John Berry was one of the members of the original Beastie Boys. John was born on August 29, 1963 in New York, New York. He was the guitarist for the band when they were a punk rock group and left the group in 1982 after performing on the band's first EP Polly Wog Stew. Berry was credited with coming up with the band’s name. Berry was a friend and classmate of Beastie Boys member Mike Diamond.

Although Berry was also a member of other bands including Even Worse, Big Fat Love, Highway Stars and Bourbon Deluxe, his original band mates still acknowledged Berry's early work with them when the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Death

John Berry died on Thursday May 20, 2016 at the age of 52 in hospice care at a facility in Danvers, Massachusetts at 7:30 a.m.

Hohn Berry had battled frontal lobe dementia, which had gotten worse in the past few months and lead to his death.