R.E.M.
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Important Dates In The Life Of R.E.M.:
On this day in music
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12
Mar
2022
Stereophonics scored their eighth UK No.1 with their 25th anniversary album Oochya! The achievement made them one of the most successful chart acts of all time, tying with Taylor Swift, Oasis, Kylie Minogue and R.E.M. - who also have had eight chart toppers. The Beatles have the most, with 15, followed by Elvis Presley and Robbie Williams, both of whom have 13.
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24
Mar
2020
American musician Bill Rieflin died age 59. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scenes) such as Ministry, the Revolting Cocks, Swans, Chris Connelly, and Nine Inch Nails. He worked regularly with R.E.M. following the retirement of Bill Berry in 1997. He was a member of King Crimson from 2013 until his death.
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17
Mar
2010
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, Alex Chilton died in hospital of heart problems in New Orleans aged 59. As a teenager Chilton had been a member of The Box Tops who had the 1967 hit 'The Letter' and later in 1971 co-founded the power-pop group Big Star, with Chris Bell. In the 1980s both R.E.M., and the Replacements cited Big Star group as a major influence.
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30
Jun
2007
R.E.M. played a five-night series of shows at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. Dubbed ‘working rehearsals’ by the band, many songs from their forthcoming album ‘Accelerate’ were debuted, with many of them still as works in progress.
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26
Mar
2006
English singer-songwriter and guitarist Nikki Sudden died from a heart attack at the age of 49 after performing at the Knitting Factory in New York City. He co-founded the post-punk band Swell Maps with his brother, Epic Soundtrack. Sudden collaborated with, among others, the Waterboys, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Mick Taylor, Tom Ashton of the March Violets, and members of R.E.M. and Sonic Youth.
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21
Mar
2006
Three South African women whose father, Solomon Linda, wrote ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ in 1939, won a six-year court battle that gave them 25 per cent of all past and future royalties from the song. Linda who was a cleaner at a Johannesburg record company when he wrote the song, received virtually nothing for his work and died in 1962 with $25 in his bank account. The song had been recorded by Pete Seeger (as ‘Wimoweh’), The Kingston Trio, The Tokens, Karl Denver and R.E.M. and was featured in the Disney film The Lion King. It was estimated that the song had earned $15 million for its use in The Lion King alone.
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22
Apr
2003
Songwriter Felice Bryant died of cancer. Wrote many hits with her husband Boudleaux including; The Everly Brothers, 'Bye Bye Love', 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', 'Wake Up Little Susie' and 'Raining In My Heart' a hit for Buddy Holly. Other acts to record their song include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Tony Bennett, Simon And Garfunkel, Sarah Vaughan, Grateful Dead, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Ruth Brown, Cher, R.E.M. and Ray Charles.
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25
Mar
2002
Bono from U2 made a appearance at the air rage trial of R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, telling the court 'I came to court because Peter is actually famously known for being a peaceable person. I once had to twist his arm to get him to a boxing match'. Buck was later cleared of all charges. He had been accused of attacking two cabin staff and covering them in yoghurt, knocking over a trolley and trying to steal a knife.
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21
Apr
2001
R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck was charged by police at Heathrow airport with being drunk on an aircraft and assaulting British Airways crew. Buck was taken into custody after landing on a flight from Seattle and questioned by police for 12 hours.
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17
Oct
1998
UK newspaper the Daily Star ran a story claiming that R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe had admitted that he was gay during an MTV interview shown in the US. Stipe was voicing his disgust at the killing of a young gay student in the US.
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28
Oct
1997
R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry announced that he was leaving the group after 17 years, becoming a farmer.
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23
Jul
1995
Two R.E.M. fans died at Dublin's Slane Castle gig, one drowned in the River Boyne and the other was allegedly pushed from a bridge.
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1
Mar
1995
During a gig at the Patinoire Auditorium in Lausanne, Switzerland, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry collapsed on stage from a ruptured brain aneurysm. He recovered and later re-joined the band.
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19
Nov
1992
R.E.M. played a Greenpeace Benefit show at the 40 watt Club, Athens, Georgia, for 500 people. The show was recorded on a solar powered mobile recording studio.
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10
Oct
1992
R.E.M. scored their second UK No.1 album with 'Automatic For The People', featuring the singles 'Drive', 'Everybody Hurts', 'Man On The Moon' and 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight.'
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5
Mar
1992
R.E.M. cleaned up in The Rolling Stone Music Awards winning Album of the year, for 'Out Of Time', Artist of the year, Best single for 'Losing My Religion', Best video for 'Losing My Religion' and Best band, Best guitarist and Best songwriter awards.
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21
Nov
1991
Aerosmith
made a guest appearance in the Simpsons TV animated comedy. Other acts who have appeared on the show included: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth,
U2, The Moody Blues, The B-52's, The Who, R.E.M., Phish, Blink-182, Metallica, and The White Stripes.
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2
May
1991
The video for the R.E.M. song 'Losing My Religion', was banned in Ireland because its religious imagery was seen as unfit for broadcast.
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23
Mar
1991
R.E.M. scored their first UK No.1 album with their seventh LP Out Of Time featuring the singles 'Losing My Religion' (which became R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the US, reaching No.4), and 'Shiny Happy People.' The video for 'Losing My Religion' won two Grammy Awards and six MTV Awards.
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14
Mar
1991
R.E.M. played the first of two nights at London's Borderline Club under the name of 'Bingo Hand Job.' The group were in the UK promoting their seventh studio album Out of Time and their current single ‘Losing My Religion’.
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28
Nov
1987
R.E.M. had their first entry in the Top 10 on the US singles chart with ‘The One I Love.’
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25
Jun
1987
Songwriter Boudleaux Bryant died. Wrote with his wife Felice, The Everly Brothers hits, 'Bye Bye Love', 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', 'Wake Up Little Susie' and 'Raining In My Heart' a hit for Buddy Holly. Other acts to record their song include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Simon And Garfunkel, Grateful Dead, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Dean Martin, Ruth Brown, Cher, R.E.M. and Ray Charles.
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25
Oct
1985
R.E.M., The Smiths and Tom Waits all appeared on the music TV show The Tube broadcast live from Tyne Tree Television Studios, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
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18
Nov
1983
R.E.M. made their first appearance outside the US when they appeared on Channel 4 UK TV show The Tube. The following night they made their live UK debut when the played at Dingwalls, London.
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20
Aug
1983
Madness, Joan Jett, The Police and R.E.M. all appeared at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.
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18
Aug
1983
The Police plus Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and R.E.M. (their biggest gig to date) all appeared at Shea Stadium, New York City.
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31
May
1982
R.E.M. signed a five-album deal with I.R.S. Records, an independent label based in California.
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30
Jan
1982
Blues singer, songwriter, guitarist Sam Lightnin' Hopkins died of cancer aged 70. In 1968, Hopkins recorded the album Free Form Patterns, backed by the rhythm section of the psychedelic rock band 13th Floor Elevators. Hopkins influenced Bob Dylan, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.
R.E.M. recorded a song named after him on their Document album.
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25
Aug
1981
R.E.M. appeared at The Scorpio, Charlotte, North Carolina. This show was billed as "Charlotte's First Gay New Wave Disco and Costume Party", with the $3 tickets benefitting various gay-lesbian charities.
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8
Feb
1981
R.E.M. made their first ever-recording sessions at Bombay Studios Smyrna, Georgia. Tracks included 'Gardening At Night', 'Radio Free Europe' and '(Don't Go Back To) Rockville.'
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19
Apr
1980
R.E.M. played their first gig as R.E.M. at the 11:11 Koffee Club, Athens, Georgia to 150 people. The show ended at 2am when police closed it down due to the venue being unlicensed.
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5
Apr
1980
R.E.M. played their first ever gig when they appeared at St Mary's Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia. The show at this abandoned church was for a friend's birthday party.
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27
Dec
1978
27-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist Chris Bell was killed in a car accident. Known best as a co-founder of Big Star, the Memphis native inspired the likes of Beck, R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub, Primal Scream, Wilco, The Posies, and The Replacements, all of which have covered his music or name-dropped Big Star in the press.
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10
Nov
1975
Patti Smith released her debut studio album Horses. Produced by John Cale, Horses has since been viewed by critics as one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of the American punk rock movement, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. Horses has also been cited as a key influence on a number of acts, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Smiths, R.E.M. and PJ Harvey.
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5
Aug
1957
American Bandstand first aired on US TV. Dick Clark had replaced Bob Horn the previous year when the show was still called Bandstand, Clark went on to host the show until 1989. Countless acts appeared on the show over the years, including ABBA, The Doors, Talking Heads, Madonna, Otis Redding, R.E.M. and Pink Floyd.
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Ron studdard
May 24, 2019 at 11:44 pm
Its just terrible, that’s all. I haven’t felt this awful since Mick Avery was dismissed from The Kinks.