Berry

Stephen Hall

Thomas Munson

**Berry** was a British band formed in 1989. The band was infamous for the various legal issues faced by frontman Robert Berry, as well as his rivalries with other bands and muscians. The group disbanded in 1995 after Robert's arrest and conviction for assualting his ex-girlfriend.

## History

Berry was formed in 1989 by lead singer Robert Berry, guitarist Ian Davies, drummer Stephen Hall and bassist Tom Munson in Liverpool. The four members were roommates during college, and spent their free time performing gigs at bars, restaurants, and parks. They released their first self-titled EP in 1991, which received major airplay across the college's radio station. Their popularity began to grow for the next few years, and in 1993, they were signed to Island Records. It was with them that they released their first and only full length album, "*This Sweet Life*" later that year. Thanks to the album's self titled single, and a followup single named "*Sunshine in my Eyes*", the band was finally in the spotlight. It appeared that their path of success would only continue, but everything changed very quickly.

In 1994, during an interview with a local radio station, Robert Berry called out the band Pipe, saying that their music was "Absolutely atrocious" and that he didn't want to hear "Some dumb cunt whining about trivial bullshit" when listening to the radio. Pipe frontman Skye Graham responded by saying that his band's music "Actually has depth, meaning and effort put into it, not some happy-go-lucky, bubblegum pop, cash grab horse shit that record executives jack off to at night." He also stated that it was a shame that "Privledged, talentless fucking twats" were ruining the music industry. Berry was infuriated by this statement, and accused Graham of starting the drama, even though Berry attacked him first.

The controversy continued later that year, when Berry made a homophobic statement by telling a gay couple at one of his shows to "Take your sick, disgusting orgy somewhere else." This lead to the band being dropped by Island Records, with very few other labels willing to sign them. Furthermore, Berry allegedly told Davies that "Women who don't want (to date) someone like me are bitches who deserve to be punched in the face." This was soon reported to the media, and the band became under even stronger fire than before.

The final nail in the coffin for Robert Berry happened in January of 1995, when he had an argument with his ex-girlfriend Christine Harrington. This argument got extremely heated, and Berry threatened to kill her if she didn't get back together with him. When Harrington called the police, Berry stabbed her in the chest with a kitchen knife and left her for dead. However, Christine was able to regain conciousness and call for help. Days later, Robert Berry was arrested and charged with attempted murder. Later on, several other charges would be brought up against him, mostly by his numerous ex-girlfriends, including assualt, indecent behavior, destruction of property, theft and even rape.

In late 1995, Robert Berry was convicted of all charges (except for the rape charge, which ended in a hung jury) and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The band dissolved immediately afterwards, not wanting their name to be associated with Robert or his actions. Davies, Hall and Munson formed a new band and moved on with their careers. In 2014, the rape allegation against Robert Berry was re-investigated, after new witness testimonies came forward. He would eventually be convicted of this charge, and be sentenced to an additional 20 year sentence, pushing his minimum parole date to 2045.

## Members

Robert Berry - lead vocals (1989-1995)

Ian Davies - lead guitar, backing vocals (1989-1995)

Stephen Hall - drums (1989-1995)

Thomas Munson - bass (1989-1995)

## Discography

*Berry* (1991)

*This Sweet Life* (1993)