News

Michael will have an essay in the Guardian on Thursday, the 17th of September. Stay tuned for more tomorrow.  

Michael will be a guest on Late Night With Seth Myers this WED 9-16. Tune in tomorrow night for the show which airs 12:35/11:35c on NBC.

Hi from MICHAEL!! I’m excited to work alongside Plan Your Vote, a 2020 artist initiative to promote and empower citizens to exercise their right to vote. Today you should: Register if you haven’t already. Verify your registration if you have any doubt. Check your absentee status if you aren’t sure. Set a reminder in case … Continued

Hi from MICHAEL!! I’m excited to work alongside Plan Your Vote, a 2020 artist initiative to promote and empower citizens to exercise their right to vote.

“Good Music To Avert The Collapse Of American Democracy” is available TODAY ONLY on Bandcamp. R.E.M. is honored to be a part of this compilation album with so many other amazing artists. All net proceeds benefit Fair Fight Action, a great organization working to ensure each citizen’s right to vote. Don’t miss your only chance … Continued

Michael has written a song included in an art exhibition arranged and curated by artist Jonathan Berger. The exhibit is titled “An Introduction to Nameless Love,” and shows at the PARTICIPANT INC gallery in NY from Sept. 9 – Oct. 11. Watch this video clip to learn more about the exhibition and to see a … Continued

R.E.M. is honored to be part of “Good Music To Avert The Collapse Of American Democracy” – a fundraising compilation album that will be available for ONE DAY ONLY this Friday, September 4th on Bandcamp.   The band has contributed a previously unreleased version of “Begin The Begin” from their show at the Hampton Coliseum … Continued

“There’s a handful of people I’ve met in my life who I instantly felt, ‘Ahh, this is gonna be a lifetime friendship, OK, done. Meeting River was like that.”

Watch a very special episode of the LaunchLeft podcast as Rain Phoenix and special guests, Flea, Dermot Mulroney, and Michael Stipe celebrate and remember the life and music of River Phoenix who would have turned 50 on August 23rd.  

Tune in tonight as Michael speaks with Athens-Clarke County, GA Unified Government Mayor Kelly Girtz on a virtual Community Conversation chat between 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. to coincide with the launch of the Athens Music Walk of Fame.

From our dear friend for many years, Michael Plen, radio promotion executive nonpareil and on the side an awesome photographer (he’s making his iconic print available for a limited time at the link below his recollection— and this time it is signed by Berry Buck Mills and Stipe): Aug. 18, 1983 “Shea Stadium. R.E.M. opening … Continued

“I remember sitting at the kitchen table on Little Oconee Street in Athens, (Georgia),” Mills explains. “There’s a turnaround in the song that’s inspired by part of a Simon & Garfunkel song (“Mrs. Robinson”) that I heard, and I started building the song around that. Sometimes the first line is the hardest line and once … Continued

Back in the olden days, helping to plan a tour of Europe was always among the funnest endeavors of my role with the band: way ahead of time, a year or more, always with our agent Bob Gold, in London off in a room with lots of air, great lighting and old (hardcopy) maps.

Continuing celebrations around the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury Festival this year, the band’s historic headline set from the Pyramid Stage in 1999 will be released globally next Thursday (August 6).

Michael & Aaron Dessner catch up with Jonathan Clarke of Q104.3’s Out of the Boxvia Zoom to discuss their song “No Time For Love Like Now” on Q104.3’s Out of the Box …