Michael Stipe | |
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 Stipe in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Michael Stipe |
| Born | (1960-01-04)January 4, 1960 (age 65) Decatur, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1980–present |
| Formerly of | R.E.M. |
| Signature | |
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John Michael Stipe (/ˈstaɪp/; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer andlyricist of thealternative rock bandR.E.M.
Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's military commission, his family moved constantly, with Stipe spending part of his childhood inWest Germany before finishing high school in suburbanSt Louis. Stipe attended theUniversity of Georgia inAthens, where he became involved in the localcollege rock andjangle pop scene. He formed R.E.M. after meeting his bandmates at the university and soon dropped out to pursue music with them. The band issued its debut single, "Radio Free Europe," and subsequently signed toI.R.S. Records, meeting wide acclaim and soon great commercial success.
Possessing a distinctive voice, Stipe has been noted for the "mumbling" style of his early career. Since the mid-1980s, Stipe has sung in "wailing, keening, arching vocal figures" that R.E.M. biographer David Buckley compared toCeltic folk artists andMuslimmuezzin.[2] He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual aspect, often selecting album artwork and directing many of the band's music videos. Outside the music industry, he owns and runs two film production studios, C-00 and Single Cell Pictures.
As a member of R.E.M., Stipe was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. As a singer-songwriter, Stipe influenced a wide range of artists, includingKurt Cobain ofNirvana andThom Yorke ofRadiohead.[3]Bono ofU2 has described his voice as "extraordinary",[4][5] and Yorke toldThe Guardian that Stipe is his favorite lyricist, saying "I loved the way he would take an emotion and then take a step back from it and in doing so make it so much more powerful".[6]
Stipe was born on January 4, 1960, inDecatur, Georgia,[7] to Marianne and John Stipe.[8] He was amilitary brat; his father was a serviceman in theUnited States Army, having served inKorea as a helicopter pilot. The elder Stipe's career resulted in frequent relocations for his family.[9] His younger sister,Lynda Stipe, was born in 1962 and became the vocalist ofHetch Hetchy.[10][11] Stipe and his family moved to various locales during his childhood, includingWest Germany,Texas,Illinois, andAlabama.[12][13] In 1978, he graduated from high school inCollinsville, Illinois, in suburbanSt. Louis. His senior photo is pictured in the album art work ofEponymous. Stipe also worked at the localWaffle House.[14] Previous generations of his family wereMethodist ministers.[15]
At age 14, Stipe was turned on to punk rock by an article inCreem magazine byLisa Robinson on theCBGB scene. The article featured a photo ofPatti Smith, whom Stipe came to idolize. He remembers buying her debut album,Horses, the day it came out. "Since then, I never looked back."[16]
In the early 1980s, Stipe played in the group Boat Of with Tom Smith, who would later found the groups Peach of Immortality and To Live and Shave in LA. Also in Boat Of were Carol Levy and Mike Green.[17][18][19]
While attending theUniversity of Georgia inAthens, Stipe frequented theWuxtry record shop, where he met store clerkPeter Buck in 1980.[20] "He was a striking-looking guy and he also bought weird records, which not everyone in the store did," Buck recalled. The two became friends; they eventually decided to form a band[21] and started writing music together,[22] although at the time Stipe was also in a local group named Gangster.[23] Buck and Stipe were soon joined byBill Berry andMike Mills, and named themselves R.E.M., a name Stipe selected at random from a dictionary.[24] Stipe was the youngest member of the band.
All four members of R.E.M. dropped out of school in 1980 to focus on the new band.[25] Stipe was the last to do so. The band issued its debut single, "Radio Free Europe," onHib-Tone; it was acollege radio success. The band signed toI.R.S. Records for the release of theChronic TownEP one year later. In 1983, R.E.M. released its debut album,Murmur, which was acclaimed by critics. Stipe's vocals and lyrics received particular attention from listeners.[2]Murmur went on to win theRolling Stone Critics Poll Album of the Year overMichael Jackson'sThriller. Their second album,Reckoning, followed in 1984.
In 1985, R.E.M. traveled to England to record their third album,Fables of the Reconstruction, a difficult process that brought the band to the verge of a break up.[26] After the album was released, relationships in the band remained tense. Gaining weight and acting eccentrically (such as by shaving his hair into a monk's tonsure), Stipe later identified himself as suffering from depression and exhaustion during this period, saying "I was well on my way to losing my mind."[27][28]
They toured in Canada and throughout Europe that year; Stipe had bleached his hair blond during this time.[29][30]
Bill Berry left R.E.M. in 1997, and the other members continued as a three-piece. R.E.M. disbanded amicably in 2011. Stipe confirmed in 2021 that they had no plans to reunite.[31]
In September 1983, a few months after the release of R.E.M.'s debut album, Stipe participated in a low-budget, forty-five-minuteSuper-8 film calledJust Like a Movie, shot in Athens byNew York Rocker magazine photographer Laura Levine, who was a friend of the band. Those with acting roles in the film included Levine, Stipe, his sister Lynda,Matthew Sweet (who formed a short-lived duo,Community Trolls, with Michael Stipe),[32] and R.E.M.'s Bill Berry.[33] The film remains unreleased.
In the period between 1990 and 1992, Stipe was involved with the bandChickasaw Mudd Puppies. He co-produced and featured on their two albums:White Dirt (1990) and8 Track Stomp (1991).[34]
Stipe had planned a collaboration with friendKurt Cobain, lead singer ofNirvana, in 1994; this was partly an attempt to lure Cobain away from his home and his drug addiction. However, they did not manage to compose or record anything beforeCobain's death. Stipe was chosen as the godfather of Cobain andCourtney Love's daughter,Frances Bean Cobain. R.E.M. recorded the song "Let Me In" from the 1994 albumMonster in tribute to Cobain.[35] In 2023, Stipe would officiate the younger Cobain's wedding toRiley Hawk.[36]
Stipe was once very close to fellowalternative rock singerNatalie Merchant and has recorded a few songs with her, including one titled "Photograph," which appeared on a pro-choice benefit album titledBorn to Choose, and they appeared live withPeter Gabriel singing Gabriel's single "Red Rain" at the 1996VH1 Honors and a few other times.[37]
Stipe andTori Amos became friends in the mid-1990s and recorded a duet in 1994 called "It Might Hurt a Bit" for theDon Juan DeMarco motion picture soundtrack. Both Stipe and Amos decided not to release it.
In 1998, Stipe published a collection calledTwo Times Intro: On the Road with Patti Smith. In 2006, Stipe released an EP that comprised six different cover versions ofJoseph Arthur's "In The Sun" for theHurricane Katrina disaster relief fund. One version, recorded in a collaboration withColdplay'sChris Martin, reached number one on the Canadian Singles Chart.[38] Also in 2006, Stipe appeared on the song "Broken Promise" on thePlacebo releaseMeds. Continuing his non-R.E.M. work in 2006, Stipe sang the song "L'Hôtel" on the tribute album toSerge Gainsbourg titledMonsieur Gainsbourg Revisited and appeared on the song "Dancing on the Lip of a Volcano" on theNew York Dolls albumOne Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This. He recorded a song withMiguel Bosé on the albumPapito, "Lo que ves es lo que hay."
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Stipe collaborated withLacoste in 2008 to release his own "holiday collector edition" brand ofpolo shirt. The design depicts a concert audience from the view of the performer on stage.[39] He appeared withChris Martin ofColdplay live atMadison Square Garden and online to perform "Losing My Religion" in the12-12-12 concert raising money for relief fromHurricane Sandy.[40] A new recording from Stipe and featuringCourtney Love was revealed in 2013. The song, "Rio Grande," is taken fromJohnny Depp's pirate-themed album,Son of Rogue's Gallery.[41] Stipe also created the soundtrack forThe Cold Lands (2013), a film by Stipe's friend directorTom Gilroy.[42]
Stipe inducted the American grunge bandNirvana into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 10, 2014.[43] He debuted his first solo composition atMoogfest in 2017.[44] In June 2017, it was revealed that Stipe had returned to recording, acting as producer and co-writer forFischerspooner's single "Have Fun Tonight", the lead single from their albumSir.[45] Stipe would go on to produce and co-write the entireSir album, released on February 16, 2018.[46] Stipe released the solo song "Future, If Future" on March 24, 2018,[47] followed by "Your Capricious Soul" on October 5, 2019.[48] "Drive to the Ocean" was released for his 60th birthday on January 4, 2020.[49]
Photography has long been a passion for Stipe and he has been carrying a camera with him since his teenage years when he photographed shows featuringRamones,The Runaways andQueen.[50] In 2018, Stipe released a book of his photography entitledVolume 1,[51] which featured 35 photographs of such celebrities asRiver Phoenix and Kurt Cobain.[50] A second volume withDouglas Coupland,Our Interference Times: A Visual Record, was released in 2019.[52]
In 2019, Stipe collaborated withAaron Dessner andJustin Vernon's bandBig Red Machine on the single "No Time For Love Like Now." The song was finished and released in 2020 during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[53]
Stipe began recording his first solo album atElectric Lady Studios in New York City in 2023, writing and producing "synth-infused, poppy" songs with longtime collaboratorAndy LeMaster.[54]
In early 1987, Stipe and Jim McKay co-founded C-00 Films,[20] a mixed-media company that was "designed to channel its founder's creative talents towards the creation and promotion of alternative film works."[55] Stipe and his producing partner,Sandy Stern, have served as executive producers on films includingBeing John Malkovich,Velvet Goldmine, andMan on the Moon.[56] He was also credited as a producer of the 2004 filmSaved![57]
In 1998, he worked on Single Cell Pictures, a film production company that released several arthouse/indie movies.
Stipe has made a number of acting appearances on film and on television. He appeared in an episode ofThe Adventures of Pete & Pete as an ice cream man named Captain Scrummy.[58]
Stipe has appeared as himself with R.E.M. onSesame Street, playing a reworked version of "Shiny Happy People" titled "Furry Happy Monsters", and appeared in an episode ofThe Simpsons titled "Homer the Moe", in which R.E.M. was tricked into playing a show inHomer Simpson's garage. He also appeared as a guest on theCartoon Network talk show spoofSpace Ghost Coast to Coast in the episode "Hungry". Stipe made several short appearances onThe Colbert Report.
Stipe voiced Schnitzel the Reindeer in the 1999 movieOlive, the Other Reindeer and appeared in the 1996 filmColor of a Brisk and Leaping Day.[59][60]
In March 2006, Stipe, along with other musicians, held a protest concert against the Iraq War.[61][62]In March 2018, Stipe joined the "March for Our Lives" rallies to advocategun control after theMarjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. He also released a teaser of his new song in the rally.[63][64]
In a 2021 interview forJacobin, Stipe described himself as ademocratic socialist, and said that he was a member of theDemocratic Party so he could vote in Democratic primaries.[65] He endorsedBernie Sanders'2016 and2020 presidential campaigns.[66][67]
Stipe expressed solidarity with the people of theGaza Strip during the2023 Israel–Hamas war. He signed an October 2023 open letter of artists to PresidentJoe Biden urging a ceasefire in Gaza.[68]
Stipe is vegetarian and co-owned a vegetarian restaurant, Guaranteed, inAthens, Georgia.[20] Though many people think he also owned The Grit, he was the landlord of the building and not the restaurant owner. He lives with his long-term partner, photographer Thomas Dozol, inNew York andBerlin.[69][70]
In 1983, Stipe metNatalie Merchant of the band10,000 Maniacs; the two started a friendship, and eventually had a romantic relationship for a period of time.[71]
With the success of the albumsOut of Time (1991) andAutomatic for the People (1992), R.E.M. became mainstream music stars. Around 1992, rumors that Stipe had contractedHIV began to circulate. He responded with the following:
Not that I can tell. I wore a hat that said "White House Stop AIDS." I'm skinny. I've always been skinny, except in 1985 when I looked likeMarlon Brando, the last time I shaved my head. I was really sick then. Eatingpotatoes. 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.[72]
In 1994, with questions remaining, Stipe described himself as "an equal opportunitylech," and said he did not define himself asgay,straight orbisexual, but that he was attracted to, and had relationships with, both men and women. In 1995, he appeared on the cover ofOut magazine. Stipe described himself as a "queer artist" inTime in 2001 and revealed that he had been in a relationship with "an amazing man" for three years at that point.[73] Stipe reiterated this in a 2004 interview withButt magazine. When asked if he ever declares himself as gay, Stipe stated, "I don't. I think there's a line drawn between gay and queer, and for me, queer describes something that's more inclusive of the grey areas."[74]
In 1999, authorDouglas A. Martin published a novel,Outline of My Lover, in which the narrator has a six-year romantic relationship with the unnamed lead singer of a successful Athens, Georgia-based, rock band; the book was widely speculated, and later confirmed by its author, to have been aroman à clef based on a real relationship between Martin and Stipe.[75][76] The two had previously collaborated on two books, both in 1998:The Haiku Year (for which the two had both contributedhaiku)[77] and Martin's book of poetryServicing the Salamander (for which Stipe took the cover photograph).
Stipe has abaritone vocal range.[78] His role in the songwriting process for R.E.M. was to write lyrics and devise melodies.[79] While each member was given an equal vote in the songwriting process, Peter Buck has conceded that Stipe, as the band's lyricist, could rarely be persuaded to follow an idea he did not favor.[80] Stipe sings in "wailing, keening, arching vocal figures" that R.E.M. biographer David Buckley compared toCeltic folk artists andMuslimmuezzin.[2] Stipe often harmonizes with Mills in songs; in the chorus for "Stand", Mills and Stipe alternate singing lyrics, creating a dialogue.[81] Early articles about the band focused on Stipe's singing style (described as "mumbling" byThe Washington Post), which often rendered his lyrics indecipherable.[82] Stipe commented in 1984, "It's just the way I sing. If I tried to control it, it would be pretty false."[83]
Stipe has earned recognition from the music industry for his unique voice.Bono remarked in 2003 that Stipe has an "extraordinary voice," adding "I often tell him I think he's acrooner, and he doesn't like that very much. But it is sort of one part some sort ofBing Crosby '50s laid-back crooner, and one partDolly Parton."[4] In 2023,Rolling Stone ranked Stipe at number 152 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[84]
Stipe insisted that many of his early lyrics were "nonsense," saying in a 1994 online chat, "You all know there aren't words,per se, to a lot of the early stuff. I can't even remember them." In truth, many early R.E.M. songs had definite lyrics that Stipe wrote with care.[85] Stipe explained in 1984 that when he started writing lyrics they were like "simple pictures," but after a year he grew tired of the approach and "started experimenting with lyrics that didn't make exact linear sense, and it's just gone from there."[83] In the mid-1980s, as Stipe's pronunciation while singing became clearer, the band decided that its lyrics should convey ideas on a more literal level.[86] Mills explained, "After you've made three records and you've written several songs and they've gotten better and better lyrically the next step would be to have somebody question you and say, are you saying anything? And Michael had the confidence at that point to say yes...."[87] After what Stipe has referred to as "The Dark Ages of American Politics" [The Reagan/Bush Years], R.E.M. incorporated more politically oriented concerns into his lyrics onDocument andGreen. "Our political activism and the content of the songs was just a reaction to where we were, and what we were surrounded by, which was just abject horror," Stipe said later. "In 1987 and '88 there was nothing to do but be active."[88] While Stipe continued to write songs with political subject matter like "Ignoreland" and "Final Straw," later albums have focused on other topics.Automatic for the People dealt with "mortality and dying. Pretty turgid stuff," according to Stipe;[72]Monster, meanwhile, critiqued love and mass culture,[88] andReveal dipped into mysticism.
Solo releases
Guest appearances
ProductionIn addition to co-producing most of R.E.M.'s output, Stipe has also produced the following:
I looked at that photo and said, "Wow," that's where I want to be.
Stipe, whose on-stage behavior was always slightly strange, entered his most bizarre phase, as he put on weight, dyed his hair bleached blonde, and wore countless layers of clothing.
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
