An electrifying cultural biography of the greatest and last American rock band of the millennium, whose music such as “Losing My Religion,” “Man on the Moon,” “The One I Love” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” ignited a generation—and reasserted the power of rock and roll, from New York Times bestselling music writer Peter Ames Carlin (BRUCE and PAUL McCARTNEY: A Life).

In the spring of 1980, an unexpected group of misfits came together to play their very first performance at a college party in Athens, Georgia. Within a few short years, they had taken over the world–with smash records like OUT OF TIME, AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE, MONSTER and GREEN. Raw, outrageous, and expressive, Michael Stipe and R.E.M.’s distinctive musical flair was unmatched, and a string of mega-successes solidified them as generational spokesmen. In the tumultuous transition between the wide-open 80s and the anxiety of the early 90s–from Reagan to Bush to Clinton, followed by the resurgence of spirit, youth and MTV-politics–pop/rock music, led by R.E.M., felt as if it had a message again.

Flowing from every FM radio were culturally influential songs like “Shiny Happy People,” “Everybody Hurts,” “Losing My Religion,” “Man on the Moon,” “The One I Love” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.” R.E.M. provided a sound track to the 80s and 90s, challenging the corporate and social order. R.E.M. pursued music like true artists, chasing a vision and working tirelessly to cultivate a magnetic, transgressive sound.

In this breathtaking biography (by the critically acclaimed author of BRUCE, PAUL McCARTNEY: A Life, and HOMEWARD BOUND: The Life of Paul Simon), Peter Ames Carlin not only documents R.E.M.’s success in the music industry, but also opens a fascinating window into the lives of four college friends–Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry–who stuck together with a common goal. He paints a cultural history of the commercial peak and near-total collapse of rock ‘n’ roll, and the story of an era and the generation that came of age at the apotheosis of rock.