REM

Credits: Far Out / Alamy

Members

Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill Berry

Genre

Alternative Rock, College Rock, Folk Rock

Formed

1980

Hometown

Athens, Georgia, USA

Top Tracks

‘Losing My Religion’, ‘Everybody Hurts’, ‘Man on the Moon’, ‘The One I Love’, ‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’, ‘Nightswimming’

Top Albums

‘Murmur’, ‘Document’, ‘Out of Time’, ‘Automatic for the People’, ‘Monster’

Records Sold

Over 90 million records worldwide

Number Ones

Six UK number-one albums and two US number-one albums

Fun Facts

REM were almost asked to record the theme song for Friends, but declined, leading to The Rembrandts’ “I’ll Be There For You” instead. REM signed an eighty-million-dollar record deal. In 1996, Warner Bros. paid them this staggering amount to renew their contract. At the time, this stood as the most expensive recording contract in music history. “Everybody Hurts” was written to save lives. Specifically, the band wanted to write a straightforward anthem for teenagers who felt suicidal.

Related Artists

Pixies, U2, The Smiths, Radiohead, Pavement, Sonic Youth, The Replacements

REM were an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry.

Emerging from the US college rock scene, the group became one of the most influential bands of their generation through a distinctive blend of jangly guitars, introspective songwriting and enigmatic lyrics. Albums including Murmur, Document, Out of Time and Automatic for the People helped establish REM as global stars, while songs such as ‘Losing My Religion’, ‘Everybody Hurts’, ‘Man on the Moon’ and ‘The One I Love’ became defining anthems of alternative rock.

With more than 90 million records sold worldwide and multiple Grammy Awards, REM remain one of the most acclaimed and influential bands in modern music history.