Michael Stipe selected the name R.E.M. at random from what kind of book?

Michael Stipe selected the name R.E.M. at random from a dictionary. The choice was made while Stipe, Peter Buck, Bill Berry, and Mike Mills were forming the Athens, Georgia, band around 1980.

The initials were not originally chosen as a reference to sleep science. R.E.M. is also the standard abbreviation for “rapid eye movement,” the phase of sleep associated with vivid dreaming, but the band’s name came from Stipe’s random selection rather than a deliberate explanation of the acronym.

Before settling on R.E.M., the group reportedly considered several much less practical names, including “Cans of Piss” and “Twisted Kites.” The dictionary story is therefore a useful reminder that the famous name was essentially an accidental find. The band played its first show on April 5, 1980, and soon became one of the most influential American alternative-rock groups.