- published: 08 Jun 2015
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Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956), is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M.
Throughout his career with R.E.M., which was founded in 1980, Buck has also been an official member of various 'side project' groups. These groups include Hindu Love Gods, The Minus 5, Tuatara, The Baseball Project, Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 and Tired Pony each of which have released at least one full-length album. Additionally, another side project group called Full Time Men released an EP while Buck was a member; ad hoc "supergroups" Bingo Hand Job (Billy Bragg and R.E.M.) and Nigel & The Crosses (Robyn Hitchcock, Peter Buck, Glenn Tilbrook and others) have each commercially released one track; and a current side project group called Slow Music plays semi-regular gigs. Buck also collaborated with Saint John and the Revelations in 2011.
Buck also has a notable career as a record producer (including releases by Uncle Tupelo, Dreams So Real, The Fleshtones, Charlie Pickett, and The Feelies), as well as a session musician (for the likes of The Replacements, Billy Bragg, and Eels.)
Michael Edward "Mike" Mills (born December 17, 1958 in Orange County, California) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments. He contributed to a majority of the band's musical compositions.
As a young boy, Mills moved with his family to Macon, Georgia and attended Northeast High School in the early 1970s. Mills' father Frank was a singer whose appearances included The Ed Sullivan Show, while his mother Adora was a piano teacher, which helped him develop a love of music at an early age. He met and formed a band with drummer friend Bill Berry in high school. They met Peter Buck and Michael Stipe while attending the University of Georgia.
Mills, Berry, Buck, and Stipe decided to drop out of college and focus on their band, now named R.E.M. The band quickly developed a following and were soon signed to I.R.S. Records.
William Thomas "Bill" Berry (born July 31, 1958 in Duluth, Minnesota) is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M. records. After 17 years with the band, Berry retired to become a farmer, and has since maintained a low profile, making sporadic reunions with R.E.M. and appearing on other artists' records.
Berry was born in Duluth, the fifth child of Don and Anna. At three years old, Berry moved with his family to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, where they would remain for the next seven years. In 1968, they were on the move again, this time to Sandusky, Ohio, on the banks of Lake Erie.
In 1972, the Berry family made their final move, to Macon, Georgia, literally just in time to start high school at Mount de Sales Academy. It was there that he met bassist Mike Mills, and they played together in several different bands. Their first attempt at a career in music was short-lived. He and Mills decided to make money by getting day jobs. They rented an apartment on Arlington Street in Macon and Bill landed a job at the Paragon booking agency next door.