R.E.M.

As punk evaporated into new wave, R.E.M (it stands for Rapid Eye Movement) brought '60s melodies and jangling guitar hooks back into alternative American rock, going on to become one of the world's biggest pop bands. They formed while University of Georgia students but soon dropped out, releasing debut album Murmur (1983) to rave reviews. Firm college radio/underground rock favourites, they broke into the mainstream with the single The One I Love from fifth album Document (1987). Further hits Losing My Religion and Shiny Happy People sent seventh album Out Of Time (1991) to No 1 in the US, before Automatic For The People (1992) and Monster (1994) confirmed their huge international status. Touring relentlessly and recording regularly through the Noughties, their song Everybody Hurts has become a melancholic anthem with massive airplay after Princess Diana's death (1997) and the Twin Tower terrorist attacks (2001). Drummer Bill Berry quit to become a farmer after collapsing from a brain aneurism on stage in Switzerland in 1995.