MEDIASPOT

People who share my birthdate.

Michael Stipe (1960):

Lead singer of R.E.M. who became enthralled with the punk music scene when Patti Smith’s “Horses” ignited his passion for unconventional tunes. Stipe teamed with Peter Buck, Bill Berry and Mike Mills in college to form R.E.M., and together the boys fused elements of punk, folk and rock to create their own, unique brand of music. R.E.M. emerged from the college scene as one of the most influential alternative bands of the past 2 decades, and they enjoyed their first Top 10 hit when their album, “Document” (1987), produced the smash single “The One I Love.” R.E.M. continued to enjoy mainstream success with the single “Stand,” and in 1991 they finally reached the coveted number one spot on the Billboard charts when the quadruple-platinum “Out of Time” spawned the hit songs “Losing My Religion” and “Shiny Happy People.” R.E.M. has since released the hit albums “Automatic for the People” (1992), “Monster” (1994), “Up” (1998), “Document” (1999), "Reveal" (2001), and "In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988 - 2003" (2003). Stipe has also produced a number of films including Being John Malkovich (1999) and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001).