BURBANK, CA (Warner Bros. Records) -- The original line-up of beloved, Grammy Award-winning alternative rock band
R.E.M. -- vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist
Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry -- has been selected as a 2007 nominee for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which honors legendary performers who have made rock and roll a cultural force for decades.
To be eligible for nomination, performers must have released their first single or album at least 25 years before the year of nomination. Formed in Athens, GA, in 1980, R.E.M. released its debut single "Radio Free Europe" in 1981, which despite the fact that only 1,000 copies were pressed, topped the Village Voice's year-end poll of Best Independent Singles. It was followed by an EP, the jangling "Chronic Town," in 1982, and the critically acclaimed full-length "Murmur" in 1983, which Rolling Stone named Album of the Year -- an impressive feat for an unknown college band.
R.E.M. went on to release 12 more studio albums and sell more than 70 million albums, making them one of the most critically and commercially successful bands of all time. In addition to topping the charts with 1991's "Out of Time," 1992's "Automatic For the People," 1994's "Monster," and 1996's "New Adventures in Hi-Fi," R.E.M. has racked up three Grammy Awards, countless hit singles including "Losing My Religion," "The One I Love," "Everybody Hurts," "Man on the Moon," "Drive," and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?," six Rolling Stone covers, numerous MTV Video Music Awards, and a host of humanitarian awards. They have performed benefit concerts for Moveon.org, Live 8, Make Trade Fair, Vote For Change, and the Bridge School, among many others. Throughout their 26-year career, R.E.M. has served as an inspiration for a generation of alternative rock bands; last year they were named CMJ's most influential band of the past 25 years.
Of the nine finalists for induction into the Hall of Fame, R.E.M. is the only newly eligible nominee. More than 500 voters, including other musicians, past inductees, industry executives, and music journalists, will select five of the nine nominated artists for induction. The winners will be announced in January, followed by the annual ceremony in New York City on March 12, 2007.
Stipe, Mills, and Buck will return to the studio early next year to begin recording a new album, their first since 2004's "Around the Sun."
