Chuck Berry

If Elvis Presley was the first great rock & roll singer — fully formed in his integrated roots and
delivery on his 1954 Sun Records bow, "That's All Right" — Chuck Berry, a singer, guitarist
and composer, was the music's first recording artist. In the two minutes and twenty-three
seconds of his Chess debut single, "Maybellene," recorded in May 1955 and a Top Five pop
hit that summer, Berry minted the fundamentals of rock guitar-metallic, locomoti... More >