michael stipe
Watch Mykki Blanco’s Evocative New Video Featuring Michael Stipe
Singer-rapper Mykki Blanco teamed up with R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe for their latest single, “Family Ties.” “‘Family Ties’ is the first song where I sonically found my voice and I mean that in a very literal way,” Blanco said in a statement. “It’s the first song in my entire career where I am singing, I don’t rap.” [embedded content][embedded content] Blanco continued: “I wrote this song about the relationship between my ex-boyfriend and his father that has had bouts of mental illness. When the person you love is going through a situation that you can’t alter in any way, or help or be active in trying to correct it not only hurts them but it hurts you. I think the core meaning of this song is compassion in the face of helplessness.” The saxophone-seared ballad was produced by Falty DL ...
Listen to R.E.M.’s Original Hib-Tone Mix of ‘Sitting Still’
While we wait for the upcoming first-ever reissue of R.E.M.‘s rare 1981 release “Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single),” the b-side, the original Hib-Tone mix of “Sitting Still,” is available digitally today for the very first time. Listen to “Sitting Still” below. [embedded content] This track will be available on the upcoming “Radio Free Europe” seven-inch record, presented in its original format: a 45-RPM single, housed in a jacket featuring photography by Michael Stipe. “Radio Free Europe” has been unavailable for 40 years in any format, so fans are thrilled to get their hands on the band’s earliest recordings. As an homage to the band’s hometown, the single was pressed in Athens, Georgia at Kindercore Vinyl. You can pre-order the “Radio Free Europe” seven-in...
To Live and Die in L.A.: Our 1996 Red Hot Chili Peppers Cover Story
This article originally appeared in the April 1996 issue of SPIN. “Los Angeles is my favorite city in the world!” declares super foxy Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro, offering as proof of his conviction the city’s name tattooed on the back of his neck. “I would never live anywhere else.” Navarro, drummer Chad Smith, and I are wedged into Newsroom, a trendy Beverly Hills restaurant/coffee house/media mill where omnipresent TV monitors serve up the latest from the E! network with your rice-milk cappuccinos. “But I feel like the bad is taking over,” says Smith, an unadulterated rock dude and Detroit native who, Navarro says, wrote the book on that city’s infamous evening of arson known as Devil’s Night. “I wouldn’t want my kids growing up here,” admits Smith, who at age 33 s...
R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and Mike Mills Look Back at Out of Time at 30
An anniversary can be celebrated with champagne or a vacation but Michael Stipe and Mike Mills from R.E.M. decided to honor the 30th anniversary of Out of Time by looking back. The duo joined Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music Hits to reminisce about the writing, legacy and everything in between. Mills and Stipe spoke about the mega-hit “Losing My Religion,” with Stipe raving about “The energy coming off of an audience, a large audience in an outdoor arena, with the first notes, those first da, da, da, da, da and the place would just explode with energy. We got all that being on stage, being elevated, being the center of attention,” the singer recalls. “It all came right towards us. It was the biggest shot in the arm. The biggest jolt of adrenaline. The most powerf...
Michael Stipe, Billie Eilish, Foo Fighters and More Cosign New Planned Parenthood Voting Campaign
Following the speedy confirmation of Justice Amy Comey Barrett and fear of losing health care rights, Michael Stipe, Billie Eilish, Foo Fighters and other musicians have signed onto a new Planned Parenthood campaign to urge people to vote. Entitled “We Need Every Voice,” the full-page ad will appear in six newspapers at six key states: Arizona Republic, Detroit Free Press, Tampa Bay Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Austin American Statesman, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Everything is on the line with this election,” Alexis McGill Johnson, President, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. “Voters across the country understand that we need leaders who will fight to protect our rights and access to health care in every branch of government – that’s why tens of millions of Ame...
Patti Smith, Michael Stipe and More Join Forces on ‘People Have the Power’
Patti Smith, Joan Baez, Michael Stipe, Cyndi Lauper, Stella McCartney, Tony Hawk, and Micah Nelson — along with dozens of artists and activists worldwide — recorded a socially distant version of “People Have the Power” to honor the sixth anniversary of non-profit group Pathway to Paris. The organization, co-founded by Smith’s daughter Jesse Paris Smith and cellist Rebecca Foon, is dedicated to offering tangible solutions for combatting global climate change. This version of the 1988 song, written by Smith and late husband/bandmate Fred “Sonic” Smith, features participants from 24 countries, 38 cities and six continents. Check it out below. [embedded content] In a statement on her official Instagram page, Patti Smith said of the video, “This is a gift from @pathway2paris for the autumn...
Netflix’s Song Exploder Will Feature R.E.M., Alicia Keys and More
Since 2014, Hrishikesh Hirway has been sitting down with musicians to talk about how they imagined and created their biggest hits on the Song Exploder podcast. Now, Hirway and Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville have turned the podcast into a docuseries that will premiere on Netflix next month. In the trailer released today (Sept. 17), Alicia Keys will break down “3 Hour Drive;” Lin-Manuel Miranda will talk about the birth of “Wait for It,” from the award-winning Broadway hit Hamilton; Ty Dolla $ign will discuss the inspiration behind “LA” and Michael Stipe will talk about the R.E.M. hit “Losing My Religion.” “‘Losing My Religion’ was kind of a mistake,” Stipe said in the trailer. “The fact that it became what it became is still puzzling to all of us.” The R.E.M. singer a...
Michael Stipe Pens New Song for NYC Art Exhibit
Lyrics to a new song by R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe are part of an art installation that opens at New York City gallery Participation Inc. on Sept. 9. The song, “My Name is Ray,” is about the life and fraught love of married designers Charles and wife Ray Eames. The lyrics are part of a sculptural installation by artist and curator Jonathan Berger, a longtime collaborator of Stipe’s. In an interview with NY1, Stipe said told the station that “the thing that Jonathan offers is a reservoir of thought, but there is also a lightness and beauty to it. It really has to be experienced firsthand to understand how wondrous it is.” It’s not clear where and when “My Name is Ray” will be available in its complete musical form. The entire exhibit is called “An Introduction to Nameless Love...
Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and More Demand Clearance for Campaign Songs
Pearl Jam, R.E.M. Sia, Lorde and more have joined forces with the Artists Rights Alliance to demand that the political parties “establish clear policies requiring campaigns to seek the consent of featured recording artists, songwriters, and copyright owners before publicly using their music in a political or campaign setting,” the Artist Rights Alliance announce in a statement. The letter also points out “the fundamental right of music creators to decide who can use their music and on what terms.” And if they do not comply, the political parties risk legal action. The ARA furthered their point in the following statement: “We’ve seen so many artists and estates dragged into politics against their will and forced to take aggressive action to prohibit the use of their music – usually songs th...
Iggy Pop, David Byrne and More Appear in Artist Maurizo Cattelan’s Bedtime Stories
Iggy Pop, David Byrne and other artists are collaborating on a new art project by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Titled Bedtime Stories, the digital art project asks each collaborator to read from their favorite book — whether it’s “a sentence, passage, chapter, or more.” Some contributors have read their favorite passages while others have shared something they wrote themselves. There were some who also shared an impromptu performance. To kick off the series, which is available on New Museum’s website, Pop pays tribute to his dog. “You were such a good-looking little dog,” he said in the recording. “And the next thing I knew, there you were, standing by my truck, looking up at me. I picked you up, put you on my lap and thought about keeping you — and in less than a minute I was co...
