R.E.M.

R.E.M. were a rock band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980, comprising vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry. One of the most important and influential acts in the history of alternative rock, they pioneered a jangly, college-radio-oriented sound in the early 1980s that helped define American indie rock, then evolved into one of the world's biggest bands in the 1990s while maintaining artistic integrity and political engagement. Their debut EP *Chronic Town* (1982) and debut album *Murmur* (1983) — spare, atmospheric guitar-pop records with Buck's arpeggiated Rickenbacker and Stipe's deliberately obscured mumbled vocals — arrived fully formed and unlike anything else in American rock. *Reckoning* (1984), *Fables of the Reconstruction* (1985), and *Life's Rich Pageant* (1986) built a devoted cult following through constant touring and college radio. *Document* (1987) brought mainstream breakthrough and the political broadside 'The One I Love.' Signing to Warner Bros., *Green* (1988) and *Out Of Time* (1991) — the latter featuring 'Losing My Religion' and 'Everybody Hurts,' two of the decade's most resonant ballads — made them genuine global stars. *Automatic For The People* (1992) is widely regarded as their masterpiece: a dark, orchestral, deeply melancholic record built around mortality and quiet devastation, featuring 'Drive,' 'Man on the Moon,' 'Nightswimming,' and 'Find the River.' *Monster* (1994) was a deliberate pivot to distorted glam-rock, and Berry's retirement following a brain aneurysm in 1995 marked the beginning of a new phase. *New Adventures In Hi-Fi* (1996), *Up* (1998), *Reveal* (2001), and *Around The Sun* (2004) were more uneven, though *Accelerate* (2008) and *Collapse Into Now* (2011) were celebrated as energetic late-career returns. They disbanded amicably in 2011 after 31 years. Stipe's lyrical opaqueness, Buck's chiming guitar, and their commitment to progressive causes made R.E.M. a template for politically and artistically serious rock music across their entire career.