Michael Stipe Fun Facts, Quotes and Tweets
15th December 2014
Quote: "That will never happen... There's no point. I love those guys very much and I respect them hugely as musicians and as songwriters and everything, but I just don't want to do that thing that people do (reunite). I don't want to do that. Full respect for those who do it. Total respect." Veteran rocker Michael Stipe vows never to reunite R.E.M. following the band's split in 2011.
9th October 2014
Fact: Former R.E.M. star Michael Stipe has signed up to teach students at New York University's Steinhardt Department of Art and Art Professions. The avid photographer, who studied art at the University of Georgia, will front a project titled New Sights, New Noise.
16th July 2013
Fact: R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe and actress Joan Collins were among the stars who turned out for a beachside party on the French Riviera hosted by British artist Tracey Emin in honour of her 50th birthday. She reached the landmark on 3 July (13).
12th December 2011
Quote: "She's just 23 and so together, funny and self-aware... We have another strong woman who is absolutely unafraid to be herself." Michael Stipe adds his name to the long list of celebrity Adele fans.
24th November 2011
Quote: "It was important for R.E.M. to be finite, not let it become this thing that might or might not happen. We needed this not to be the elephant in the room." Michael Stipe on why R.E.M. decided to split in September (11) rather than leading fans on.
16th April 2011
Fact: R.E.M. rocker Michael Stipe got in touch with his feminine side by cross-dressing for a new fashion shoot. The singer donned a vintage-style dress, Tiffany pearls and a live snake boa for a feature on fashion website JanePratt.com.
11th March 2011
Quote: "It's equally humiliating and triumphant." Rocker Michael Stipe has mixed feelings when he listens to old R.E.M. albums.
11th March 2011
Quote: "I didn't know that my voice was unique until six or seven years ago. I was confounded by why R.E.M. is a band that's not covered more often, why other pop singers don't really tackle R.E.M. songs. Maybe that's not as easy as it seems to me." Rocker Michael Stipe would love to hear other artists sing his tracks.
12th August 2010
Fact: R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe has sold his New York apartment for $1.25 million (£833,300). The luxury pad, located in Manhattan's trendy West Village, has been snapped up by U.S. TV host RACHEL MADDOW.
14th July 2009
Fact: Stars including R.E.M singer Michael Stipe, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, and PIXIES rocker Frank Black have recorded tracks for a compilation album in honour of former MIRACLE LEGION frontman MARK MULCAHY's wife Melissa, who died last year (08).
27th May 2009
Quote: "(I hate) pranks. You're not that funny and you're not 15... I'm too earnest. I like (comedian) Andy Kaufman in the abstract; that doesn't mean I want to live with him or eat dinner with him." R.E.M. star Michael Stipe.
20th August 2008
Quote: "I collect flight boarding passes and hotel cards. Now you get boarding passes on fax paper. I had to go up to a guy at check-in and ask for a proper one." R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has an unusual hobby.
26th June 2008
Fact: REM star Michael Stipe is to have his art work showcased in a New York exhibition this week (from 26Jun08). The singer has produced a variety of bronze sculptures which are all to go on display to the public.
26th June 2008
Fact: REM star Michael Stipe is to have his art work showcased in a New York exhibition this week (from 26Jun08). The singer has produced a variety of bronze sculptures which are all to go on display to the public.
16th May 2008
Quote: "Maybe it was his way of signing off on performing live for a while but he drove that period by putting down the guitar and picking up any instrument he didn't know how to play, including the mandolin." Michael Stipe on R.E.M. bandmate PETER BUCK's input on the group's 1990 albums.
15th May 2008
Quote: "I listen to it sometimes and I can't believe where it came from, and I can't believe I had anything to do with it. It's just an incredible song." Michael Stipe on R.E.M. hit EVERYBODY HURTS.
1st April 2008
Fact: R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe posted a photo he took on website FuturePicCenter.com every day of 2007.
17th September 2007
Quote: "It's been a really tough 10 years for us. We were trying to keep a real brave face publicly, and kind of hold through it." R.E.M. star Michael Stipe on the group's tough decade.
13th March 2007
Quote: "I had conjunctivitis for a while and wore dark glasses all the time because I couldn't afford to buy a real pair of glasses. Everyone thought I was a real a**hole." R.E.M. star Michael Stipe recalls the group's first trip to London in 1984.
12th October 2006
Fact: A new book of never-before-seen photographs of Pearl Jam, with accompanying essays written by Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Michael Stipe, Ben Harper, Cameron Crowe and Tim Robbins, is released this week (begs09OCT06) and can be bought from the band's website.
30th May 2006
Quote: "That's absolute s**t, absolute s**t and I don't know why people ever said that." British rocker Morrissey leaves the public in no doubt about his rumoured romance with REM frontman Michael Stipe.
4th May 2006
Quote: "MICHAEL could tell me to jump off a bridge and I'd do it." COLDPLAY star Chris Martin on his musical hero - REM's Michael Stipe.
2nd March 2006
Quote: "To be called an elder statesman is so unbelievably insulting. Brad Pitt is exactly three years younger than me." REM star Michael Stipe is only 46 years old.
27th February 2006
Fact: <p>Movie veteran and peace activist Jane Fonda will join rockers including Michael Stipe and Steve Earle at next month's (MAR06) Bring 'Em Home Now anti-war concert in New York City, timed to coincide with the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. </p>
20th December 2005
Quote: <p>"I love that song. I wish I'd written it, and they know that I'd wish I'd written it. It makes me dance. It makes me angry that I didn't write it." Michael Stipe is a big fan of U2's Beautiful Day hit. </p>
8th November 2005
Quote: <p>"The thing that really threw people was the term 'marriage.' We should just rename it. I think we should call it 'cabbage.' Let's just call it 'gay cabbage.'" REM star Michael Stipe has a quirky answer to the controversy over gay marriage. </p>
28th August 2005
Quote: <p>"I don't own any of their records, but we kind of meet them on the road every now and again. PETER BUCK and the bass player are great, but it's the big blue stripe... there's no need for that." Outspoken Noel Gallagher takes issue with REM star Michael Stipe's make-up. </p>
Michael Stipe
