Guy Berryman

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Lore & Background

Berryman joined Coldplay with Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion at University College London, where he enrolled in a mechanical engineering degree but later dropped out. The band signed with Parlophone in 1999, finding global fame after the release of Parachutes (2000) and subsequent records. He has won seven Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards as part of Coldplay. Having sold over 160 million records worldwide, they are the most successful group of the 21st century.

In Their Own Story

In November 1997, the band recorded their first demo as 'Big Fat Noises' without a drummer. Will Champion joined in 1998, completing the lineup that would sign with Parlophone in 1999. Berryman worked as a bartender to pay rent while navigating early fame. The release of Parachutes (2000) launched them globally, eventually selling over 160 million records worldwide and earning seven Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards. A defining creative moment came when Berryman started the track 'Magic' on his own for the Ghost Stories album (2014), which became a lead single. In Apparatjik, formed in 2008 with Magne Furuholmen and Jonas Bjerre, he explored electronic textures, releasing albums like We Are Here (2010) and Square Peg in a Round Hole (2012). His artistic scope widened further when he founded The Road Rat magazine in 2019 to celebrate timeless car stories and launched the Amsterdam-based fashion brand Applied Art Forms in 2020, designing utilitarian wear inspired by Helmut Lang and Martin Margiela.

Reader's Guide

Guy Rupert Berryman was born on 12 April 1978 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. He is the youngest son of engineer Rupert Berryman and his wife Elizabeth. Raised close to the Beveridge Park area, he developed a passion for watches as a child. Listening to Stevie Wonder's 'My Cherie Amour' (1969) was a pivotal moment that led him to become a bass player. His family moved to Kent when he was around 12, the same period he began to play bass. During his time at Edinburgh Academy, he played drums and trumpet for the school band, and later founded a group named Time Out. He continued his education at Kent College, then enrolled in mechanical engineering at University College London, where he met Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion, ultimately forming Coldplay. Berryman was the third member to join the band in 1997. They practised along with Buckland and eventually recorded a demo, calling themselves Big Fat Noises by November of that year. Champion completed the performing line-up in 1998. Berryman later dropped out of engineering and enrolled in a seven-year architecture programme at the Bartlett, which he subsequently abandoned to focus on his music career. He worked as a bartender to pay rent. Recording X&Y (2005) and its rollout marked a tumultuous period with frequent arguments, particularly between him and Martin; Berryman mentioned having a drinking problem at that time. He tends to be more critical of song ideas, but has been responsible for starting tracks such as 'Magic' on his own. Berryman formed Apparatjik with Magne Furuholmen, Jonas Bjerre and Martin Terefe in 2008. Their debut single 'Ferreting' was the musical theme of BBC Two's Amazon. They released We Are Here (2010) and later Square Peg in a Round Hole (2012). In 2019, he founded quarterly magazine The Road Rat. In 2020, he launched Applied Art Forms, a fashion brand, and assisted the launch of Bodyhero. In 2023, Applied Art Forms switched to unisex and Berryman released an exclusive jewellery line with Hannah Martin. In 2026, he stepped down as creative director of the brand. He guested on Magne Furuholmen's albums, wrote and co-wrote tracks for The Longest Night in Shanghai soundtrack, and has been a photographer. He founded a producing duo called The Darktones with Rik Simpson and produced albums for other artists. Berryman mostly performs with different models of the Fender Precision

Did You Know?

• Berryman was born on 12 April 1978 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland.
• He founded a group named Time Out during his time at Edinburgh Academy.
• The band that practised with Buckland and recorded a demo was called Big Fat Noises.
• Berryman has a passion for photography and took backstage photos on the Twisted Logic Tour.