On this day in 1958, Chuck Berry released his hit song Johnny B. Goode

 Initially inspired by the piano player in his band, Johnnie Johnson, the song transformed into a song about Berry himself. Johnny B. Goode tracks the real life rise of Berry from an unknown musician to a world-famous star. The “Goode” in the song’s title is even taken from Berry’s childhood address, 2520 Goode Avenue.

Some details on the song differ from Berry’s life, such as him growing up in St. Louis rather than Louisiana as suggested by the songs lyrics. Unlike Johnny, Chuck could also read and write wetland studied hairdressing and cosmetology at a night school. Berry also changed a lyric to read “That little country boy can play” where he had originally used “coloured boy”. The change was made to ensure the song would get radio airtime.

Johnny B. Goode went on to peak at number 8 on the charts, and received a number of honours as time went on, including a number of covers, features in films and an induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame. A copy of the song was also placed on the Voyager spaceship to represent life on Earth for aliens or people of the future to discover.