THE late, great Chuck Berry has been receiving tributes right and left following his passing March 18, but Sunday night (April 2) proved to deliver a particularly interesting couplet of recognition for the rock ‘n’ roll icon.

    At the 52nd annunal Academy of Country Music Awards, held in Las Vegas, the show opened up with a montage of expected Nashville artists, but then segued quickly into an unexpected performance by the show’s hosts Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan, accompanied by the Eagles’ Joe Walsh, in a rollicking performance of the Berry classic “Johnny B. Goode.”

    As Bryan pointed out after the performance, Berry “influenced every form of music — including country” — a statement that had the audience roaring in approval.

    A bit east of Las Vegas, however, things weren’t going quite as well. Berry’s daughter Ingrid, who had been tapped to sing the national anthem at the St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs opener (Berry was a native of St. Louis), gave a performance that garnered mostly negative reviews. While some called it “beautiful,” far more were shaking their heads.

    The 52nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards were aired live from Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena on April 2.

    (SD-Agencies)