Original R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry played with co-founders Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills for only the second time since Berry left the band in ’97, reports Billboard.com. While attending the wedding of roadie Dewitt Burton this past weekend at Kingpins Bowl and Brew in the band’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, the quartet took the stage while the night’s hired band took a break. Bassist Mike Mills was overjoyed at the reunion. “It was awesome to look behind me and see Bill on the drums,” Mills said. Michael Stipe toasted the happy couple and played R.E.M. classics like “Radio Free Europe” and “Permanent Vacation.” Berry retired in the aftermath of a brain aneurism for which he had surgery in 1995. R.E.M.’s most recent album, Around the Sun was released in 2004.
Get SPIN.com headlines for FREE on your mobile phone! Just text SPIN to 68423 to sign up. It’s one message per day, Monday thru Friday, bringing you all the news that rocks, minus the carpal tunnel.
