R.E.M. Give First Group Interview In Almost 30 Years
R.E.M., the band that basically invented American indie rock, officially broke up in 2011, and all four members have evidently been happy to go off and pursue their own projects in the years since then. A few months ago, all four members of the band got back together onstage in their Athens, Georgia hometown, with all of them popping up to support Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy’s set of R.E.M. covers. Now, all four of them have come together to give their first group interview in decades.
Tomorrow, R.E.M. will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame — part of a class that also includes Steely Dan, Timbaland, Hillary Lindsey, and Dean Pitchford. (SZA and Diane Warren are also getting awards.) Tonight in New York, Michael Stipe is doing an onstage Tribeca Talks interview with Janeane Garofalo, and he’ll supposedly discuss matters like his long-rumored solo album. And tomorrow, all four of them will be on CBS Mornings talking to anchor Anthony Mason.
In a preview of tomorrow’s interview, these four guys — Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry — all look nice and relaxed with one another, and they permit themselves to indulge in just a little bit of pride. Check it out below.
UPDATE: In the full interview, R.E.M. reiterated that they’ll never reunite. Then they reunited.
