­bellene” would have been the B-side of “Wee Wee Hours,” a Hues number that Berry had hoped Leon­ard Chess would use as his debut.

The Program Cover from the 1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
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Chuck Berry_quote
I lifted every lick he ever had played.
Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

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