Bill Berry

Bill Berry
Berry performing with R.E.M.
Background information
Birth name	William Thomas Berry
Born	(1958-07-31) July 31, 1958 (age 58) Duluth, Minnesota, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, folk rock,college rock, jangle pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, farmer
Instruments	Drums, percussion, vocals, piano, acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar
Years active	1980–1997 (sporadic returns since)
Associated acts	R.E.M., Hindu Love Gods

William Thomas "Bill" Berry (born July 31, 1958) is a retired American musician and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M. records. After 17 years with the band, Berry left the music industry to become a farmer, and has since maintained a low profile, making sporadic reunions with R.E.M. and appearing on other artists' records.

William Thomas Berry was born in Duluth, Minnesota, the fifth child of Don and Anna Berry. At the age of three years, 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.

In 1972, the Berry family made their final move, to Macon, Georgia, just in time for Bill to start high school at Mount de Sales Academy. 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. He and Mills decided to make money by getting day jobs. They rented an apartment on Arlington Place in Macon and Bill landed a job at the Paragon booking agency next door.

Berry and Mills moved to Athens, Georgia in 1978, where they met Michael Stipe and Peter Buck. Prior to dropping out, Berry studied pre-law at the University of Georgia.

R.E.M. was formed in 1980. In addition to his duties as a drummer, Berry contributed occasional guitar, bass, mandolin, vocals, keyboards and piano on studio tracks. In concert, he sometimes performed on bass, and supplied regular backing vocals. Berry also made notable songwriting contributions, particularly for "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon", both from Automatic for the People. Other Berry songs included "Perfect Circle", "Driver 8", "Cant Get There from Here" and "I Took Your Name". The song "Leave" was also written by Berry for R.E.M.'s 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi, which was his last album with the band.