22-09-2011, 06:54
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Singer Michael Stipe cut a distinctive figure on stage and had a unique vocal sound
Continue reading the main story Related Stories
Members of legendary US rock band REM have announced they are splitting up after 31 years.
"We have decided to call it a day as a band," the band said. "To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."
The group found fame with a string of albums, notably 90s hits Out of Time and Automatic for the People.
The band's website was briefly unavailable on Wednesday afternoon after the announcement was made.
Continue reading the main story 31 years, 15 albums
Three of REM's albums in the 1990s went quadruple platinum in the US, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The band won three Grammy awards in 1992.
REM's latest album, Collapse into Now, was released in March 2011. It was their 15th studio album.
The group was originally made up of singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry, who left the band in 1997.
"I hope our fans realise this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way," Stipe said as he announced the split.
Asked in a BBC 6 Music interview earlier this year whether every album felt like the band's last, Stipe had said: "I put so much into the work we do that, when I'm done, I feel like I'd never be able to do it again."
In the same interview he said the band had started off without any goals.
"The fact that we were making records and touring felt like this amazing adventure to us. We didn't necessarily want to conquer the world - but then we ended up doing exactly that in some small corner of the universe that belonged to pop music and us."
Everybody hurts REM have often used their music and power as a band to carry a message.
Everybody Hurts from album Automatic for the People, started out as a song to comfort "younger people". Its "don't give up" message has most often been associated with suicide prevention but the song has also been used to mark the Dunblane massacre, Princess Diana's death and more recently the earthquake in Haiti.
In 2009, REM was one of a number of bands to form the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, referring to the US prison in Cuba.
Many of the artists who joined the campaign were angry that their music had reportedly been used as an interrogation tool in the jail.
In a statement, REM said: "We have spent the past 30 years supporting causes related to peace and justice. To now learn that some of our friends' music may have been used as part of the torture tactics without their consent or knowledge, is horrific. It's anti-American, period."
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007
Singer Michael Stipe cut a distinctive figure on stage and had a unique vocal sound Continue reading the main story Related Stories
Members of legendary US rock band REM have announced they are splitting up after 31 years.
"We have decided to call it a day as a band," the band said. "To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."
The group found fame with a string of albums, notably 90s hits Out of Time and Automatic for the People.
The band's website was briefly unavailable on Wednesday afternoon after the announcement was made.
Continue reading the main story 31 years, 15 albums
- 1980: REM formed in Athens, Georgia, by Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill Berry
- 1988: Breakthrough album Green released
- 1991-94: Three biggest albums sell millions and make them international stars
- 1994: Tony Blair names REM as favourite band
- 1997: Berry quits
- 2002: Buck cleared of drunken air rage on British Airways flight
- 2011: Band's 15th and final album Collapse Into Now reaches number 5 on US Billboard
Three of REM's albums in the 1990s went quadruple platinum in the US, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The band won three Grammy awards in 1992.
REM's latest album, Collapse into Now, was released in March 2011. It was their 15th studio album.
The group was originally made up of singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry, who left the band in 1997.
"I hope our fans realise this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way," Stipe said as he announced the split.
Asked in a BBC 6 Music interview earlier this year whether every album felt like the band's last, Stipe had said: "I put so much into the work we do that, when I'm done, I feel like I'd never be able to do it again."
In the same interview he said the band had started off without any goals.
"The fact that we were making records and touring felt like this amazing adventure to us. We didn't necessarily want to conquer the world - but then we ended up doing exactly that in some small corner of the universe that belonged to pop music and us."
Everybody hurts REM have often used their music and power as a band to carry a message.
Everybody Hurts from album Automatic for the People, started out as a song to comfort "younger people". Its "don't give up" message has most often been associated with suicide prevention but the song has also been used to mark the Dunblane massacre, Princess Diana's death and more recently the earthquake in Haiti.
In 2009, REM was one of a number of bands to form the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, referring to the US prison in Cuba.
Many of the artists who joined the campaign were angry that their music had reportedly been used as an interrogation tool in the jail.
In a statement, REM said: "We have spent the past 30 years supporting causes related to peace and justice. To now learn that some of our friends' music may have been used as part of the torture tactics without their consent or knowledge, is horrific. It's anti-American, period."
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007
Nice to be able to go back to trust and friendship!!!!!!!!!
It's a mixed up sensation this being alive
Oh! it wears a man down into the ground
It's the strangest elation
I can't describe it
Oh it leaves a man weary
It makes a man frown..............................Chris Simpson ( "Mixed Up Sensations" 1975 Martin's Cafe )
It's a mixed up sensation this being alive
Oh! it wears a man down into the ground
It's the strangest elation
I can't describe it
Oh it leaves a man weary
It makes a man frown..............................Chris Simpson ( "Mixed Up Sensations" 1975 Martin's Cafe )
