Chuck Berry is one of the founders of rock and roll. He is the only one alive today. He performed in front of millions of people with his famous “Duck Walk”. He still has what Corliss & Bland describe as a slim, toned body, wavy hair soaked in Valvoline oil, and a sharply cut masculine chin and cheeks, etched with pain and promise. Even today, all he wants is a Lincoln Town Car, his Fender Bassman amp and his guitar. Chuck Berry had one of the shortest and strongest contracts in the music industry for decades (Jacobson 6). You would think his music would be heard among today's teens and young adults. However, today's teenage generation and the previous generation idolize groups like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, groups directly influenced by Chuck Berry. The Rolling Stones and The Beatles seem to be omnipresent in 21st century culture. This is proof that Chuck Berry was not only instrumental but also very underrated. To know Chuck Berry, you need to know his beginnings, his influence, and how he uses many different genres in his music. Mainstream music of the 21st century is known for mixing many different genres. Chuck Berry influenced genres such as rhythm and blues (R&B), country, and pop music today. He realized at a young age that he needed to play more than “black” music as a black artist. It must have appealed to white people since most Americans in the 1950s were white. He was exposed to several different genres growing up in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. He heard country music from white people, rhythm and blues (R&B) from mostly black people, and even Latin music. His family environment prepared him well for his future success while growing up in a middle-class home in the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s. His parents sunny... middle of paper ......014.DeWitt, Howard A. Chuck Berry: Rock 'N' Roll Music. 2nd ed. Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1985.Print.Gulla, Bob. Guitar gods: the 25 players who marked the history of rock. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2009. Print.Jacobson, Mark. “Chuck Berry, the father of rock, turns 75.” Rolling stone. December 6, 2001: 1-11. Premier Academic Research. Internet. March 24, 2014. Johnson, Kevin C. "Chuck Berry Hopes for 200 More Duck Room Concerts." Post-shipment from St. Louis. January 10, 2014. General OneFile. Internet. March 29, 2014.McLeese, Don. “The spirit of a rocker.” New York Times. October 18, 1987. the web. April 11, 2014. McPherson, Ian. “Salt of the Earth: R&B-derived rock & roll from 1955 to 1960.” Time is on our side. 2000-2008. Internet. April 11, 2014.Taylor, Timothy D. “His Name Was in the Lights: “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry. » PopularMusic. January 1992: 27-40. JSTOR. Internet. March 29 2014.