A young Michael Stipe before he met Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry whom he formed R.E.M with in 1980. They signed for I.R.S Records in 1982 after the release of their debut single 'Radio Free Europe' and the recording of the 'Chronic Town' EP. (wenn)

Released in 1983, 'Murmur' was the band's debut album and was welcomed with a heap of critical acclaim and went to sell around 200,000 copies. It was the beginning of the band as a cult act and was named album of the year by The Rolling Stone.

A further four albums in four years followed on I.R.S starting with 1984's quite brilliant 'Reckoning' and finishing up in 1997 with the the chart break through 'Document', which sold over 1 million copies and featured the worldwide hit single 'The One I Love'.

Following 'Document' R.E.M moved to Warner Bros. and recorded 'Green' (1988) in Nashville, Tennessee. The album saw the band experimenting with their sound and went on to sell 4 million copies. However, following the promotional tour of the record the band took the first prolonged hiatus of their careers.

The band reconvened in 1990 to record new material and released 'Out Of Time' (1991) a year later. The record's lead single 'Losing My Religion' made R.E.M into a true world force with Mike Mills later calling the release "life changing". It also contained the track 'Shiny Happy People' which saw the collaboration with Kate Pierson of fellow Athens' natives The B-52s.

'Out Of Time' was quickly followesd up by the more sombre 'Automatic For The People' in 1992. Featuring several appearances from from Led Zeppelin's John-Paul Jones it is widely considered as the band's best album and featured the songs 'Man On the Moon' and Everybody Hurts'.

Despite the huge success of 'Out Of Time' and 'Automatic For The People' R.E.M did not tour in support of either album. As a result and fueled by Michael Stipe's appearance rumours circulated that the band's front man was dying but these were quickly and vehemently denied by the band. (wenn)

The next few years saw a lot of upheaval for the band with most of it surrounding Bill Berry. In 1995 on the tour to promote 'Monster' (1994) Berry collapsed on stage in Lausanne as a result of a brain aneurysm while Mills and Stipe also suffered from health problems. Despite this the quartet managed to recorded a host of new material while on the road which resulted in 1996's 'New Adventures in Hi-Fi'.

In 1997 during recording sessions in Hawaii Bill Berry announced he was leaving R.E.M but said that he would only quit if the remaining members continued the band in his absence. They did and eventually released 'Up' in 1998. The album failed to live up to previous efforts however, selling only 2 million copies worldwide by mid-1999.

The foolow to 'Up' did not take the form on a studio album but instead saw the band write a soundtrack to the movie 'Man On the Moon', the biopic of off the wall American comedian Andy Kaufman starring Jim Carrey.

At the turn of the millennium after 20 years of making music together R.E.M stood as one of the biggest American acts in the world despite the problems they'd faced in the late 90s. Stipe, Mills and Buck were still going strong and ready to influence a whole new era of musicians and fans. (wenn)

In the first four years of the noughties two new studio albums were released, 'Reveal' (2001) and 'Around' The Sun' (2004). The former was hailed as a glorious return to form after the relative disappointment of 'Adventures In Hi-Fi' and 'Up'.

Mike Mills playing live in 2004. (wenn)

Michael Stipe performing in 2005. (wenn)

Peter Buck looking as young and fresh as ever in 2005. (wenn)

The band have become well known for their politcal campaigning and activism. In 2006 Michael Stipe took part in the 'Bring 'Em Home Now' concert in New York to commerate the three year annoiversary since the US lead invasion of Iraq. The band also backed John Kerry during the 2004 US Presidential campaign. (wenn)

In 2007 R.E.M was one of five acts inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and performed four songs with Bill Berry. The drummer had previously played with his former bandmates several times since 2003 including during the wedding of roadie DeWitt Burton in 2005.

R.E.M in 2008 as they prepare for the release of 'Accelerate'. The trio previosuly roadtested the material during "working rehearsals" in Dublin and started work on the recording in early 2007 with the help of producer Jacknife Lee.

'Accelerate' is released on March 31 in Europe and April 1 in North America. Early listens to the songs show the band returning to the heady days of the 80s with first single 'Supernatural Superserious' already garnering rave reviews.

R.E.M's final album 'Collapse Into Now' was released in 2011 - the same year the American rock band decided to call it a day.