President Barack Obama honored Chuck Berry, who died Saturday in Missouri at age 90, with a commemorative tweet on Sunday morning, noting the famed performer “rolled over everyone who came before him — and turned up everyone who came after.”
He continued: “We’ll miss you, Chuck. Be good.”
Obama’s salute to the guitarist and singer-songwriter joins a chorus of other industry figures who have paid tribute to the genre icon in recent days, including Carole King, Brian Wilson, Joan Jett, and Lenny Kravitz.
“Chuck Berry was rock’s greatest practitioner, guitarist, and the greatest pure rock ‘n’ roll writer who ever lived,” Bruce Springsteen tweeted Saturday. Mick Jagger added: “I am so sad to hear of Chuck Berry’s passing. I want to thank him for all the inspirational music he gave to us. He lit up our teenage years, and blew life into our dreams of being musicians and performers. His lyrics shone above others [and] threw a strange light on the American Dream. Chuck, you were amazing [and] your music is engraved inside us forever.”
In addition to spearheading the popularization of rock music, Berry — a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and Kennedy Center honoree — was once named one of the 10 greatest electric guitar players of all time by TIME magazine. His legacy also includes the 1972 hit “My Ding-a-Ling” in addition to memorable tunes from the 1950s like “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Johnny B. Goode,” and “Carol.”
First responders reportedly found Berry unresponsive inside his St. Charles County home over the weekend. According to a police statement, he could not be revived and was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.