Throwback: Black History Month: Chuck Berry

Today is the 17th day of Black History Month. Because the current administration is racist, fascist and wants to deny the existence and histories of anyone that isn’t cis-het and white, there are some important things everyone should remember during this month — and every single month: 

• You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people 
• Black lives — and Black art matters 
• Black culture is American culture 

As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list. Of course, there are some important Black artists, who were also born during Black History Month. 

So far, I’ve talked about the following, extraordinary artists:

• Big Boi, who also celebrated his 50th birthday on February 1
• Rick James, who was born 77 years ago on February 1
• James Brown, the legendary Soul Brother #1
• The Temptations‘ Dennis Edward, who also was born 82 years ago on February 3
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock ‘n’roll 
• Bobby Brown, who also celebrated his 56th birthday on February 5
• The legendary Bob Marley, who was  was born 80 years ago on February 6
• James Dewit Yancey, best known to the entire world as J. Dilla, one of the most influential and important hip-hop producers and beatmakers who was born 51 years ago on February 7
• Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul 
• Billie Holiday, whose influence on jazz and pop has been towering
• The legendary Roberta Flack, who also celebrated her 88th birthday on February 10 
• Janelle Monáe, who’s guably one of the most dynamic and exciting artists out there today
• The legendary  The Isley Brothers, who over the course of their eight decade career have written and recorded some of the most beloved, covered and sampled songs ever
• Ella Fitzgerald, arguably one of the greatest and most influential voices ever
• The legendary Maceo Parker, who also celebrated his 82nd birthday on February 14
• Janet Jackson, one of the most commercially successful female artists in recorded history  
• Ice T, who also celebrated his 67th birthday on February 16

If there’s one thing to remember about Chuck Berry it’s this: his work is appears on the Voyager Golden Records, as the paradigm of human creativity and ingenuity, along with Mozart, Beethoven and Stravinsky. Yes, my man Chuck is that fucking important. And if you don’t believe it, check out the photos Motörhead‘s Lemmy Kilmister took with Chuck — you can tell that that Lemmy idolized him. The Beatles loved Chuck. The Rolling Stones‘ Keith Richards credits Chuck in getting him to pick up the guitar. The Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilson reworked — uh, borrowed — elements of “Sweet Little Sixteen” for “Surfin’ USA.” And I can think of so much more.

So the next time you pick up a Beatles album, a Stones album, an AC/DC album, a Motörhead album, an Elvis album, a Bob Dylan album, or any other rock album in the past 70 years, thank my man Chuck. It wouldn’t be possible without him. Long live, Chuck Berry, the king of rock ‘n’ roll!