Vikkstar
Early life and education
Barn is of Indian descent and was born on 2 August 1995 in Guildford, Surrey, England, where he lived until eight years of age. He moved to Sheffield where he attended Silverdale School. 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. He is the youngest of three children.
Online career
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:
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.
In 2013, he joined the Sidemen, which caused his popularity to rise further. 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. He was also part of the Dream SMP server.
In January 2021, he announced on his channel that he was quitting playing Call of Duty: Warzone due to a proliferation of cheating, saying hackers would be "the death of the game" if it went unfixed. Along with criticism from several other high-profile streamers, the resulting uproar caused Activision to update the game's anti-cheat software.
Music career
On 5 December 2022, Barn, KSI, and TBJZL released a Christmas-themed single titled "Christmas Drillings" under the Sidemen banner featuring British rapper Jme, which charted at number 3 in the UK.
In 2023, Barn started releasing music as a DJ and music producer. On 28 September 2023, Barn released a single with Alan Walker and Dash Berlin titled "Better Off (Alone, Pt. III)" on digital platforms.
His second single, "Humans", featuring Shaun Farrugia, was released on 1 December 2023.
Other ventures
Investment
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.
In July 2023, Barn invested in notwoways, an East London sneaker brand owned by fellow YouTuber and friend Callum "Callux" McGinley.
CIRCULR
On 3 August 2023, it was announced that Barn would be joining as the new co-founder of British eyewear brand CIRCULR.
Personal life
In December 2021, Barn announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend. They got married in 2023.
In a Sidemen video released in March 2024, Barn revealed he suffers from Crohn's disease.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | KSI: In Real Life | Himself | Documentary; Cameo | |
| 2024 | The Sidemen Story | Documentary |
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Sidemen Experience | Himself | Comedy Central UK | Main role; 5 episodes | |
| 2016–2017 | YouTube Rewind | YouTube | Episode: "The Ultimate 2016 Challenge" Episode: "The Shape of 2017" |
||
| 2018 | The Sidemen Show | YouTube Premium | Main role; 7 episodes | ||
| 2020 | How To Be Behzinga | YouTube | 1 episode | ||
| 2024 | The Chase: Sidemen Edition | The Chaser | Special Spin-Off Episode | ||
| Inside | Host | Reality Show created by the Sidemen |
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Wheel | Himself / Celebrity expert (Gaming) | BBC One | Series 1, episode 6 |
| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | "Manchild" | Randolph | Himself | |
| 2022 | "Don't Lie" | A1 x J1 featuring Nemzzz | Himself |
Discography
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUN |
MLT |
NOR | ||||||
| "Better Off (Alone, Pt. III)" (with Alan Walker and Dash Berlin) |
2023 | 1 | — | 30 | Walkerworld | |||
| "Humans" (with Shaun Farrugia) |
— | 1 | — | Non-album singles | ||||
| "Know Me Better" (with Masked Wolf featuring Jme) |
2024 | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes single that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||
Charity singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK |
UK Ind. |
IRE |
NZ Hot | |||
| "Christmas Drillings" (as part of Sidemen featuring Jme) |
2022 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 7 |
|
Music videos
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| As lead artist | |||
| "Better Off (Alone, Pt. III)" (with Alan Walker and Dash Berlin) |
2023 | Mads Neset | |
| "Humans" (with Shaun Farrugia) |
Troy Roscoe | ||
| "Know Me Better" (with Masked Wolf featuring Jme) |
2024 | Guy Davies | |
| As featured artist | |||
| "Christmas Drillings (as part of Sidemen featuring Jme) |
2022 | Konstantin | |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | NME Awards | Vlogger of the Year | Himself | Nominated | |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Gamer | Himself | Nominated | |
| 2017 | British Book Awards | Non-Fiction: Lifestyle Book of the Year | "Sidemen: The Book" (shared with the Sidemen) | Nominated | |
| 2019 | Shorty Awards | Best YouTube Ensemble | Himself (shared with the Sidemen) | Nominated |