R.E.M.

The church steeple of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in 2015; this is all that remains of where members of R.E.M. lived briefly and performed their first concert on April 5, 1980

In January 1980, Peter Buck met Michael Stipe in Wuxtry Records, the Athens record store where Buck worked. The pair discovered that they shared similar tastes in music, particularly in punk rock and proto-punk artists like Patti Smith, Television, and the Velvet Underground. Stipe said, "It turns out that I was buying all the records that [Buck] was saving for himself."[5] Through mutual friend Kathleen O'Brien,[6] Stipe and Buck then met fellow University of Georgia students Bill Berry and Mike Mills,[7] who had played music together since high school[8] and had lived together in Georgia.[9] The quartet agreed to collaborate on several songs; Stipe later commented that "there was never any grand plan behind any of it".[5] Their still-unnamed band spent a few months rehearsing in the deconsecrated St. Mary's Episcopal Church on Oconee Street in Athens, and played their first show on April 5, 1980, supporting the Side Effects at O'Brien's birthday party held in the same church, performing a mix of originals and 1960s and 1970s covers.[6] After considering names such as "Cans of Piss", "Negro Eyes", and "Twisted Kites",[6] the band settled on "R.E.M.", which Stipe selected at random from a dictionary.[10] R.E.M. is well known as an abbreviation for rapid eye movement, the dream stage of sleep; however, sleep researcher Rafael Pelayo reports that when his colleague William Dement, the sleep scientist who coined the term REM, reached out to the band, Dement was told that the band was named "not after REM sleep".[11]

Mitch Easter (near left) was R.E.M.'s producer until 1984, helping to define the band's early sound.

The band members eventually dropped out of school to focus on their developing group.[12] They found a manager in Jefferson Holt, a record store clerk who was so impressed by an R.E.M. performance in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that he moved to Athens.[13] R.E.M.'s success was almost immediate in Athens and surrounding areas; the band drew progressively larger crowds for shows, which caused some resentment in the Athens music scene.[14] Over the next year and a half, R.E.M. toured throughout the Southern United States. Touring was arduous because a touring circuit for alternative rock bands did not then exist. The group toured in an old blue van driven by Holt, and lived on a food allowance of $2 each per day.[15]

During April 1981, R.E.M. recorded their first single, "Radio Free Europe", at producer Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Initially distributing it as a four-track demo tape to clubs, record labels and magazines, the single was released in July 1981 on the local independent record label Hib-Tone with an initial pressing of 1,000 copies—600 of which were sent out as promotional copies. The single quickly sold out, and another 6,000 copies were pressed due to popular demand, despite the original pressing leaving off the record label's contact details.[16][6] Despite its limited pressing, the single garnered critical acclaim, and was listed as one of the ten best singles of the year by The New York Times.[17]

R.E.M. recorded the Chronic Town EP with Mitch Easter in October 1981, and planned to release it on a new indie label named Dasht Hopes.[19] However, I.R.S. Records acquired a demo of the band's first recording session with Easter that had been circulating for months.[20] The band turned down the advances of major label RCA Records in favor of I.R.S., with whom they signed a contract in May 1982. I.R.S. released Chronic Town that August as its first American release.[21] A positive review of the EP by NME praised the songs' auras of mystery, and concluded, "R.E.M. ring true, and it's great to hear something as unforced and cunning as this."[22]

I.R.S. first paired R.E.M. with producer Stephen Hague to record their debut album. Hague's emphasis on technical perfection left the band unsatisfied, and the band members asked the label to let them record with Easter.[23] I.R.S. agreed to a "tryout" session, allowing the band to return to North Carolina and record the song "Pilgrimage" with Easter and producing partner Don Dixon. After hearing the track, I.R.S. permitted the group to record the album with Dixon and Easter.[24] Because of their bad experience with Hague, the band recorded the album via a process of negation, refusing to incorporate rock music clichés such as guitar solos or then-popular synthesizers, in order to give its music a timeless feel.[25] The completed album, Murmur, was greeted with critical acclaim upon its release in 1983, with Rolling Stone listing the album as its record of the year.[26] The album reached number 36 on the Billboard album chart.[27] A re-recorded version of "Radio Free Europe" was the album's lead single and reached number 78 on the Billboard singles chart in 1983.[28] Despite the acclaim awarded the album, Murmur sold only about 200,000 copies, which I.R.S.'s Jay Boberg felt was below expectations.[29]

R.E.M. made their first national television appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in October 1983,[30] during which the group performed a new, unnamed song.[31] The piece, eventually titled "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)", became the first single from the band's second album, Reckoning (1984), which was also recorded with Easter and Dixon. The album met with critical acclaim; NME's Mat Snow wrote that Reckoning "confirms R.E.M. as one of the most beautifully exciting groups on the planet".[32] While Reckoning peaked at number 27 on the US album charts—an unusually high chart placing for a college rock band at the time—scant airplay and poor distribution overseas resulted in it charting no higher than number 91 in Britain.[33]

Michael Stipe (left) and Peter Buck (right) on stage in Ghent, Belgium, during R.E.M.'s 1985 tour

The band's third album, Fables of the Reconstruction (1985), demonstrated a change in direction. Instead of Dixon and Easter, R.E.M. chose producer Joe Boyd, who had worked with Fairport Convention and Nick Drake, to record the album in England. The band members found the sessions unexpectedly difficult, and were miserable due to the cold winter weather and what they considered to be poor food;[34] the situation brought the band to the verge of break-up.[35] The gloominess surrounding the sessions worked its way into the context for the album's themes. Lyrically, Stipe began to create storylines in the mode of Southern mythology, noting in a 1985 interview that he was inspired by "the whole idea of the old men sitting around the fire, passing on ... legends and fables to the grandchildren".[36]

They toured Canada in July and August 1985, and Europe in October of that year, including the Netherlands, England (including one concert at London's Hammersmith Palais), Ireland, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and West Germany.[37] On October 2, 1985, the group played a concert in Bochum, West Germany, for the German TV show Rockpalast. Stipe had bleached his hair blond during this time.[38][39] R.E.M. invited California punk band Minutemen to open for them on part of the US tour, and organized a benefit for the family of Minutemen frontman D. Boon who died in a December 1985 car crash shortly after the tour's conclusion.[40] Fables of the Reconstruction performed poorly in Europe and its critical reception was mixed, with some critics regarding it as dreary and poorly recorded.[41] As with the previous records, the singles from Fables of the Reconstruction were mostly ignored by mainstream radio. Meanwhile, I.R.S. was becoming frustrated with the band's reluctance to achieve mainstream success.[42]

For their fourth album, R.E.M. enlisted John Mellencamp's producer Don Gehman. The album, entitled Lifes Rich Pageant (1986), featured Stipe's vocals closer to the forefront of the music. In a 1986 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Peter Buck related, "Michael is getting better at what he's doing, and he's getting more confident at it. And I think that shows up in the projection of his voice."[43] The album improved markedly upon the sales of Fables of the Reconstruction and reached number 21 on the Billboard album chart. The single "Fall on Me" also picked up support on commercial radio.[44] The album was the band's first to be certified gold for selling 500,000 copies.[45] While American college radio remained R.E.M.'s core support, the band was beginning to chart hits on mainstream rock formats; however, the music still encountered resistance from Top 40 radio.[46]

Following the success of Lifes Rich Pageant, I.R.S. issued Dead Letter Office, a compilation of tracks recorded by the band during their album sessions, many of which had either been issued as B-sides or left unreleased altogether. Shortly thereafter, I.R.S. compiled R.E.M.'s music video catalog (except "Wolves, Lower") as the band's first video release, Succumbs.

Scott Litt produced a number of R.E.M.'s albums from the late 1980s to the early to mid-1990s.

Don Gehman was unable to produce R.E.M.'s fifth album, so he suggested the group work with Scott Litt.[47] Litt would be the producer for the band's next five albums. Document (1987) featured some of Stipe's most openly political lyrics, particularly on "Welcome to the Occupation" and "Exhuming McCarthy", which were reactions to the conservative political environment of the 1980s under American president Ronald Reagan.[48] Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote in his review of the album, "'Document' is both confident and defiant; if R.E.M. is about to move from cult-band status to mass popularity, the album decrees that the band will get there on its own terms."[49] Document was R.E.M.'s breakthrough album, and the first single "The One I Love" charted in the Top 20 in the US, UK, and Canada.[27] By January 1988, Document had become the group's first album to sell a million copies.[50] In light of the band's breakthrough, the December 1987 cover of Rolling Stone declared R.E.M. "America's Best Rock & Roll Band".[51]

Frustrated that its records did not see satisfactory overseas distribution, R.E.M. left I.R.S. when its contract expired and signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records.[52] Though other labels offered more money, R.E.M. ultimately signed with Warner Bros.—reportedly for an amount between $6 million and $12 million—due to the company's assurance of total creative freedom. (Jay Boberg claimed that R.E.M.'s deal with Warner Bros. was for $22 million, which Peter Buck disputed as "definitely wrong".)[53] In the aftermath of the group's departure, I.R.S. released the 1988 "best of" compilation Eponymous (assembled with input from the band members) to capitalize on assets the company still possessed.[54] The band's first album from Warner Bros., Green (1988), was recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, and showcased the group experimenting with its sound.[55] The record's tracks ranged from the upbeat first single "Stand" (a hit in the United States),[56] to more political material, like the rock-oriented "Orange Crush" and "World Leader Pretend", which address the Vietnam War and the Cold War, respectively.[57] Green has gone on to sell four million copies worldwide.[58] The band supported the album with their biggest and most visually developed tour to date, featuring back-projections and art films playing on the stage.[59] After the Green World Tour, the band members unofficially decided to take the following year off, the first extended break in the band's career.[60] In 1990, Warner Bros. issued the music video compilation Pop Screen to collect clips from the Document and Green albums, followed a few months later by the video album Tourfilm featuring live performances filmed during the Green World Tour.[61]

R.E.M. reconvened in mid 1990 to record their seventh album, Out of Time. In a departure from Green, the band members often wrote the music with non-traditional rock instrumentation including mandolin, organ, and acoustic guitar instead of adding them as overdubs later in the creative process.[62][63] Released in March 1991, Out of Time was the band's first album to top both the US and UK charts.[27] The record eventually sold 4.2 million copies in the US alone,[64] and about 12 million copies worldwide by 1996.[58] The album's lead single, "Losing My Religion", was a worldwide hit that received heavy rotation on radio, as did the music video on MTV and VH1.[65] "Losing My Religion" was also R.E.M.'s highest-charting single in the US, reaching number four on the Billboard charts.[27] "There've been very few life-changing events in our career because our career has been so gradual," Mills said years later. "If you want to talk about life changing, I think 'Losing My Religion' is the closest it gets".[66] The album's second single, "Shiny Happy People"—one of three songs on the record to feature vocals from Kate Pierson of fellow Athens band the B-52's, was also a major hit, reaching number 10 in the US and number six in the UK.[27] Out of Time garnered R.E.M. seven nominations at the 1992 Grammy Awards, the most nominations of any artist that year. The band won three awards: one for Best Alternative Music Album and two for "Losing My Religion", Best Short Form Music Video and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.[67] R.E.M. did not tour to promote Out of Time; instead, the band played a series of one-off shows, including an appearance taped for an episode of MTV Unplugged[68] and released music videos for each song on the video album This Film Is On. The band also performed "Losing My Religion" with members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Madison, Georgia, at Madison-Morgan Cultural Center as part of MTV's 10th anniversary special.[69]

After spending some months off, R.E.M. returned to the studio in 1991 to record their next album. In late 1992, the band released Automatic for the People. Even though the group had intended to make a harder-rocking album after the softer textures of Out of Time,[70] the somber Automatic for the People "[seemed] to move at an even more agonized crawl", according to Melody Maker.[71] The album dealt with themes of loss and mourning inspired by "that sense of ... turning thirty", according to Buck.[72] Several songs featured string arrangements by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Considered by a number of critics (as well as by Buck and Mills) to be the band's best album,[73] Automatic for the People reached numbers one and two on UK and US charts, respectively, and generated the American Top 40 hit singles "Drive", "Man on the Moon", and "Everybody Hurts".[27] The album would sell over fifteen million copies worldwide.[58] As with Out of Time, there was no tour in support of the album. The decision to forgo a tour, in conjunction with Stipe's physical appearance, generated rumors that the singer was dying or HIV-positive, which were vehemently denied by the band.[71]

After the band released two slow-paced albums in a row, R.E.M.'s 1994 album Monster was, as Buck said, "a 'rock' record, with the rock in quotation marks." In contrast to the sound of its predecessors, the music of Monster consisted of distorted guitar tones, minimal overdubs, and touches of 1970s glam rock.[74] Like Out of Time, Monster topped the charts in both the US and UK.[27] The record sold about nine million copies worldwide.[58] The singles "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and "Bang and Blame" were the band's last American Top 40 hits, although all the singles from Monster reached the Top 30 on the British charts.[27] Warner Bros. assembled the music videos from the album as well as those from Automatic for the People for release as Parallel in 1995.[75]

In January 1995, R.E.M. set out on its first tour in six years. The tour was a huge commercial success, but the period was difficult for the group.[76] On March 1, Berry collapsed on stage during a performance in Lausanne, Switzerland, having suffered a brain aneurysm. He had surgery immediately and recovered fully within a month. Berry's aneurysm was only the beginning of a series of health problems that plagued the Monster tour. Mills had to undergo abdominal surgery to remove an intestinal adhesion in July; a month later, Stipe had to have an emergency surgery to repair a hernia.[77] Despite all the problems, the group had recorded the bulk of a new album while on the road. The band brought along eight-track recorders to capture its shows, and used the recordings as the base elements for the album.[78] The final three performances of the tour were filmed at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia and released in home video form as Road Movie.[79]

R.E.M. re-signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1996 for a reported $80 million (a figure the band constantly asserted originated with the media), rumored to be the largest recording contract in history at that point.[80] The group's 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi debuted at number two in the US and number one in the UK.[27] The five million copies of the album sold were a reversal of the group's commercial fortunes of the previous five years.[81] Critical reaction to the album was mostly favorable. In a 2017 retrospective on the band, Consequence of Sound ranked it third out of R.E.M.'s 15 full-length studio albums.[82] The album is Stipe's favorite from R.E.M. and he considers it the band at their peak.[83] Mills says, "It usually takes a good few years for me to decide where an album stands in the pantheon of recorded work we've done. This one may be third behind Murmur and Automatic for the People.[84] According to DiscoverMusic: "Arguably less immediate and less accessible [...] New Adventures in Hi-Fi is a sprawling, "White Album"-esque affair clocking in at 65 minutes. However, while it required some time and commitment from the listener, the record's contents were rich, compelling and frequently stunning. Accordingly, the album has continued to lobby for recognition and has long since earned its reputation as R.E.M.'s most unsung LP."[85] While sales were impressive, they were below their previous major label records. Time's writer Christopher John Farley argued that the lesser sales of the album were due to the declining commercial power of alternative rock as a whole.[86] That same year, R.E.M. parted ways with manager Jefferson Holt, allegedly due to sexual harassment charges levied against him by a member of the band's home office in Athens.[87] The group's lawyer Bertis Downs assumed managerial duties.[88]

In April 1997, the band convened at Buck's Kauai vacation home to record demos of material intended for the next album. The band sought to reinvent its sound and intended to incorporate drum loops and percussion experiments.[89] Just as the sessions were due to begin in October, Berry decided, after months of contemplation and discussions with Downs and Mills, to tell the rest of the band that he was quitting.[90] Berry told his bandmates that he would not quit if they would break up as a result, so Stipe, Buck, and Mills agreed to carry on as a three-piece with his blessing.[91] Berry publicly announced his departure three weeks later in October 1997. Berry told the press, "I'm just not as enthusiastic as I have been in the past about doing this anymore . . . I have the best job in the world. But I'm kind of ready to sit back and reflect and maybe not be a pop star anymore."[89] Stipe admitted that the band would be different without a major contributor: "For me, Mike, and Peter, as R.E.M., are we still R.E.M.? I guess a three-legged dog is still a dog. It just has to learn to run differently."[91]

After drummer Bill Berry quit in 1997, R.E.M. continued as a trio.

The band cancelled their scheduled recording sessions as a result of Berry's departure. "Without Bill it was different, confusing", Mills later said. "We didn't know exactly what to do. We couldn't rehearse without a drummer."[92] The remaining members of R.E.M. resumed work on the album in February 1998 at Toast Studios in San Francisco.[93] The band ended their decade-long collaboration with Scott Litt and hired Pat McCarthy to produce the record. Nigel Godrich was taken on as assistant producer, and drafted in Screaming Trees member Barrett Martin and Beck's touring drummer Joey Waronker. The recording process was tense, and the group came close to disbanding. Bertis Downs called an emergency meeting in which the band members resolved their problems and agreed to continue as a group.[94] Led by the single "Daysleeper", Up (1998) debuted in the top ten in the US and UK. However, the album was a relative failure, selling 900,000 copies in the US by mid-1999 and eventually selling just over two million copies worldwide.[64] While R.E.M.'s American sales were declining, the group's commercial base was shifting to the UK, where more R.E.M. records were sold per capita than any other country and the band's singles regularly entered the Top 20.[95]

A year after Up's release, R.E.M. wrote the instrumental score to the Andy Kaufman biographical film Man on the Moon, a first for the group. The film took its title from the Automatic for the People song of the same name.[96] The song "The Great Beyond" was released as a single from the Man on the Moon soundtrack album. "The Great Beyond" only reached number 57 on the American pop charts, but was the band's highest-charting single ever in the UK, reaching number three in 2000.[27]

R.E.M. on tour in 2008, with long-time collaborator Scott McCaughey

R.E.M. recorded the majority of their twelfth album Reveal (2001) in Canada and Ireland from May to October 2000.[97] Reveal shared the "lugubrious pace" of Up,[98] and featured drumming by Joey Waronker, as well as contributions by Scott McCaughey (a co-founder of the band the Minus 5 with Buck), and Ken Stringfellow (founder of the Posies). Global sales of the album were over four million, but in the United States Reveal sold about the same number of copies as Up.[99] The album was led by the single "Imitation of Life", which reached number six in the UK.[100] Writing for Rock's Backpages, The Rev. Al Friston described the album as "loaded with golden loveliness at every twist and turn", in comparison to the group's "essentially unconvincing work on New Adventures in Hi-Fi and Up".[101] Similarly, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called Reveal "a spiritual renewal rooted in a musical one" and praised its "ceaselessly astonishing beauty".[102]

In 2003, Warner Bros. released the compilation album and DVD In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 and In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003, which featured two new songs, "Bad Day" and "Animal". At a 2003 concert in Raleigh, North Carolina, Berry made a surprise appearance, performing backing vocals on "Radio Free Europe". He then sat behind the drum kit for a performance of the early R.E.M. song "Permanent Vacation", marking his first performance with the band since his retirement.[103]

R.E.M. released Around the Sun in 2004. During production of the album in 2002, Stipe said, "[The album] sounds like it's taking off from the last couple of records into unchartered R.E.M. territory. Kind of primitive and howling".[104] After the album's release, Mills said, "I think, honestly, it turned out a little slower than we intended for it to, just in terms of the overall speed of songs."[105] Around the Sun received a mixed critical reception, and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard charts.[106] The first single from the album, "Leaving New York", was a Top 5 hit in the UK.[107] For the record and subsequent tour, the band hired a new full-time touring drummer, Bill Rieflin, who had previously been a member of several industrial music acts such as Ministry and Pigface, and remained in that role for the duration of the band's active years.[108] The video album Perfect Square was released that same year.

R.E.M. at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008

EMI released a compilation album covering R.E.M.'s work during its tenure on I.R.S. in 2006 called And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987 along with the video album When the Light Is Mine: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987—the label had previously released the compilations The Best of R.E.M. (1991), R.E.M.: Singles Collected (1994), and R.E.M.: In the Attic – Alternative Recordings 1985–1989 (1997). That same month, all four original band members performed during the ceremony for their induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.[109] While rehearsing for the ceremony, the band recorded a cover of John Lennon's "#9 Dream" for Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, a tribute album benefiting Amnesty International.[110] The song—released as a single for the album and the campaign—featured Bill Berry's first studio recording with the band since his departure almost a decade earlier.[111]

In October 2006, R.E.M. was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.[112] The band was one of five nominees accepted into the Hall that year, and the induction ceremony took place in March 2007 at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The group—which was inducted by Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder—performed three songs with Bill Berry; "Gardening at Night", "Man on the Moon" and "Begin the Begin" as well as a cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog".[113]

Bassist Mike Mills performing in concert in 2008

Work on the group's fourteenth album commenced in early 2007. The band recorded with producer Jacknife Lee in Vancouver and Dublin, where it played five nights in the Olympia Theatre between June 30 and July 5 as part of a "working rehearsal".[114] R.E.M. Live, the band's first live album (featuring songs from a 2005 Dublin show), was released in October 2007.[115] The group followed this with the 2009 live album Live at The Olympia, which features performances from its 2007 residency. R.E.M. released Accelerate in early 2008. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard charts,[116] and became the band's eighth album to top the British album charts.[117] Rolling Stone reviewer David Fricke considered Accelerate an improvement over the band's previous post-Berry albums, calling it "one of the best records R.E.M. have ever made".[118]

R.E.M. onstage in 2008

In 2010, R.E.M. released the video album R.E.M. Live from Austin, TX—a concert recorded for Austin City Limits in 2008. The group recorded its fifteenth album, Collapse into Now (2011), with Jacknife Lee in locales including Berlin, Nashville, and New Orleans. For the album, the band aimed for a more expansive sound than the intentionally short and speedy approach implemented on Accelerate.[119] The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, becoming the group's tenth album to reach the top ten of the chart.[120] This release fulfilled R.E.M.'s contractual obligations to Warner Bros., and the band began recording material without a contract a few months later with the possible intention of self-releasing the work.[121]

On September 21, 2011, R.E.M. announced via its website that it was "calling it a day as a band". Stipe said that he hoped fans realized it "wasn't an easy decision": "All things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way."[122] Long-time associate and former Warner Bros. Senior Vice President of Emerging Technology Ethan Kaplan has speculated that shake-ups at the record label influenced the group's decision to disband.[123] The group discussed breaking up for several years, but was encouraged to continue after the lackluster critical and commercial performance of Around the Sun; according to Mills, "We needed to prove, not only to our fans and critics but to ourselves, that we could still make great records."[124] They were also uninterested in the business end of recording as R.E.M.[125] The band members finished their collaboration by assembling the compilation album Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011, which was released in November 2011. The album is the first to collect songs from R.E.M.'s I.R.S. and Warner Bros. tenures, as well as three songs from the group's final studio recordings from post-Collapse into Now sessions.[126] In November, Mills and Stipe did a brief span of promotional appearances in British media, ruling out the option of the group ever reuniting.[127]

In 2014, Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions was released for Record Store Day.[128] Digital download collections of I.R.S. and Warner Bros. rarities followed. Later in the year, the band compiled the video album box set REMTV, which collected their two Unplugged performances along with several other documentaries and live shows, while their record label released the box set 7IN—83–88, made up of 7-inch vinyl singles.[129] In December 2015, the band members agreed to a distribution deal with Concord Bicycle Music to re-release their Warner Bros. albums.[130] Continuing to maintain their copyright and intellectual property legacies, in March 2016, the band signed a new music publishing administration deal with Universal Music Publishing Group,[131] and a year later, the band members left Broadcast Music, Inc., who had represented their performance rights for their entire career, and joined SESAC.[132] The first release after their new publishing status was the 2018 box set R.E.M. at the BBC. Live at the Borderline 1991 followed for 2019's Record Store Day.

On March 24, 2020, session and touring drummer Bill Rieflin, who contributed on the band's last three records, died of cancer after years of battling the disease.[133]

In September 2021, a full decade after disbanding, Stipe reiterated that the band had no intention of regrouping: "We decided when we split up that that would just be really tacky and probably money-grabbing, which might be the impetus for a lot of bands to get back together."[134]

The group was nominated for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2023.[135]

• Bill Berry – drums, percussion, backing vocals, occasional bass and keyboards (1980–1997; occasional concert appearances with the band 2003–2007)
• Peter Buck – lead guitar, mandolin, banjo, occasional bass, keyboards and drums (1980–2011)
• Mike Mills – bass, keyboards, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals and guitar (1980–2011)
• Michael Stipe – lead vocals, occasional harmonica, percussion and guitar (1980–2011)

• Several publications made by the band, such as album liner notes and fan club mailers, list attorney Bertis Downs and manager Jefferson Holt alongside the four founding band members; the two started working with R.E.M. in the early 1980s and Holt left in 1996.[197][87]

• Buren Fowler – rhythm guitar (1986–1987)
• Peter Holsapple – rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards (1989–1991)
• Scott McCaughey – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, occasional lead guitar and bass (1994–2011)
• Nathan December – rhythm and lead guitar, percussion (1994–1995)
• Joey Waronker – drums, percussion (1998–2002)
• Barrett Martin – percussion (1998)
• Ken Stringfellow – keyboards, bass, backing vocals, occasional rhythm guitar (1998–2005)
• Bill Rieflin – drums, percussion, occasional keyboards and guitar (2003–2011)

• Black, Johnny. Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. Backbeat, 2004. ISBN 0-87930-776-5
• Buckley, David. R.E.M.: Fiction: An Alternative Biography. Virgin, 2002. ISBN 1-85227-927-3
• Gray, Marcus. It Crawled from the South: An R.E.M. Companion. Da Capo, 1997. Second edition. ISBN 0-306-80751-3
• Fletcher, Tony. Remarks Remade: The Story of R.E.M. Omnibus, 2002. ISBN 0-7119-9113-8.
• Platt, John (editor). The R.E.M. Companion: Two Decades of Commentary. Schirmer, 1998. ISBN 0-02-864935-4
• Sullivan, Denise. Talk About the Passion: R.E.M.: An Oral Biography. Underwood-Miller, 1994. ISBN 0-88733-184-X