Born on January 4: Michael Stipe, the leader of R.E.M. officiated at the wedding of Kurt Cobain's daughter
It was at university that Michael Stipe met Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry, with whom he founded R.E.M. in 1980. The four friends chose the name after a few months of reflection, in reference to rapid movements of the eye during sleep. Michael was 20 years old, he loved alternative rock and was determined to make it his profession. He will be the face of the group, both singer and lyricist.
Their first album was released in 1983 and was quickly considered by the bible of rock "Rolling Stone" magazine as the album of the year. R.E.M. played concert after concert, travelling at the time in their minibus and dividing the royalties of their songs equally between the group’s members, regardless of the author and the composer. A democratic way of functioning that says a lot about the friendship that unites the four.
Although the critics liked them, they had to wait about ten years to achieve popular success. In 1988, "Green" sold more than two million copies and was followed by an extensive tour. The success was confirmed two years later as "Out of Time", their seventh album, sold twenty million copies. It contains one of the band's landmark hits: "Losing My Religion". Two years later, "Automatic for the People" achieved the same success, including "Everybody Hurts".
Passionate about photography, the singer is also a fan of cinema and devotes himself to his other passion by producing several films, such as "In the Shoes of John Malkovich". However, he did not abandon the band, since the albums followed one another, after a move to the United Kingdom (where their fans were particularly numerous) and the departure of Bill Berry.
In 2011, the band broke up and Michael focused on his personal projects, especially photography. Godfather to Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, he recently had the honor of officiating at her wedding, in the greatest discretion.
(CMa/ML - Photo: Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Michael Stipe of R.E.M. backstage at the Torhout Festival (Belgium) on July 1, 1989