ADVERTISEMENT
whodiedtoday.com
  • Home
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • Celebrity
  • Dominica
  • More Important people
No Result
View All Result
Get Started
WHODiedTODAY.COM
  • Home
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • Celebrity
  • Dominica
  • More Important people
No Result
View All Result
WHO DIED
No Result
View All Result
Chuck Berry – Beloved Husband Father, grandfather and great-grandfathe

Chuck Berry – Beloved Husband Father, grandfather and great-grandfathe died at age 90

News Contributor by News Contributor
March 19, 2017
in Who Important Died Today
0

Chuck Berry – Beloved Husband Father, grandfather and great-grandfatheChuck Berry was one of the most popular and influential performers of rhythm-and-blues and rock ‘n’ roll music during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. He’s known for songs like “Johnny B. Goode” and “My Ding-a-Ling.”

Synopsis

Born on October 18, 1926, in St. Louis, Missouri, Chuck Berry had early exposure to music at school and church. As a teen, he was sent to prison for three years for armed robbery. He began producing hits in the 1950s, including 1958’s “Johnny B. Goode,” and had his first No. 1 hit in 1972 with “My Ding-a-Ling.” With his clever lyrics and distinctive sounds, Berry became one of the most influential figures in the history of rock music. Berry died on March 18, 2017 at the age of 90.

Early Life in St. Louis

Chuck Berry – Beloved Husband Father, grandfather and great-grandfatheConsidered by many as the “father of rock ‘n’ roll,” Chuck Berry was born Charles Anderson Edward Berry on October 18, 1926, in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents, Martha and Henry Berry, were the grandchildren of slaves, and are among the many African Americans who migrated from the rural South to St. Louis in search of employment during the World War I era. Martha Berry was one of the few black women of her generation to gain a college education, and Henry Berry was an industrious carpenter as well as a deacon at the Antioch Baptist Church.

At the time of Chuck Berry’s birth, St. Louis was a sharply segregated city. He grew up in a north St. Louis neighborhood called the Ville—a self-contained middle-class black community that was a haven for black-owned businesses and institutions. The neighborhood was so segregated that Berry had never even encountered a white person until the age of three, when he saw several white firemen putting out a fire. ”I thought they were so frightened that their faces were whitened from fear of going near the big fire,” he once recalled. ”Daddy told me they were white people, and their skin was always white that way, day or night.”

The fourth of six children, Berry pursued a variety of interests and hobbies as a child. He enjoyed doing carpentry work for his father and learned photography from his uncle, Harry Davis, a professional photographer. Berry also showed an early talent for music and began singing in the church choir from the age of six. He attended Sumner High School, a prestigious private institution that was the first all-black high school west of the Mississippi. For the school’s annual talent show, Berry sang Jay McShann’s “Confessin’ the Blues” while accompanied by a friend on the guitar. Although the school administration bristled at what they viewed as the song’s crude content, the performance was an enormous hit with the study body and sparked Berry’s interest in learning the guitar himself. He started guitar lessons soon after, studying with local jazz legend Ira Harris.

Berry also grew into something of a troublemaker in high school. He was uninterested in his studies and felt constrained by the strict decorum and discipline. In 1944, at the age of 17, Berry and two friends dropped out of high school and set off on an impromptu road trip to California. They had gone no farther than Kansas City when they came across a pistol abandoned in a parking lot and, seized by a terrible fit of youthful misjudgment, decided to go on a robbing spree. Brandishing the pistol, they robbed a bakery, a clothing store and a barbershop, then stole a car before being arrested by highway patrolmen. The three young men received the maximum penalty—10 years in jail—despite being minors and first-time offenders.

Berry served three years in the Intermediate Reformatory for Young Men outside of Jefferson, Missouri, before gaining release on good behavior on October 18, 1947, which was his 21st birthday. He returned to St. Louis, where he worked for his father’s construction business and part-time as a photographer and as a janitor at a local auto plant.

In 1948, Berry married Themetta “Toddy” Suggs, with whom he would eventually have four children. He also took up the guitar again when, in 1951, his former high school classmate Tommy Stevens invited him to join his band. They played at local black nightclubs in St. Louis, and Berry quickly developed a reputation for his lively showmanship. At the end of 1952, he met Jonnie Johnson, a local jazz pianist, and joined his band, the Sir John’s Trio. Berry revitalized the band and introduced upbeat country numbers into the band’s repertoire of jazz and pop music. They played at the Cosmopolitan, an upscale black nightclub in East St. Louis, which began attracting white patrons.
Chuck Berry Website
Chuck Berry

You might also like

David Braley the native hamilton ontarion canadian dead at 79

David Braley, owner of three Canadian Football League franchises Dead at 79

November 16, 2020
Jerry Walker the US Texian Country Dead at 78 of Cancer

Jerry Walker the US Texian Country Dead at 78 of Cancer

January 30, 2022
Tags: 10 Celebrities Who Died During Filmingchuck berry
News Contributor

News Contributor

Related Stories

David Braley the native hamilton ontarion canadian dead at 79

David Braley, owner of three Canadian Football League franchises Dead at 79

by News Contributor
November 16, 2020
0

The Hamilton businessman David Braley owned the Tiger-Cats, B.C Lions, and Toronto Argonauts at one time dead at 79.

Jerry Walker the US Texian Country Dead at 78 of Cancer

Jerry Walker the US Texian Country Dead at 78 of Cancer

by News Contributor
January 30, 2022
0

Jerry Walker (Jerry Jeff Walker) was a Texas country singer and songwriter who wrote the pop song “Mr. Bojangles.” Walker...

The Outfield frontman Tony Lewis, who enjoyed success with enduring 1980s hit Your Love, dies 'suddenly and unexpectedly' aged 62.

British musician Tony Lewis is Dead at age 62

by News Contributor
January 30, 2022
0

The British musician Tony Lewis, who enjoyed chart success with the British rock band "The Outfield" with their 1980s hit...

James Redford, Activist and Filmmaker Dead at 58

James Redford an Activist and Filmmaker Dead at 58

by News Contributor
January 30, 2022
0

James Redford, the beloved activist, filmmaker, and the son of Hollywood icon Robert Redford, died from liver cancer at 58....

Next Post
Ahmed Kathrada

Ahmed Kathrada: anti-apartheid titan jailed with Mandela dies at 87

Recent Comments

  • Toy Pupanbai on Tribute to Sir Patrick Moore who died today.
  • An artist theory on the physics of 'Time' as a physical process. Quantum Atom Theory on Tribute to Sir Patrick Moore who died today.
  • Toy Pupanbai on Tribute to Sir Patrick Moore who died today.
  • jvon2000 on A tribute to my dog, who died today, February 16, 2012
  • Patricio Garcete on A tribute to my dog, who died today, February 16, 2012

© 2022 CAKAFETEINC FAMILY OF WEBSITES - Review -Products Review Products.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Review Products
  • eStopandshop
  • Websit Family

© 2022 CAKAFETEINC FAMILY OF WEBSITES - Review -Products Review Products.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version