When we first started, we were a band from Athens and that was so off the map. — Michael Stipe Athens Copy Share Image
We don't get groupies.We get teenagers who want to read us their poetry. — Michael Stipe Groupie Copy Share Image
I'm tired of being this solemn poet of the masses, the enigma shrouded in a mystery. — Michael Stipe Enigma Copy Share Image
My feeling is that labels are for canned food... I am what I am - and I know what I am. — Michael Stipe Canned Copy Share Image
I really wanted to be on Six Feet Under as a corpse. That would be hysterical. — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
There was never a golden era of American radio as far as I can tell. — Michael Stipe Eras Copy Share Image
So, we went from being an Athens band to being a Georgia band to being a Southern band to being an American… — Michael Stipe Athens Copy Share Image
There was a point in the '80s when I looked out at my audience and I saw people that - were I… — Michael Stipe Audience Copy Share Image
I don't find R.E.M. to be nihilistic. There is a constant undertone of joyous optimism. I'm not going to kill myself to… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
We toured that record for a year, which turned out to be the culmination of ten years of being constantly on the… — Michael Stipe Culmination Copy Share Image
On planes I always cry. Something about altitude, the lack of oxygen and the bad movies. I cried over a St. Bernard… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I was doing that [a collaboration with Kurt Cobain] to try to save his life. The collaboration was me calling up as… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
There are people that very strongly identify themselves as gay and then lesbian, and then I think there are a lot of… — Michael Stipe Gay Copy Share Image
I'm kind of quoting Thurston [Moore] and Kim [Gordon] in saying that about not being great with addicts, because they are the… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I simply constructed a project to try to snap Kurt [Cobain] out of a frame of mind. I sent him a plane… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
So, we just kind of created our own thing and that's part of the beauty of Athens: is that it's so off… — Michael Stipe Athens Copy Share Image
I stopped taking drugs [in 1983]. There were a lot of things that led up to it. One thing was that a… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
Once I reached my 40s, I thought to myself that if I'm going to play live now, I need to really mean… — Michael Stipe Choices Copy Share Image
I came to New York for the first time with Peter Buck at age 19. We spent a week living out of… — Michael Stipe Age Copy Share Image
I knew [Kurt Cobain] and his daughter. And Courtney [Love] came and stayed at my house. R.E.M. worked on two records in… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
It was '86. We were a big enough name and we had enough cache that MTV wanted to play us, so, along… — Michael Stipe Art Copy Share Image
“If the storm doesn't kill me, the government will./Gotta get that outta my head./It's a new day today and the coffee is… — Michael Stipe New day Copy Share Image
“who will tend the farm museums who will dust the day belongings? ” — Michael Stipe Museums Copy Share Image
I think there were early critics who wanted us to change the world because the Sex Pistols failed. — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I went through a period where I was really tired of seeing and reading about myself. — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
A wise man once said-'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave,' — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
Anything you do as a group is fraught with compromise... But everyone 's got to do that, right? It's part of being… — Michael Stipe Compromise Copy Share Image
For me, as a music fan, visuals kind of steal away the purity of the song. My instinct is not to provide… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
“Death is pretty final./I'm collecting vinyl./I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world/'cause if heaven does exists/with a kickin' playlist/I don't… — Michael Stipe Death Copy Share Image
I think my apocalyptic feelings went deeper than [heavily influenced by Reagan and AIDS]. I'm really at peace with how afraid I… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
The whole punk ethic was do-it-yourself, and I've always been very literal, especially as a kid. When they said that anybody can… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
In fact, a lot of critics seemed to consider R.E.M. the first American music since the '60s to break out on its… — Michael Stipe American music Copy Share Image
Super casual music listeners. That's most of the people in the world. And you have to understand, that's why Top 40 radio… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
Peter was sick of being a pop star, the guitar god, and so he decided to teach himself other instruments. Among the… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
By nature I will find hope in everything. Even if it's the most incredibly hopeless situation or circumstance. That's just me... I'll… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
Sometimes I'm confused by what I think is really obvious. But what I think is really obvious obviously isn't obvious... — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
The song "Sing for the Submarine" presents my dream world, which is way different from my waking world. It's set in the… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
When I get really hammered I take my clothes off. That's a sure sign. It's been a long time since the last… — Michael Stipe Clothes Copy Share Image
![“I was doing that [a collaboration with Kurt Cobain] to try to save his life. The collaboration was me calling up as an excuse to reach out to this guy. He was in a really bad place.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e28/michael-stipe-6714_calling_i-was-doing-that-a-collaboration-with-ku_3098936.png)
![“I'm kind of quoting Thurston [Moore] and Kim [Gordon] in saying that about not being great with addicts, because they are the ones who said it to me.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bb/michael-stipe-6714_addict_i-m-kind-of-quoting-thurston-moore-and-k_3113368.png)
![“I simply constructed a project to try to snap Kurt [Cobain] out of a frame of mind. I sent him a plane ticket and a driver, and he tacked the plane ticket to the wall in the bedroom and the driver sat outside the house for 10 hours. Kurt wouldn't come out and wouldn't answer the phone.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/michael-stipe-6714_answers_i-simply-constructed-a-project-to-try-to_117192.jpg)
![“I stopped taking drugs [in 1983]. There were a lot of things that led up to it. One thing was that a lover died. An ex of mine died in a car wreck and I was really trashed when I found out about it and I couldn't cry. I woke up the next morning and I said, "That's it," so I quit then. It was…” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af8/michael-stipe-6714_car_i-stopped-taking-drugs-in-1983-there-wer_859238.png)
![“I knew [Kurt Cobain] and his daughter. And Courtney [Love] came and stayed at my house. R.E.M. worked on two records in Seattle and Peter Buck lived next door to Kurt and Courtney. So we all knew each other. I reached out to him with that project as an attempt to prevent what was going to happen.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e2/michael-stipe-6714_bucks_i-knew-kurt-cobain-and-his-daughter-and_1843291.jpg)
![“I think my apocalyptic feelings went deeper than [heavily influenced by Reagan and AIDS]. I'm really at peace with how afraid I am.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bb/michael-stipe-6714_aids_i-think-my-apocalyptic-feelings-went-dee_1343071.png)
