- Posted by: Erin
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- Sep 22, 2011
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R.E.M. calls it quits
The show will not go on for the alt-rock band R.E.M., as they made an official announcement Wednesday, that they have split up after 31 years together.
The group, which consisted of singer Michael Stipe, 51, guitarist Peter Buck, 54, and bassist Mike Mills, 52, made the news public via a statement on their website, reports Rolling Stone. Drummer Bill Berry who was originally in the band, ended up leaving in 1997.
In the statement, the band said, “As lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality and of astonishment at all we have accomplished.”
Regarding the band’s breakup, bassist Mike Mills wrote on their website, “We feel kind of like pioneers in this. There’s no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We’ve made this decision together, amicably and with each other’s best interests at heart. The time just feels right.”
With over three decades of music making, the band pumped out some pretty classic and memorable albums (15 total in the span of their career). Among them, Murmur, Automatic for the People, Monster, and their latest Collapse Into Now (released in March 2011).
The group is rumored to already have a greatest hits compilation in the works that will cover the whole three decades they were together, including new and unheard tracks.
So for now, it looks like the end of R.E.M. as we know it…I guess fans everywhere will have their greatest hits to look forward to, and who knows, maybe a possible reunion tour in the future? I guess we’ll see!
