Watch: R.E.M. Takes Stage For First Iconic Performance In Over 15 Years
On Thursday morning, the original members of R.E.M. reunited for their first joint interview in almost 30 years ahead of being inducted into the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Speaking with CBS's Anthony Mason, who was fortunate enough to land the band's only interview, the four members said that although they appreciated being honored and the various tributes from some of music's best that was expected to take place later that night, it would have to "take getting hit by a comet" for the band to all perform together for one more time.
I'm no astronomer, but someone may want to look into what occurred Thursday night, because all 4 R.E.M. members ended up taking the stage and playing for the first time in 17 years with an acoustic rendition of their hit "Losing My Religion" - and they sounded great!
R.E.M. SOLD OVER 90 MILLION ALBUMS IN THE 80'S AND 90'S
R.E.M. is one of those bands that sometimes people forget about when talking about some of the greats - but the numbers and the songs tell otherwise. They have a ton of great songs - including "Losing My Religion," "Stand," the guaranteed-to-make-you-ponder-your-life "Everybody Hurts," "The One I Love," "Man on the Moon" and, of course, the drunk karaoke go to "It's The End of the World as We Know It."
Country star Jason Isbell said it best when he introduced the band on stage by saying, "Nobody sounds like R.E.M., even now, and it ain’t for lack of trying. R.E.M. moved like a single instrument and the songs they created served a real purpose for kids like me growing up in a small Southern town."
Isbell would later try to do his best in performing "It's the End of the World…" to which he joked afterward that he's never said so many words in such a short period of time. Hey Jason - as long as you hit the "LEONARD BERNSTEIN…" and the "Right? RIGHT!" part - you're all good!
Perhaps the reason R.E.M. gets overlooked in daily conversation is because when the group broke up they did so amicably - there wasn't any real drama, they sold 90 million records at the time and wanted to do something else.
"Writing songs and having a catalog of work that we’re all proud of that is out there for the whole world for the rest of time is hands down the most important aspect of what we did as a band," R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe said at the event. "Second to that is that we managed to do so for all these decades and remain friends, and not just friends but dear friends, friends for life."
Unfortunately for music fans like myself who weren't in attendance at the award ceremony and never saw R.E.M. live (I did see Tom Petty though, before he passed away - thank God!) Stipe says that this is once again the end for the band.
Essentially, "It's the end of R.E.M. as we know it," and we're all supposed to feel fine whether we want to or not. But hey, at least we can get their whole catalog at the ease of our fingertips on Spotify - so go listen to some of their iconic jams now!