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Michael Stipe (birth name John Michael Stipe, born January 4, 1960 in
Decatur, Georgia) is the lead singer and frontman of rock band R.E.M. Stipe
has become well-known (and occasionally parodied) for the "mumbling" style
of his early career and for his complex, surreal lyrics, as well as his
social and political activism. Stipe and the other members of R.E.M. have
become godfathers of alternative rock and are perhaps the first such band to
achieve mainstream success.
Stipe met Peter Buck, Bill Berry and Mike Mills in 1980 (see 1980 in music)
while studying photography and painting at the University of Georgia. They
formed R.E.M. that year and issued their debut single, "Radio Free Europe",
on Hib-Tone. The song was a college radio success and the band signed to
I.R.S.
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Records for the release of the Chronic Town EP one year later. Beginning
with 1983's Murmur (see 1983 in music), R.E.M. released a series of
critically acclaimed albums with a wide variety of mainstream success. A few
hit singles and growing visibility as a social activist eventually made
Stipe a star and also earned him a devoted fanbase. The late River Phoenix
was among his friends, and 1994's Monster had the dedication "For River" in
the liner notes. The late singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain was also one of his
close friends. According to Stipe, they planned a collaboration project, but
didn't manage to compose or record anything before Cobain died.
In 1998, Stipe published a collection called Two Times Intro: On the Road
with Patti Smith and worked on Single Cell, a film production company which
released several arthouse / indie movies (Velvet Goldmine, starring Ewan
McGregor, as well as Being John Malkovich, American Movie in 1999, American
Psycho in 2000 and Saved! in 2004). The company as a whole recently
purchased the rights to Canadian author Douglas Coupland's All Families are
Psychotic and is considering it as a film.
In a 2001 Newsweek interview Stipe described himself as a "queer artist". In
previous interviews he has described himself as "an equal opportunity lech"
and said he doesn't define himself as gay, straight or bisexual, but that he
was attracted to and had relationships with both men and women. Stipe was
once very close to fellow singer Natalie Merchant and has recorded a few
songs with her, including one entitled "Photograph" which appeared on a
pro-choice benefit album entitled Born to Choose. He has been with his
current boyfriend since 1998.
He wrote haikus for a book published by Soft Skull Press called The Haiku
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MICHAEL STIPE PICTURES |
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MOST POPULAR
Angelina Jolie
Jessica Alba
Paris Hilton
Scarlett Johansson
Jessica Simpson
Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Lindsay Lohan
Shakira
Beyonce
Hilary Duff
ADDITIONS
Miley Cyrus
Rihanna
Hayden Panettiere
Miranda Cosgrove
Selena Gomez
Demi Lovato
Vanessa Hudgens
Ashley Tisdale
Jonas Brothers
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