Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry’s riffs are early lessons in the rock-guitar canon, and his status as an innovator in the genre’s infancy can’t be denied. Unfortunately, his curmudgeonly ways have dissipated much of the love that might have come his way over the years. (There was also that whole “watching women pee” thing.) Nonetheless, he is probably the single most influential artist in rock—just ask The Beatles or the Stones. At age 85, Berry’s duck-walking days may be numbered—he passed out onstage during a New Year’s Day show in Chicago this past year—but he still manages to bring his hits arsenal, including “Johnny B. Goode,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Maybellene,” and “Rock And Roll Music” (and hopefully not “My Ding-A-Ling”) to audiences worldwide. He may be a little older, but he’s still as fiery as ever, and, heck, there just aren’t that many legends around anymore.

Updated 12/14/2011