Robert Sweet

Robert Lee Sweet (born March 21, 1960) is an American musician, drummer, and co-founder of the heavy metal band Stryper. Sweet initiated the band that would become Stryper while still a teenager, later recruiting his younger brother Michael Sweet — who was around 13 at the time — and establishing the group's musical and visual identity from the outset. He is widely known as Stryper's "Visual Time Keeper", a title he coined himself. Writing in Billboard, critic Ethlie Ann Vare described Sweet as "easily the most interesting aspect of the show" at a December 1984 Stryper concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Robert's drumming and stage presence would go on to define much of Stryper's visual identity (see Visual identity and performance below).

Sweet's interest in drumming began in early childhood. He cites a stop at a club during a trip to Las Vegas when he was 10 years old as a defining moment. A blue sparkle Ludwig drum set caught his attention and he "fell in love". Sweet attended Pioneer High School in Whittier, California. During high school, instead of participating in a traditional school music program like marching band, he worked with the school's music director to put together a rock band. He is a self-taught drummer, honing his craft playing along with other drummers while developing his style at the same time. After high school he went to college to study music but left after a month. At the age of 15, in April 1975, Sweet became a Christian, an outgrowth of a lifelong belief in God.