Here’s something that could stop a man from losing his religion: R.E.M. reunited for the first time in over 15 years. The highly influential alternative-rock band performed an acoustic “Losing My Religion” during their Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony, with Michael Stipe on vocals, Mike Mills on acoustic guitar, Peter Buck on mandolin, and Bill Berry on bongos and percussion. It was R.E.M.’s first performance since 2008, and Berry’s first performance with his bandmates in even longer. The set came after Mills told CBS This Morning it would take “a comet” for R.E.M. to reunite in a rare group interview. Can someone check if anything odd landed outside the venue?
R.E.M. joined fellow inductees Steely Dan, Timbaland, Hillary Lindsey, and Dean Pitchford in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Fellow Georgia singer-songwriter Jason Isbell inducted the band, performing “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” “Writing songs and having a catalogue 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,” Stipe said, per Pitchfork. “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.”
