"Chuck Berry was a pioneer of rock & roll and the genre never would have become what it did without him. In fact, most of anyone's favorite rock & roll artists would cease to exist had it not been for Berry.As a youth in St. Louis, Berry developed an affinity for poetry and blues. After winning a high school talent show, he began playing on the East St. Louis circuit. Berry quickly developed a reputation for the showmanship and stylishness he exuded while playing music that had been traditionally reserved for white artists. He worked his way up to being the biggest black musician in St. Louis, but the desire to record his music would lead him away from his home.Berry landed a meeting with Chess Records Executive Leonard Chess and wowed him with a demo tape of a song called ""Ida Red."" He hit the studio in 1955 and recorded the track, renamed ""Maybellene."" The song did fairly well on the charts, but was extremely significant in that it showed Berry as the first black rock & roll artist that appealed to the masses. Berry's approach to the guitar would revolutionize the instrument and pave the way for its use on countless songs for years to come.The hits came quickly and often in the following years for Berry. He was one of the hottest acts to ever grace a stage and found himself in high demand across the country. Berry, with a keen business sense, began buying up real estate in his home city and opening clubs. Acts like the Beatles and Rolling Stones followed Berry's lead, using his musical stylings as a blueprint for their own. Such artists helped Berry's music become popular internationally, gaining the legend even more fans.After a ton of hits and a few stints in prison, Berry landed one of his final hits in 1972 with ""My Ding a Ling."" Amazingly, the single gave Berry his first gold record. Berry would eventually become averse to recording new material and his creative energies began to fade. Berry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but only as a mere formality as every true rocker always knew who the father of rock & roll was."