Michael Stipe announced that the musical group R.E.M. had disbanded in 2011.
R.E.M. formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 with Stipe as lead singer, Peter Buck on guitar, Mike Mills on bass, and Bill Berry on drums. The band became one of the most influential American alternative-rock acts of the 1980s and 1990s, helping bring college rock into the mainstream.
Their best-known songs include “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts,” “Man on the Moon,” and “The One I Love.” R.E.M. announced its breakup on September 21, 2011, explaining that the members had reached the decision together and wanted to end the band on their own terms.
The final studio album, Collapse into Now, had been released earlier that year. A common mistake is saying the group ended when drummer Bill Berry left in 1997; R.E.M. continued as a three-piece until its official dissolution in 2011. The band's name is usually styled with periods as R.E.M.