Whites in the area heard about Berry's music and started coming to the shows as well.

In 1955, a meeting with legendary bluesman Muddy Waters led to an introduction to Leonard Chess of Chess Records. Berry auditioned and was surprised when Chess was more interested in his rendition of hillbilly tune "Ida Red" than in Berry's blues renditions.

Berry recorded the song - renamed "Maybellene," in a nod to the cosmetic line Maybelline - and it reached No. 1 on the R&B charts.

A string of hits followed, including "Roll Over Beethoven," "School Day," "Memphis Tennessee," "Johnny B. Goode" and "Rock and Roll Music."

In 1958, Berry opened a nightclub called Club Bandstand that catered to racially mixed audiences. According to Koda's bio of Berry, an underage hat-check girl Berry hired began freelancing as a prostitute at a nearby hotel. Berry was charged with violating the Mann Act by transporting a minor over state lines and was tried twice before being convicted and sent to federal prison for two years.

While he was in prison, British teenagers became familiar with Berry's music, and the Beatles and the Rolling Stones covered some of his hits. Their popularity, interestingly enough, exposed a wider audience to Berry's music. When he emerged from prison, Berry found popularity touring in Britain and on the festival circuit.

Still, some would argue, Berry has never enjoyed the kind of success he truly deserved, considering his impact on the music scene.

Like fellow pioneer Little Richard, Berry "never really got beyond the large shadow Elvis Presley cast," said Mark Anthony Neal, professor of black pop culture at Duke University. "They haven't gotten their due for the innovations that they made.

"In Chuck Berry's case," Neal said, "it's because it's always been the other stuff, in terms of his everyday life." He said that while those experiences may have provided some healing for Berry and informed his music, "it doesn't help the people hearing the music."

And while Berry continued to enjoy the popularity among the more nostalgic music fans of the early years of rock and roll, "he never made the transition in the way that other artists from the era made those transitions, like Ray Charles," Neal said.

Berry's last hit was his ribald version of the nursery rhyme, "My Ding a Ling," which went gold in 1972. He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards in 1985 and was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. A year later, he was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Along with the accolades, however, there continued to be troubles. In 1979, Berry played at the White House for President Jimmy Carter. Later that year, he went to prison for tax evasion. In 1993, he performed at President Bill Clinton's inauguration. In 2001, Johnnie Johnson sued Berry, seeking royalties on songs that Johnson said he co-authored with Berry but never got credit for during the 30 years he played for Berry's band.

Still, Berry's place in history is secure.

"While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together," according to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Web site. "To this day, the cream of Berry's repertoire - which includes 'Johnny B. Goode,' 'Sweet Little Sixteen,' 'Rock and Roll Music' and 'Roll Over Beethoven' - is required listening for any serious rock fan and required learning for any serious rock musician."