Booking agent sues Chuck Berry

ST. LOUIS -- A lawsuit filed in federal court claims rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry canceled three shows during a European tour last year but refused to give back money paid to him in advance.

Booking agent Cheyenne Productions of Las Vegas filed suit Wednesday in federal court in St. Louis. It asks Berry to return $93,000 for the concerts he failed to perform. It also seeks reimbursement of other costs and unspecified punitive damages.

Berry's attorney, Wayne Schoeneberg, said Thursday he had not seen the suit and couldn't comment on it specifically.

Berry is 82 and still performs regularly.

The St. Louis native now lives in nearby Wentzville, Mo. Considered one of the pioneers of early rock 'n' roll, his many hits included "Maybellene," "Johnny B. Goode," "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Sweet Little Sixteen."

Cheyenne has been booking concerts for Berry since 2003. The suit claims Cheyenne and Berry agreed to terms for the 2008 tour that was to begin July 6 with a show Toulouse, France.

The suit said Berry never returned a signed copy of the contract. But Cheyenne attorney George Vinci said, "There was an agreement he would perform those shows."

Days before the first show, Cheyenne said it wired Berry $360,000 -- $30,000 for each of the 12 shows. But after receiving the money, Berry allegedly postponed the Toulouse show and one in Cordoba, Spain. Cheyenne rescheduled Cordoba but couldn't do so for Toulouse.

Berry refused to return the $30,000 for the Toulouse show and demanded an additional $3,000 for the remaining 11 shows, the lawsuit said. Cheyenne said it gave him the additional money.

The suit claimed Berry performed nine shows, then without explanation left Europe without performing the final two, both in Spain. Cheyenne said that in addition to the money Berry kept, it also had to pay for such things as reimbursing concert promoters for the canceled shows, and airline tickets.

The suit also alleges that Cheyenne organized a November European tour for Berry. No contract was signed, and Cheyenne said Berry performed 11 dates through another booking agent, even though those concerts were set up by Cheyenne. The suit said Berry refused to pay Cheyenne for setting up the tour.