Varg Vikernes (born 11 February 1973) is a Norwegian musician and writer. In Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, director Sam Dunn described Vikernes as "the most notorious metal musician of all time".
Vikernes was born in Bergen, Norway. In 1991, he founded the one-man music project Burzum, which quickly became popular within the early Norwegian black metal scene. In 1992, he joined the band Mayhem and adopted the stage name Count Grishnackh. Around this time he became affiliated with the Heathen Front and had several writings on Germanic neopaganism published.
In 1994, Vikernes was convicted of the murder of his Mayhem bandmate Øystein Aarseth, known by his stage name Euronymous. Vikernes was further convicted of four counts of arson involving the burnings of historic churches, and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. Having served almost 15 years of his sentence, Vikernes was released on parole in early 2009.
In 2009, Vikernes changed his name to a French name that is currently unknown to anyone outside his family.