Chuck Berry Treated After Collapsing on Stage

Rock and Roll legend Chuck Berry is recovering after collapsing in Chicago on New Year’s Day. The 84 year old rocker was performing when he slumped over a keyboard and was taken off stage.

Berry, once he had regained his composure, returned to the stage and performed his famous duck walk before feeling unwell and left the stage to be treated by paramedics.

Earlier in the day, Chuck Berry had said he felt unwell but had refused to go to a doctor or receive medical treatment.

When leaving the gig, the performer returned to his hotel room and left for his home town of St Louis the following day without going to hospital.

Chuck Berry’s next scheduled gig is in St Louis’s Blueberry Hill Nightclub on January 19, 2011, where he has a monthly residency at his hometown club.

Chuck Berry is seen as one of the pioneers of rock and roll and refined the rhythm and blues sound which gave the genre a distinctive quality that has lasted over 50 years. Berry’s guitar solos, lyrics and showmanship were arguably the first of its kind and influenced a generation of performers.

Chuck Berry’s influence has earned him plenty of accolades, and he ranked 6th in the Rolling Stone list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

The following year, he ranked 5th in Rolling Stone’s list "The Immortals – The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

Currently, the gig he is due to play in St Louis has not been cancelled and will go ahead as planned.