Vikkstar123 | ||||||||||
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Born | Vikram Singh Barn 2 August 1995 Guildford, Surrey, England | |||||||||
Education | Silverdale School | |||||||||
Occupations |
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YouTube information | ||||||||||
Also known as | Vikkstar | |||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2010–present | |||||||||
Genres | ||||||||||
Subscribers | 12.1 million (combined) [1] [2] | |||||||||
Total views | 3.8 billion (combined) [1] [2] | |||||||||
Associated acts | Sidemen | |||||||||
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Last updated: 5 April 2023 | ||||||||||
Musical career | ||||||||||
Genres | Electronic music [3] | |||||||||
Years active | 2023–present |
Vikram Singh Barn (born 2 August 1995), better known as Vikkstar123 or simply Vikkstar, is an English influencer and record producer. He is a member of the YouTube group the Sidemen. He is the co-owner of XIX Vodka, Sidemen Clothing, restaurant chain Sides, and cereal brand Best Breakfasts.
Barn is of Indian descent [4] and was born on 2 August 1995 [5] in Guildford, Surrey, England, [6] where he lived until eight years of age. [7] He moved to Sheffield where he attended Silverdale School. [8] Barn was offered a place to study natural sciences at University College London, but he ended up declining the offer in order to pursue his YouTube career full-time. [9] He is the youngest of three children. [10]
Barn joined YouTube in 2010; having played games with his friends, he got into watching YouTubers and making videos of their own. Eventually, he decided to launch his own channel, stating: [11]
I got involved thinking I might be able to do a little bit better than they were doing, and get involved and have some fun with it. I started recording myself playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 . I started making tutorial videos that people could watch – some of them were for knives and how you could throw them across the map. I made videos showing places where you could throw a knife or tomahawk and get a kill. I thought it would be cool to show off these ridiculous kills.
As his popularity increased, he began to take it more seriously, branching out into Minecraft . [11]
In 2013, he joined the Sidemen, which caused his popularity to rise further. [12] He would later move in with three other members, sharing a house with them from 2014 to 2018, when he announced he was moving out of the Sidemen House. [13] [14] He was a member of the Minecraft group the Pack along with JeromeASF, Lachlan, Preston, Woofless, and Bajan Canadian. He was also part of the Dream SMP server. [15] [16]
In January 2021, he announced on his channel that he was quitting playing Call of Duty: Warzone due to a proliferation of cheating, [17] saying hackers would be "the death of the game" if it went unfixed. [18] Along with criticism from several other high-profile streamers, the resulting uproar caused Activision to update the game's anti-cheat software. [19]
On 13 July 2024, Barn appeared in a MrBeast video titled "50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000". [20]
On 5 December 2022, Barn, KSI, and TBJZL released a Christmas-themed charity single titled "Christmas Drillings" under the Sidemen banner featuring Jme, which charted at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. [21] [22]
In 2023, Barn began his music career by releasing singles as a DJ and music producer. [3] On 28 September, Barn released his debut single "Better Off (Alone, Pt. III)" with Alan Walker and Dash Berlin, which charted at number 1 on the Association of Hungarian Record Companies. [23] [24] On 1 December, Barn released "Humans" with Shaun Farrugia. [3]
On 25 April 2024, Barn released "Know Me Better" with Masked Wolf featuring Jme. [25] On 16 August, Barn released "Have It All" with RetroVision and Dyson. [26] On 8 November, Barn released "Where Do I Go" with Nicky Romero, Alpharock, and Oaks. [27]
Barn and the Sidemen have founded multiple businesses throughout their online careers. In 2014 the group launched a clothing brand under the Sidemen Clothing banner. [28] In November 2021, they founded a restaurant chain known as Sides in collaboration with Reef. [29] In October 2022, they launched their own vodka brand known as XIX Vodka. [30] in March 2024, they launched a breakfast cereal brand known as Best Cereal in collaboration with Mornflake. [31]
In January 2021, it was revealed that Barn had invested in the London Royal Ravens, a Call of Duty esports team, speaking of his desire to 'build a blueprint' for the wider popularisation of the sport. [32]
In July 2023, Barn invested in notwoways, an East London sneaker brand owned by fellow YouTuber and friend Callum "Callux" McGinley. [33] [34]
On 3 August 2023, it was announced that Barn would be joining as the new co-founder of British eyewear brand CIRCULR. [35] [36] [37]
In December 2021, Barn announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend. [38] They got married in 2023. [39]
In a Sidemen video released in March 2024, Barn revealed he has Crohn's disease. [40]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Talk to Me | Himself | Uncredited; archival footage | [41] |
2023 | KSI: In Real Life | Documentary | [42] | |
The Naughty List | The Baker | Short Film | [43] | |
2024 | The Sidemen Story | Himself | Documentary | [44] |
Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | The Sidemen Experience | Himself | Comedy Central UK | Main role; 5 episodes | [45] |
2016–2017 | YouTube Rewind | YouTube | Episode: "The Ultimate 2016 Challenge" Episode: "The Shape of 2017" | [46] [47] | |
2018 | The Sidemen Show | YouTube Premium | Main role; 7 episodes | [48] | |
2020 | How To Be Behzinga | YouTube | 1 episode | [49] | |
2024 | The Chase: Sidemen Edition | The Chaser | Special Spin-Off Episode | [50] | |
Inside | Host | Reality Show created by the Sidemen | [51] |
Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | The Wheel | Himself / Celebrity expert (Gaming) | BBC One | Series 1, episode 6 | [52] |
Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | "Manchild" | Randolph | Himself | [53] |
2022 | "Don't Lie" | A1 x J1 featuring Nemzzz | Himself | [54] |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HUN [24] | MLT [55] | NOR [56] | ||||||
"Better Off (Alone, Pt. III)" [57] (with Alan Walker and Dash Berlin) | 2023 | 1 | — | 30 | Walkerworld [a] | |||
"Humans" [59] (with Shaun Farrugia) | — | 1 | — | Non-album singles | ||||
"Know Me Better" [60] (with Masked Wolf featuring Jme) | 2024 | — | — | — | ||||
"Have It All" [26] (with RetroVision and Dyson) | — | — | — | |||||
"Where Do I Go" [61] (with Nicky Romero, Alpharock, and Oaks) | — | — | — | |||||
"—" denotes single that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [62] | UK Ind. [63] | IRE [64] | NZ Hot [65] | |||
"Christmas Drillings" [66] (as part of Sidemen featuring Jme) | 2022 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 7 |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Barcelona (Vikkstar remix)" (with Alan Walker and Ina Wroldsen) | 2024 | Barcelona (Remixes) |
Title | Year | Director(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
As lead artist | |||
"Better Off (Alone, Pt. III)" (with Alan Walker and Dash Berlin) | 2023 | Mads Neset | [68] |
"Humans" (with Shaun Farrugia) | Troy Roscoe | [69] | |
"Know Me Better" (with Masked Wolf featuring Jme) | 2024 | Guy Davies | [70] |
As featured artist | |||
"Christmas Drillings (as part of Sidemen featuring Jme) | 2022 | Konstantin | [71] |
Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | NME Awards | Vlogger of the Year | Himself | Nominated | [72] |
2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Gamer | Himself | Nominated | [73] |
2017 | British Book Awards | Non-Fiction: Lifestyle Book of the Year | "Sidemen: The Book" (shared with the Sidemen) | Nominated | [74] |
2019 | Shorty Awards | Best YouTube Ensemble | Himself (shared with the Sidemen) | Nominated | [75] |
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