John N. Berry IV, 52, who helped form the Beastie Boys in the early 1980s and who was also a stepson of former Darien Library Director Louise Berry, passed away Thursday at a hospice in Danvers, Mass.
Louise Berry, who worked for Darien Library for 35 years until her retirement several years ago as director, posted pictures of John on Facebook, including the one below of him with his father and brother, with the message:
To all of John N Berry IV‘s friends. Johnny died this morning at a hospice in Mass. As many of you know, he had frontal temporal lobe dementia and had been hospitalized for the last several years. Do something creative in his memory. John N Berry IV May 31, 1963 – May 19, 2016
From left in the photo: Tom Berry (John Berry IV’s brother), John Berry IV, John Berry III (his father)
John Berry III, his father, said his son’s condition had worsened in recent months, according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Berry, who told Spin magazine in 1998 that he may have named the band and was credited by others with naming it, was an original member of it, then left soon after the Beastie Boys’ first album, Pollywog Stew.
Berry attended the Walden School in New York with Mike Diamond. The two formed the band in July 1981, along with Adam Yauch and Kate Schellenbach.
Cover for “Pollywog Stew,” The Beastie Boys first record (1982). John Berry is pictured, second from right.
When the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, they mentioned John Berry helping to form the band and playing at Berry’s loft at 100th Street and Broadway in Manhattan (both to practice and for their first shows). They said they would play until Berry’s father, John Berry III (Louise Berry’s husband) would storm in, screaming for them to “turn that [explitive] [explitive] off, already!”
Caution: the explitives are voiced in this video (starts at 1:07 mark):
John Berry IV was interviewed extensively in this video about the band on Bustle.com:
The family plans a public celebration of his life sometime in the fall, according to an Associated Press report. Louise Berry also posted to Facebook this picture of her step-son:
The caption on Facebook: “John N. Berry IV May 31, 1963 – May 19, 2016 — in Newport, New Hampshire.”