R.E.M. announce split after 31 years

Sep 22, 2011, 8:13 GMT

Los Angeles - Veteran US rock band R.E.M. announced their breakup Wednesday after 31 years, saying that they were 'calling it a day' as bandmates but would remain close friends.

The announcement came just months after the band released Collapse Into Now, the final album it owed Warner Bros under a five record deal that it signed with Warner Bros in 1996 when R.E.M. was as the height of its popularity.

Recent years have seen a decline in fortune for the Athens, Georgia, based band which has been a darling of the alternative rock scene with songs such as Everybody Hurts, Losing My Religion and It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).

'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,' the group said on its website. '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.'

'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,' lead singer Michael Stipes said.

'We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart,' bassist Mike Mills added. 'The time just feels right.'

The group formed in Athens in 1980 and had their first hit a year later with the single Radio Free Year Europe. Critics regarded R.E.M. as one of the most influential bands of the next 15 years citing Stipes' haunting vocal style and the lilting playing style of guitarist Peter Buck.