Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry dies aged 90

ROCK and roll legend Chuck Berry has died aged 90. The star’s death was revealed by police in the US state of Missouri. He was found unresponsive at lunchtime on Saturday.

Berry’s seven-decade career boasted a string of hits, including classics like Roll Over Beethoven, Maybellene, Rock and Roll Music, and Johnny B Goode. He received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1984 and was among the first inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Born Charles Edward Anderson Berry in 1926 the American guitarist, singer and songwriter was one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. He was born into a middle-class African-American family in St Louis, Missouri, and showed an interest in music from an early age, giving his first public performance at 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 began performing and his break came when in May 1955 when he met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records. With Chess he recorded Maybellene, which sold over a million copies, reaching number one on Billboard magazine’s rhythm and blues chart. In 1962, he was sentenced to three years in prison for offences under the Mann Act — he had transported a 14-yearold girl across state lines.

After his release, Berry had more hits in the mid-1960s, including No Particular Place to Go, You Never Can Tell, and Nadine. In 1979, he served 120 days in prison for tax evasion.