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.