R.E.M. have announced a harmonious split after three decades, 15 albums and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band led by queer vocalist and activist Michael Stipe formed in 1980 and helped pioneer the indie music scene in the US. A statement on R.E.M's website reads: "To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. "We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." Stipe added: "A wise man once said - 'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it." He said he felt the band's final album Collapse Into Now drew a natural line under their work and said the break up has not been caused by any hard feelings between the members. "There's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart. The time just feels right." Stipe has been questioned about his sexuality throughout his career to media who tried to fit him into a 'gay' box, and has always described himself as 'queer'. In 1992 he confronted rumours he had contracted HIV with the following statement: "I wore a hat that said 'White House Stop AIDS'. I'm skinny. I've always been skinny, except in 1985 when I looked like Marlon Brando, the last time I shaved my head. I was really sick then. Eating potatoes. I think AIDS hysteria would obviously and naturally extend to people who are media figures and anybody of indecipherable or unpronounced sexuality. Anybody who looks gaunt, for whatever reason. Anybody who is associated, for whatever reason - whether it's a hat, or the way I carry myself - as being queer-friendly."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 22nd September 2011 - 11:34am