REM

R.E.M. is a rock band formed in Athens, Georgia in early 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and vocalist Michael Stipe. more...

Throughout the 1980s, the band worked relentlessly, releasing records every year from their debut EP in 1982 through Green in 1988. They also toured constantly, playing a variety of venues, from theaters to backwoods dives. Along the way, they inspired countless bands, from jangle pop groups of the mid-80s to alternative rock bands of the 90s. At the same time, the band was admired for its slow, steady rise to stardom, unique in an industry that grew to expect overnight success.

The band's politics, aesthetics, and hardworking ethos - largely inspired by punk rock and art rock of the 1970s - allowed the band to establish itself as a key element of the burgeoning alternative rock scene of the late-80s. With major label success at the turn of the 90s, the band found themselves able to put forth political and environmental concerns from within a popular music scene that often chose not to take a stand.

History

Formation (1980-1982)

R.E.M. formed at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, in January 1980. Discovering they had similar tastes, vocalist Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960 in Decatur, Georgia) and guitarist Peter Buck (born December 6, 1956 in Berkeley, California) began working together, eventually meeting bassist Mike Mills (born December 17, 1958 in Orange County, California) and drummer Bill Berry (born July 31, 1958 in Duluth, Minnesota). In April 1980, the band formed under the name Twisted Kites to play a birthday party for their friend Kathleen O'Brien, rehearsing a number of garage, psychedelic bubblegum, and punk covers in a converted Episcopalian church. By the summer, the band had settled on the name R.E.M. after flipping randomly through the dictionary. Around the same time, the band met Jefferson Holt, who became their manager after witnessing the group's first out-of-state concert in North Carolina. Eventually, the band members dropped out of school to concentrate on their musical career.

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