Chuck Berry

If rock 'n' roll truly does have a king, his name is Chuck Berry. This man defined the strut, the finger-wagging talk, the riff, and the dirty, low-down funk of early rock 'n' roll. He was a duck-walking maniac on stage; his eyes crazed and his fingers letting out guitar leads that were mixing up rhythms nicked from jump blues and boogie-woogie. But he wasn't just a stylist, he was a songwriter - knocking out original tunes that were rampant with salacious imagery and quick-witted rhymes. His immediately recognizable skeletal R&B-tinged rave-ups and gritty, greasy guitar work is still the template for rock in its purest form. All hail Chuck Berry.