Chuck Berry

Like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry's music bridged the gap between R&B/blues and country music, but unlike his contemporary, Berry brought lyrical brilliance and guitar brilliance to the new genre known as rock and roll. Virtually any musician who played guitar in a rock band owed a debt to Berry, whether for his stinging licks, brash stage presence, or unwavering faith in the redeeming power of the beat. His greatest songs, which included "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Johnny B. Goode" and "Rock and Roll Music," inspired generations of future legends to spread his word. Artists ranging from the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen and everyone in between praised his talents, with John Lennon going so far as to say that Berry's name was synonymous with the term "rock and roll" itself. And if Berry's life saw more down periods than up over the course of his five-decade career, he could take consolation in the fact that he had been an integral part of a movement that forever changed the world with two chords and a 4/4 beat. When Chuck Berry died at the age of 90 on March 18, 2017, generations of fans and peers around the globe hailed him as one of rock 'n' roll's first true artists.