Michael Stipe: (confirming Bill Berry will be present after leaving the band in 1997 when REM is inducted into the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) Obviously, we're really honored ... and the thought of ourselves and Patti Smith and Grandmaster Flash all being there, it's going to be a very exciting night. Of course, Bill will be there with us, he'll definitely be on stage with us.
R.E.M.'s two music videos "Losing My Religion" was ranked #13 and "Everybody Hurts" was ranked #98 on MTV's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made.
R.E.M. is to be inducted into the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. R.E.M just met the qualifying requirements, which stipulate that artists are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first recording.
R.E.M.'s song "Losing My Religion" was ranked #18 on VH1's 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years.
R.E.M.'s 1983 album Murmur was ranked #92 on VH1's 100 Greatest Albums.
For their appearance on Sesame Street, R.E.M. re-wrote the song "Shiny Happy People" and re-titled it "Furry Happy Monsters." In the episode the band can be seen playing the song with a group of Muppets.
Michael Stipe is the godfather of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.
In 1996 the band re-signed with Warner Brothers a reported $80 million for five albums. At the time it was the largest recording contract advance in history.
During the Monster tour, drummer Bill Berry collapsed on stage during a performance, and had surgery for a brain aneurysm; later on the tour bassist Mike Mills had to undergo abdominal surgery to remove an intestinal adhesion; a month later, singer Michael Stipe had to have an emergency surgery to repair a hernia.
The song "Let Me In" was written about Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. In fact, the guitar used in the song was one of Kurt's favorites that his wife, Courtney Love gave bassest Mike Mills after Kurt's death.
Their seventh album, Out of Time sold more than four million copies in the U.S. and spending two weeks at the top of the US charts.
Their second album, Reckoning was recorded in only twelve days.
When promoting the release, Murmur, the band flew to California and taped a video for "Wolves, Lower", which mainly featured the band synching their performance with the studio recording. Michael Stipe felt he looked foolish, and vowed to never lip-synch in a video again.
Their first show was under the name, Twisted Kites in April 1980, for a friend's birthday at an old converted Episcopalian church.
Their first LP Murmur, was met with wide critical acclaim, and Rolling Stone Magazine calling it the best album of 1983.
Their biggest single was "Losing My Religion," it reached number 4 on the Billboard singles chart.
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