R.E.M. play for the first time in over a decade, and probably the last time
The titans of ‘90s “alternative” rock, R.E.M., were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at New York’s Marriott Marquis Hotel on Thursday and did something they previously suggested would never happen: play together.
The group appeared on CBS News in a rare interview earlier this week and said as much. It would take “a comet,” Mike Mills suggested, or “super glue” as per Bill Berry for them to get back together again. The thinking was because “it’d never be as good,” according to Peter Buck. But despite that splash of cold water, the multi-platinum-selling band went back on their word and did, indeed, pick up their instruments and play perhaps their most famous song, “Losing My Religion” at the Hall of Fame ceremony. It was their first public performance since 2008.
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The three-time Grammy-winning group broke up in September 2011, after years of rumors. (I’m old enough to remember a time when the word was that December 31, 1999, was gonna be the big finish.) The original drummer, Bill Berry, left the band in late 1997 after he suffered a brain aneurysm. (Different drummers, including Joey Waronker and Bill Rieflin filled in on tours and albums as hired guns.) In the interim years, Berry has worked on a hay farm in Georgia, while bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills and guitarist Peter Buck have remained active in the music industry. Lead singer Michael Stipe has been involved in independent film production, but he hasn’t done much on that side of things since the band ended.
In New York on Thursday, however, after Jason Isbell performed “It’s The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” Stipe, speaking on behalf of the group, said, “Writing songs and having a catalog of work that we’re all proud of, that is out there for the rest of the world for all time, is hands-down the most important aspect of what we did. Second to that is that we managed to do so all those decades and remain friends. And not just friends, dear friends.”
He continued, “We are four people that very early on decided that we would own our own masters and we would split our royalties and songwriting credits equally,” adding “All for one, one for all.” After listing a number of music industry names and offering thanks, he concluded “Here’s what we did,” before they played one final time.
Luckily some people in the audience had their cell phones with them.
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