Today is a really sad day for fans of indie and alternative rock. R.E.M. announced via their website last night that they would be breaking up.  This statement was posted by the band: "To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and 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.  To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."  The band also released individual statements about the break-up on their website. For those old enough to remember, R.E.M. shook the airwaves in the late-eighties as perhaps the first "college" or "alternative" band to recieve radio play and love from MTV.  They ushered in a new generation of fans who had grown tired of hair metal, and ballad pop, exposing the masses to a new sound as well as ushering in a new wave of artists like the Replacements and Husker Du.  While they were inevitably lumped into the "grunge" scene, R.E.M. was so much more than that; an eclectic band that stood out all on their own.  You know your something special if Thom Yorke and Kurt Cobain worship your band.  I'll always remember the video for "Everybody Hurts", and how crushingly moving the song and that video were.  I was hooked thereafter.  I suggest that everybody listen to a few songs by R.E.M today in tribute to one of the best bands of the last twenty years.


R.E.M. "Oh My Heart" by Warner Music Group DE