Johnnie Johnson

Johnnie began playing piano at age 4 in 1928.

He joined The U.S. Marines during World War II, and was in an all-servicemen jazz orchestra

Johnson hired a young Chuck Berry to fill in on guitar and vocals when one of his regular musicians suffered a stroke, and thus began their lifelong association

It is said that Berry developed his classic left hand chord boogie bounce, from trying to emulate Johnson’s accompaniment style on piano

The song “Johnny B. Goode” was, in part, written as a tribute to Johnson