Question: he music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock and new wave, the The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M., an American rock band that formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by which lead singer?
Context: Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1980s built on the post-punk and new wave movements, incorporating different sources of inspiration from subgenres and what is now classed as world music in the shape of Jamaican and Indian music.  It also explored the consequences of new technology and social change in the electronic music of synthpop.  In the early years of the decade, while subgenres like heavy metal music continued to develop separately, there was a considerable crossover between rock and more commercial popular music, with a large number of more "serious" bands, like The Police and UB40, enjoying considerable single chart success.  The advent of MTV and cable video helped spur what has been seen as a Second British Invasion in the early years of the decade, with British bands enjoying more success in America than they had since the height of the Beatles' popularity in the 1960s.  However, by the end of the decade a fragmentation has been observed, with many new forms of music and sub-cultures, including Hip Hop and House music, while the single charts were once again dominated by pop artists, now often associated with the Hi-NRG hit factory of Stock Aitken Waterman.  The rise of the Indie rock scene was partly a response to this, and marked a shift away from the major music labels and towards the importance of local scenes like Madchester and subgenres, like gothic rock. Vietnam is a rock, post-punk and new wave band from Atlanta, Georgia on Scared Records.  Vietnam first appeared at the dawn of a new decade—the 80's, and ushered in a fresh era of music to the Atlanta new wave scene.  Embraced by the early 80's cavalcade of Athens bands such as R.E.M., Pylon, Method Actors, Love Tractor, etc., Vietnam wowed the patrons of the legendary 688 club, 40 Watt club, and the Agora Ballroom.  Their first performance was opening for Public Image Ltd. in April 1980, and the next year they played the Noise Fest in New York, appearing on the ZG compilation release of the same name along with Sonic Youth, Glenn Branca, Y Pants and others.  They released their first full-length album on Scared Records in 2004, "Past Away". The new wave of American heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOAHM) is a heavy metal music movement that originated in the United States and Canada during the early to mid-1990s and expanded most in the early to mid-2000s.  Some of the bands considered part of the movement had formed as early as the late 1980s, but did not become influential or reach popular standing until the following decade.  The term itself borrows from the new wave of British heavy metal dating to 1979.  NWOAHM includes a wide variety of styles, including alternative metal, groove metal, industrial metal, nu metal and metalcore. The Side Effects were an indie rock band, part of the music scene of Athens, Georgia.  The Side Effects debuted in 1980, alongside other local performers like R.E.M.. Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1990s continued to develop and diversify.  While the singles charts were dominated by boy bands and girl groups, British soul and Indian-based music also enjoyed their greatest level of mainstream success to date, and the rise of World music helped revitalise the popularity of folk music.  Electronic rock bands like The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers began to achieve a high profile.  Alternative rock reached the mainstream, emerging from the Madchester scene to produce dream pop, shoegazing, post rock and indie pop, which led to the commercial success of Britpop bands like Blur and Oasis; followed by a stream of post-Britpop bands like Travis and Feeder. This is a list of rock music genres consisting of subgenres of popular music that have roots in 1940s' and 1950s' rock and roll, and which developed into a distinct identity as rock music in the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States.  By the late 1960s, a number of identifiable rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock, folk rock, country rock, and jazz-rock fusion, many of which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock influenced by the counter-cultural psychedelic scene.  New genres that emerged from this scene included progressive rock, which extended the artistic elements; glam rock, which highlighted showmanship and visual style; and the diverse and enduring major subgenre of heavy metal, which emphasized volume, power, and speed.  In the second half of the 1970s, punk rock both intensified and reacted against some of these trends to produce a raw, energetic form of music characterized by overt political and social critiques.  Punk was an influence into the 1980s on the subsequent development of other subgenres, including new wave, post-punk and eventually the alternative rock movement.  From the 1990s alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break through into the mainstream in the form of grunge, Britpop, and indie rock.  Further fusion subgenres have since emerged as well as conscious attempts to revisit rock's history. The music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock and new wave.  The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M. and The B-52s, C Fresh, and several long-time indie /rock hip-hop groups.  Athens hosts the Athens Symphony Orchestra and other music institutions, as well as prominent local music media, such as the college radio station WUOG.  Much of the modern Athens music scene relies on students from the large University of Georgia campus in the city.  The University sponsors Western classical performances and groups specializing in other styles. Georgia's musical history is diverse and substantial; the state's musicians include Southern rap groups such as Outkast and Goodie Mob, as well as a wide variety of rock, pop, blues, and country artists such as Ray Charles, Otis Redding, James Brown, and The Allman Brothers Band.  The music of Athens, Georgia is especially well known for a kind of quirky college rock that has included such well-known bands as R.E.M., The B-52's, and Pylon. R.E.M. was an American rock band that formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by lead singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry.  One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Stipe's particular vocal quality and obscure lyrics, Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style, and Mills' melodic basslines and backing vocals.  R.E.M. released its first single—"Radio Free Europe"—in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone.  The single was followed by the "Chronic Town" EP in 1982, the band's first release on I.R.S. Records.  In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album, "Murmur", and built its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, and the support of college radio.  Following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single "The One I Love".  The group signed to Warner Bros.  Records in 1988, and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide. Pylon were an American rock band from Athens, Georgia.  The band's danceable sound, a blend of new wave, post-punk, jangle pop, alternative rock and funk rock, influenced the Athens music scene and the 1980s American pop underground.  AllMusic wrote that Pylon's "role as elder statesmen of the alternative rock explosion is unassailable".
Answer: Michael Stipe