Chuck Berry has died aged 90, it has been announced.
Police in his home state of Missouri reported on Saturday that the rock and roll legend had passed away at his home.
Chuck Berry was one of the very last of rock and roll’s great pioneers. His career lasted more than 70 years.
With his early hits, he helped transform mid-century Rythym and Blues into the rock and roll sound we recognise today. His early hits included ‘Johnny B Goode’, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ and the million-selling ‘Maybellene’.
His contribution to music was recognised with a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 1984, and a welcome into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 as one of its very first honorees. His citation at the time read that he “laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance”.
He fell foul of the law on many occasions throughout his career, serving prison sentences and settling suits, but he continued tirelessly to perform around the world into his ninth decade.
On his 90th birthday last October, he announced that his first brand new studio album in nearly four decades would be released in 2017. The songs will feature his children playing instruments, a group their father called “the Blueberry Band” on songs he said encapsulated a life’s work. It will be entitled simply ‘Chuck’.