Stipe was a source of emotional support for Cobain's widow, Courtney Love , who has insisted that Stipe and her husband once slept together. But for all his famous friends and celebrity, Stipe has steadfastly maintained his privacy. I think AIDS hysteria would obviously and naturally extend to people who are media figures and anybody of indecipherable sexuality. He rocks the vote, the environment, and animal rights. Stipe required a hernia operation, drummer Bill Berry endured brain surgery after suffering an aneurysm onstage, and bassist Mike Mills underwent abdominal surgery.
Good bands hit and fade.
Great bands, like R.E.M. endure. I'd go see us live. I would be irritated by me every now and then, but I think I would like us a lot. The split was an amicable one, and although they had been quoted throughout the years as saying that if one member left R.E.M., they would call it a day, the remaining members decided to forge ahead without him. We also said, probably more often than that, that we would do this until it wasn't fun anymore.