It's the end of their world, and they feel fine.

To borrow a line from Huey Lewis, the news that R. E. M. decided to disband today hit me like a hammer.

R. E. M. exploded onto the scene in the fall of 1983 with the album, "Murmur", which produced their first hit, "Radio Free Europe". However, 8 years later, "Losing My Religion" was in heavy airplay on MTV and radio, and the song netted the Georgia quartet a ton of awards. Through the years, the band has also featured various guests on their albums, including Kate Pierson of the B-52's, KRS-One (Boogie Down Productions), & Patti Smith, who sang with the band on "E-Bow The Letter", a haunting ballad that still resonates today, as does virtually all of the R. E. M. catalogue.

The band made its television debut not on MTV, but on Late Night With David Letterman in October of '83. Following is a clip from that broadcast, with Dave introducing the band, followed by a performance of "Radio Free Europe".

Edit, 10/3/23: This extended clip also includes "South Central Rain":  



The end comes after 22 years with Warner Bros. Records, which had made some internal changes within the last year, and, while I can only speculate here, it may be a case of the label wanting to phase out the band in favor of a younger, fresher act, something that happens all the time in the music business. 31 years in the business overall, and they did it by their rules, leaving little, if any, room for compromise. If only today's generation of record executives could better respect that.