News of the break up of the once popular R.E.M. landed in the No 11 spot in our top 11 break-up stories of 11 countdown. Here it is: (Gibson) R.E.M. have decided to "call it a day as a band." After 30 years together, singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills have had enough. Founding drummer Bill Berry left in the mid-'90s.
In their own words: The guys share their thoughts on ending the band. Mike Mills: "During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, 'what next?' Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together.
"We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this – 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." more on this story
