Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry, the pioneering songwriter and guitarist whose "duck-walk" guitar playing amplified 1950s hits like "Maybellene" and "Johnny B. Goode," has died at age 90.
According to a Facebook post by the St. Charles County Police Department in St. Louis, Berry died just before 1:30 p.m. Saturday after he was found unresponsive by paramedics called to a home.
Berry formed and pushed the rock 'n' roll genre into the mainstream with his songs about teenage life, some of which would go on to be covered by groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
He was known for his mustache and pompadour, but his signature trait was, as Variety magazine wrote, his "crouched, head-bobbing march across the stage" as he strummed.
He counted among his influences Carl Hogan — the guitarist for '40s R&B performer Louis Jordan — as well as blues musician T-Bone Walker and jazz guitarist Charlie Christian.
It was his 1955 hit "Maybellene" that would jump-start his pop career, followed by "Roll Over Beethoven" in 1956 and a several-year run of hits paced by Berry's creative guitar licks and tongue-in-cheek singing style.
In 1986, he was among the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
