After 31 years, and with great regret, R.E.M. has decided to call it quits.
In a statement on their official website the band says, "We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished."
Said bass player 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."
After the jump, more of my R.E.M. favorites -and there are lots of them. Thanks, guys. You're already missed. So much.