William "Bill" Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) was the drummer in alternative rock band R.E.M. for 17 years, before retiring from the group and becoming a farmer. July 31 is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Duluths canal connects Lake Superior to the Duluth-Superior harbor and the St. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... For popular forms of music in general, see Popular music. ... Alternative rock (also called alternative music or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. ... For other uses, see Farmer (disambiguation). ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... Acoustic Guitar Playing an acoustic guitar without a pick (fingerpicking) Tapping steel guitar by Erik Mongrain A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. ... Left: Rosa Hurricane, a heavy metal-style solid body guitar. ... The electric bass guitar (or electric bass) is an electrically-amplified string instrument played with the fingers by plucking, slapping, or using a pick. ... R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in early 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and vocalist Michael Stipe. ... Hindu Love Gods formed in Athens, GA in 1984. ... July 31 is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A drummer in Action A drummer is a person who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. ... Alternative rock (also called alternative music or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. ... R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in early 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and vocalist Michael Stipe. ... For other uses, see Farmer (disambiguation). ...

Early years

Berry was born in Duluth, Minnesota, to Don and Anna - their fifth child. At three years old, Berry moved with his family to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, where they would remain for the next seven years. In 1968, they were on the move again, this time to Sandusky, Ohio, on the banks of Lake Erie. Duluths canal connects Lake Superior to the Duluth-Superior harbor and the St. ... Municipal Tank No. ... This article is about Milwaukee in Wisconsin. ... Aerial view of Sandusky, Ohio on Sandusky Bay Muddy brown water fills Sandusky Bay, just south of Lake Erie in this astronaut photograph. ... Lake Erie (pronounced ) is the eleventh largest lake on Earth[2] and, of the five Great Lakes of North America, it is the fourth largest by surface area, the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume. ...

In 1972, the Berry family made their final move, to Macon, Georgia, literally just in time to start high school. It was there that he met bassist Mike Mills, and they played together in several different bands. Their first attempt at a career in music was short-lived. "I graduated high school in 1976 and put down my sticks and sold my drums," he explained^{[citation needed]}. He and Mills decided to make money the way most other people do - by getting a day job. They rented an apartment on Arlington Street in Macon and Bill landed a job at the Paragon booking agency next door. Macon is a city located in central Georgia. ... Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958 in Orange County, California) is the bass player of the band R.E.M. As a young boy, he moved with his family to Macon, Georgia in the early 60s. ...

Berry and Mills moved to Athens, Georgia in 1978, where they met Michael Stipe and Peter Buck. Athens is a city in Clarke County, Georgia, U.S., in the northeastern part of the state, at the eastern terminus of Georgia 316. ... John Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960 in Decatur, Georgia) is the lead singer of the American rock band R.E.M. Stipe has become well-known (and occasionally parodied) for the mumbling style of his early career and for his complex, surreal lyrics, as well as his social and... Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956 in Berkeley, California) is the guitarist and co-founder, along with Bill Berry, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe of the seminal 1980s alternative rock band R.E.M.. Biography After spending time in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Buck family moved to...

R.E.M. years (1980-1997)

Main article: R.E.M. (band)

R.E.M. was thus formed in 1980. By the early 1990s became one of the most acclaimed bands in the world. R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in early 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and vocalist Michael Stipe. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

Berry was more than simply R.E.M.'s drummer. He regularly contributed elements such as guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards, and piano on studio tracks. In concert he occasionally performed on bass, and supplied regular backing vocals. Berry also made notable songwriting contributions, the best-known of which is writing most of their intense ballad "Everybody Hurts", as well as their hit "Man on the Moon". Other Berry songs included "Perfect Circle", "Driver 8", and "Find the River". Fittingly, the song "Leave" from R.E.M.'s 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi was also written by Berry, which was his last album with the band. Everybody Hurts is a song by R.E.M. that attempts to empathise with people who are thinking of committing suicide and to comfort them. ... Man on the Moon is a 1999 film based on the unusual life and career of comedian Andy Kaufman. ... Driver 8 was the second single off of R.E.M.s third album Fables of the Reconstruction. ... Find the River was the sixth and final single off of R.E.M.s eighth studio album Automatic for the People. ... New Adventures in Hi-Fi is R.E.M.s tenth album, and their fifth major label release for Warner Bros. ...

During 1984 Berry also was drummer for the impromptu Hindu Love Gods, which featured his R.E.M. bandmates Mike Mills and Peter Buck and rocker Warren Zevon. Hindu Love Gods formed in Athens, GA in 1984. ... Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock and roll musician and songwriter. ...

Berry married his girlfriend of two years, Mari, on March 22, 1986. They divorced eleven years later. He is now the father to a young son, Owen.^[1][2]

In 1995, in the Swiss town of Lausanne, Berry collapsed on stage during an R.E.M. show, due to a brain aneurysm. He recovered and rejoined the band, but left in October 1997, saying that he no longer had the drive or enjoyment level to be in the band, and that he wanted a career change. In an MTV interview, he explained: “I didn’t wake up one day and decide, ‘I just can’t stand these guys anymore’ or anything. I feel like I’m ready for a life change. I’m still young enough that I can do something else. I’ve been pounding the tubs since I was nine years old ... I’m ready to do something else. I’m at a point in my life where some of my priorities have shifted. I loved my seventeen years with R.E.M., but I’m ready to reflect, assess, and move on to a different phase of my life. The four of us will continue our close friendship, and I look forward to hearing their future efforts as the world’s biggest R.E.M. fan.” Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Lausanne (pronounced ) is a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman), and facing Évian-les-Bains (France) and with the Jura mountains to its north. ... A cerebral or brain aneurysm is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. ... MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network headquartered in New York City. ...

Acquiescing to Berry's wishes, and relieving him from the guilt of triggering a breakup, R.E.M. announced that it would continue as a three-piece outfit.

Subsequent life (1998 to present)

Berry thus left the music business and became a farmer, working on his hay farm near Watkinsville, Georgia. For other uses, see Farmer (disambiguation). ... Stacked hay in Romania Haystacks on stilts in Paddy fields, North Kanara, India Hay is dried grass or legumes cut, stored, and used for animal feed, particularly for grazing animals like cattle, horses, goats and sheep. ... Watkinsville is a town located in Oconee County, Georgia. ...

His musical activities after leaving R.E.M. have been very few, but did include recording for the Tourette Syndrome Charity Album Welcome Companions in 2000. He is also an avid golfer. Tourette syndrome (also called Tourettes syndrome, Tourettes disorder, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, GTS or, more commonly, simply Tourettes or TS) is an inherited neurological disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by the presence of multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic; these...

Berry has had several brief reunions with his former bandmates, including one song in an October 2003 concert in Raleigh, North Carolina, several songs at the October 2005 wedding of band roadie DeWitt Burton, and performances at the band's September 2006 induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and March 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also played drums and sang on R.E.M.'s cover of "#9 Dream", a John Lennon cover recorded to benefit Darfur. Nonetheless, Peter Buck and Michael Stipe said that Berry remained firm on his decision to retire from the group. Nickname: Motto: You Can See the Whole State from Here Map of Wake County, North Carolina Coordinates: Country United States State North Carolina County Wake County i Founded 1792 Government  - Mayor Charles Meeker (D) Area  - City  134. ... The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at sunset. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... Darfur (Arabic: , lit. ...

Prior to the group's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Berry granted his first interview in several years, discussing life after retirement.^[2] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at sunset. ...

Notes

External links

• iZine's interview with Berry from 1994