RIP Chuck Berry

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Binary_Bark

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Chuck Berry, one of the creators of rock and roll, has died, according to police. He was 90.

St. Charles County, Missouri, police said they responded to a medical emergency on Buckner Road at approximately 12:40 p.m. Inside the home, first responders found an unresponsive man, but despite immediately administering lifesaving techniques, the 90-year-old man could not be revived. He was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m., police said.,

The St. Charles County Police Department identified him as Charles Edward Anderson Berry Sr., better known as Chuck Berry.

The rock legend had announced in October, on his 90th birthday that he was releasing a new album.

The album, titled "Chuck," was to debut in 2017. It's his first new album in 38 years.
The "Johnny B. Goode" musician recorded the project in his native St. Louis with his longtime backing group, which includes his children Charles Berry Jr. and Ingrid Berry.

In a statement, Berry dedicated the album to his wife of 68 years, Themetta Berry, whom he refers to by her nickname, "Toddy."

"My darlin’ I’m growing old! I’ve worked on this record for a long time. Now I can hang up my shoes!" he said.

It's a fitting way for the musician, best known for his unforgettable tunes including "Johnny B. Goode," "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Sweet Little Sixteen," "School Days," "Rock and Roll Music," "Back in the U.S.A." and "Memphis, Tennessee," to mark his birthday. With his catchy melodies, witty lyrics and trademark guitar riffs, Berry has had an immeasurable impact on rock music.

He directly influenced the early music of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and The Kinks. Not surprisingly, Berry was among the first group of performers inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Among his many other accolades, Berry received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984, was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2000 and was presented with Sweden's prestigious Polar Music Prize in 2014.

Speaking with ABC News a few years ago, Berry was asked to name the favorite songs he's written, but he said he couldn't choose one.

"Every one of them is tops with me," he said. "Every one of my children the same way."
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http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/legendary-musician-chuck-berry-dead-90/story?id=46228597
 
For Arthur ;)

[video=youtube;6ROwVrF0Ceg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ROwVrF0Ceg[/video]
 
He was truly rock and roll...lots of funny stories about him.

In a recent interview with the Hall of Fame, E Street guitarist Nils Lofgren recalls playing with Berry at the concert as part of an all-star jam, along with Springsteen, G.E. Smith, Steven Van Zandt and Chrissie Hynde, among others.

Going by set lists, the final song of the night was supposed to be “Rock and Roll Music.” By this time, the concert had been going for nearly seven hours, which perhaps explains partly why Lofgen says the performance was “real free-form. … We’re just going to do something off the cuff.” True to form, Berry started playing before letting the other musicians onstage know what song was coming next — and that’s where things got interesting.

“Somehow, a minute or two in, he like … shifts the song in gears and a key without talking to us,” Lofgren says. “Now, we all … okay, we’re pros, right? So, we’re all like … trying not to make a train wreck, and it’s tricky. Okay, what key is he in? Let’s start playing there.”

Berry continued shifting keys — four or five times, the guitarist reckons — for reasons Lofgren can only surmise were “to mess with us. I can’t imagine why else this happened. We’re all looking around at each other, the cast of characters and the backup band; these are pros, decades in. We are making these horrible sounds, collectively, in front of a stadium, sold out. We’re looking at each other like, ‘This can’t be happening, right? We’re not creating this thing we’re listening to. Yes, we are.’”

Just when he thought things couldn’t get worse, they did. “At the height of it, when no one has any idea how to fix this, Chuck looks at us all and starts … looking at us, duck walking off the stage, away from us,” Lofgren says. “He leaves the stage, leaves us all out there playing in six different keys with no band leader, gets in the car and drives away. Now if that’s not rock ‘n’ roll … and, I love Chuck Berry, but man … ”
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Lucky to hear him sing at the Rock Roll concert in London Summer of 1972
Saw little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill Hailey. Sat in the middle of Wembley Stadium and listened
to these greats.
 
Even if you didn't listen to his music, there's no denying what an absolute music legend he was. RIP old man, you contributed more than your share for the good of music.
 
RIP and thanks for your unmeasurable contribution to the world of music.
 
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