Chuck Berry was born today (October 18, 1926).
Check out some interesting facts on Chuck Berry.
1. Chuck Berry, is known as “The Architect of Rock ‘n Roll.” Berry was inspired to enter the recording industry after he traveled from St. Louis to Chicago to hear Muddy Waters perform. Afterwards, Chuck Berry met Muddy Waters backstage, who suggested he get in touch with Leonard Chess. Chuck Berry sent a demo to Leonard Chess and Chess Records, and eventually recorded his hit single “Maybellene” for the label, which recorded most of his output.
2. Chuck Berry’s own guitar playing and songwriting influenced a generation of American artists, as well as the bands from the UK invasion, including The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, to name a few.
3. Chuck Berry’s hometown of St. Louis erected an 8-foot statue of the singer along the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 2011.
4. In 1990, Chuck Berry was hit with a class action lawsuit, after 200 women claimed he videotaped them using the restroom. The women claimed Berry then used the videos for his own sexual pleasure. The lawsuit claimed that the tapes of the women were made at Berry’s restaurant, Southern Air. Berry had already been in trouble, after a raid of his home earlier in the year in Wentzville, Missouri that turned up marijuana, hashish, guns, $122,000 in cash and pornographic materials.
5. Also In 1990, Chuck Berry filed a $10 million dollar lawsuit against a magazine, after nude photos of him and female companions were stolen and published in High Society magazine. Chuck Berry said he took the pictures because “I’ve seen too many times when girls misused their relationship with fellas. I wanted something to show every thing was merry-merry.”
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