John Berry

John Edward Berry (born September 14, 1959) is an American country music artist.

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 and his mother, 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 favorite, John Denver.

Active as a recording artist since 1979, he has recorded more than 20 studio albums, including one platinum album and two gold albums.

Berry moved to soul, gospel, and country music and began recording his own albums at home in 1979.

In 1981, at age 21, while riding his motorcycle, Berry was hit by a car, breaking both legs and his left hip.

He had just lost his mother earlier that year.

Doctors were afraid that he might 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 (Athens), 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.

John Berry started playing after Bulldog home football games, at college clubs and bars in Athens, in 1985.

He self-released six albums, soon becoming a local and regional celebrity.

Berry worked on his music for almost ten years, and built a substantial following among students at the University of Georgia.

He even started his own record company to produce and distribute recordings of his songs for local fans.

Berry also hosted benefit concerts for local charities around his home.

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 Pres.

Bush's birthday party.

Berry released his self-titled major-label debut 1993 on Liberty Records.

This album produced five chart singles for Berry.

First was "A Mind of Her Own" at No. 55 on the Billboard country chart, followed by the No. 22 "Kiss Me in the Car".

With his first major album in the stores, Berry went on the road with a major concert tour opening for the likes of Reba McEntire, Aaron Tippin, and The Mavericks.

In his career, Berry has also charted 19 songs on Billboard Hot Country Songs, including the Number One single "Your Love Amazes Me" from 1994 and six additional Top 10 hits: "What's In It for Me", "You and Only You", "Standing on the Edge of Goodbye", "I Think About It All the Time", "Change My Mind", and "She's Taken a Shine".

A Country Weekly article said of Berry, "John's greatest strength is his pure, soulful tenor."

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.

Next came "Your Love Amazes Me", which in 1994 became his only US Number One hit.

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

A 2006 interview with The Entertainment Nexus described him as "one of the most remarkable voices in music."

In a 2006 interview he said: "Prior to playing guitar, I really loved the “Philly Soul Sound” like The Chi-Lites and The Stylistics."