After 31 years together, the Athens, GA–based band R.E.M. has announced it is breaking up. Here are some highlights of the group’s career:
1980: The band selects the name R.E.M. after deciding Really Excellent Music is a little too straightforward
1983: Really start getting into themselves after a friend lets them borrow a copy of their debut album Murmur and it sounds like no rock music they’ve ever heard before
1984: The group shares a collective ironic laugh over the picture of a baby angel smoking on the cover of Van Halen’s 1984
1994: Kurt Cobain lists Michael Stipe as one of his biggest influences seconds before shooting himself in the face
2004: R.E.M. and John Kerry begin appearing together at campaign events, with both sadly believing the association will boost their popularity
2007: After entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, band members agree to stay together another four years so it won’t be obvious they were just holding out for induction
2011: The band books the Staples Center for a future reunion concert, for which Michael Stipe has prepared a long speech about his lifelong love of showbiz and razzle-dazzle
