John Berry (singer) - Biography

Biography

John Edward Berry was born on September 14, 1959 in Aiken, South Carolina, to James and Marie Berry, and raised in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He was exposed to a variety of music, as his father preferred Van Cliburn, his mother had a strong taste for gospel. Berry grew up listening to an AM station from Atlanta; "It was on in dad's garage constantly, WQXI 79 AM," Berry says. "They played a pretty eclectic selection, country and Top 40 in the 1970s."

Berry began learning the guitar in 1972 (at the age of 12), he has named influences such as James Taylor, Harry Chapin, and, his favourite, John Denver. In a 2006 interview he said: "prior to playing guitar, I really loved the “Philly Soul Sound” like The Chi-Lites and The Stylistics." Berry moved to soul, gospel and country music and began recording his own albums at home in 1979.

In 1981, at age 19, while riding his motorcycle, Berry was hit by a car, breaking both of his legs and his left hip. He had just lost his mother earlier that year. Doctors were afraid that he may not walk again. He spent several months in physical therapy, working to regain the use of his legs. Berry said of the incident "The coolest thing in the world that came out of it...all I could do is sit on my stool and play guitar. That’s all I’ve done ever since."

Two years later, Berry started performing solo acoustic shows in northeast Georgia, then expanded around the southeast, building a strong name and following. He eventually made six self-produced albums, with the last one selling over 10,000 copies. He was finally signed to Liberty Records in 1992. Berry received high praise from former President George H.W. Bush and wife Barbara when she invited him to sing for Mr. Bush's birthday party.

Early In 1994, Berry began to have terrible headaches, lost his appetite and finally blacked out during a concert. He was rushed to the hospital on May 9, 1994 in Atlanta, where a cyst was found in the third ventricle of his brain. He stated: They went in with a fiber optic camera and laser, and removed it. I still suffer a little from short-term memory loss. This is a rebirth of sorts and I am into that. He uses humor when he occasionally forgets the words to a song and his wife, Robin, uses sign language to assist him. The same day he underwent brain surgery, he celebrated his first No. 1 single, "Your Love Amazes Me", from his hospital bed in Atlanta.

In 1997, a year before recording his Wildest Dreams album (released in 1999), Berry again had surgery, for nodes on his vocal cords.