Though an R.E.M. reunion doesn’t appear to be in the cards any time soon, Michael Stipe is currently eyeing a comeback. “I’m not ready to go completely into pop stardom again … but I want to work in music again,” he recently told the New York Times.
According to Stipe, the desire to return to the music world some five years after R.E.M.’s dissolution was sparked by the various David Bowie tributes he participated in this past spring. If you’ll recall, the 56-year-old honored the late music legend by performing at a memorial concert alongside the Pixies and The Flaming Lips; he also appeared on The Tonight Show to cover “The Man Who Sold The World”.
(Read: The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time)
The NYT reports that Stipe will first dip his toe by producing SIR, Fischerspooner’s first album since 2009. Stipe’s comments come amidst R.E.M.’s 25th anniversary edition of Out of Time, a jam-packed reissue due out this Friday, November 18th via Concord Bicycle.
Below, revisit his cover of “Ashes to Ashes” at Carnegie Hall earlier this year.
