The music world may have lost rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry but the singer and guitarist still has new music to share. Chuck, the late singer's first posthumous album, will be released on June 16 and includes the first new recordings from Berry in nearly four decades.
The 10-track album has eight songs written by Berry. It is his first release since 1979's Rock It and was recorded and produced by Berry in several studios throughout St. Louis. His band includes his children Charles Berry Jr. (guitar) and Ingrid Berry (vocals, harmonica), Jimmy Marsala (Berry's bassist for forty years), Robert Lohr (piano), and Keith Robinson (drums). The album also boasts guest performances from Gary Clark Jr., Tom Morello, Nathaniel Rateliff and Chuck's grandson Charles Berry III. Morello and Rateliff are featured on 'Big Boys,' which is available on YouTube.
"Working to prepare the release of this record in recent months and in fact over the last several years brought him a great sense of joy and satisfaction," the Berry family said in a statement posted to Facebook earlier this week. "While our hearts are very heavy at this time, we know that he had no greater wish than to see this album released to the world, and we know of no better way to celebrate and remember his 90 years of life than through his music."