R.E.M. Biography

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

Throughout the 1980s, the band worked relentlessly, releasing a record a year for seven consecutive years, from their debut EP in 1982 (Chronic Town) through 1988's Green. 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, rare in an industry that grew to expect overnight success.

R.E.M.'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 1980s. 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.