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NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > ALT-ROCKERS R.E.M. BREAK UP ABOUT TEN YEARS TOO LATE
ALT-ROCKERS R.E.M. BREAK UP ABOUT TEN YEARS TOO LATE
September 22 2011
Athens, GA – When they first broke onto the scene in the late 1980’s there was nothing typical about R.E.M. They were odd, eccentric, in an era of dire earnestness. That period was, after all, the dying days of hair metal, the early rise of the boy bands, and the still emerging grunge scene. With their artsy and unusual music and style, R.E.M. was an iconoclast that shouldn’t have been successful.
But they were, very successful in fact.
The band was everywhere for the first half of the 1990’s, riding off success given to them by college kids and eventually breaking through into mainstream. That eventually made the odd little rock band from Georgia into a legend, a wealthy legend, that helped to define the musical landscape of their era and eventually landing them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a sure sign of their influence.
Now though the band is no more, announcing the end of the band on their website almost a decade after anyone bought any music they made.
“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 said in statement on their website.
Most people had assumed that the band had called it quits many years before.
“It’s really sad that they’re gone. I loved them back in the day. I used to listen to them all the time and it’s really sad that they’ve decided to quit,” said one fan, Mike.
“I haven’t listened to them in a long time. I think I still have some old cassettes lying around. Them breaking up makes me want to go back and break them out again. It’s actually sad that they are officially gone now,” said Lori, another fan.
Neither fan has bought an album from the band since 1998’s ‘Up’.
“There was really no reason for R.E.M. to have been successful at all. They caught on
though, almost despite themselves. There is no doubt they were talented but there are a lot of talented bands that don’t catch on. They came on in a period of very little musical innovation and were nothing but innovative, and that should have killed their efforts to be successful,” said Scrape TV Music analyst Dylan Chambers. “It didn’t though. It actually propelled them in ways that few people could have imagined. I’m sure even in their wildest dreams they didn’t think this would happen, but it did. It’s great that they continued to hold onto that dream for all this time. I mean most people would have called it quits by now, but they stuck with it selling little or no albums and playing all their old hits at concerts. You have to admire their determination. I’m sure lots of forty-year olds are going to be very upset, at least for a little while. At least until they have to bring the kids to soccer practice at least.”
The band members reportedly plan to fall further into obscurity in retirement.
Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent
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