Mike Mills

**Michael Edward** "**Mike**" **Mills** (born December 17, 1958) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for being a member of the alternative rock band,  R.E.M.. Although he usually plays bass guitar, the piano and sings, he also plays keyboards, accordion and percussion instruments. He helped write many of the band's songs.

## Life and career

Mills was born in Orange County, California. He grew up in Macon, Georgia. He went to college at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. While living in Athens, he met the other musicians who later became R.E.M.

Mills is the main composer of many of R.E.M.'s songs, including "Nightswimming", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?".

He has also played on recordings by the Indigo Girls, Warren Zevon, the Smashing Pumpkins, Jason Ringenberg and The Troggs.

Mills is a member, along with songwriters Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, and Linda Pitmon, of The Baseball Project.

In 2007, Mills was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with the other members of R.E.M.

## Discography: recordings with other artists

- 1984 – _Hindu Love Gods_ – "Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight"/"Narrator".
- 1985 – Full Time Men – _Full Time Men_ (EP), organ on "One More Time"
- 1987 – Warren Zevon – _Sentimental Hygiene_ on "Sentimental Hygiene", "Boom Boom Mancini", "The Factory", "Trouble Waiting to Happen", "Detox Mansion", "Bad Karma", "Even a Dog Can Shake Hands", and "The Heartache"
- 1987 – Waxing Poetics – _Hermitage_, production
- 1988 – Billy James – _Sixes and Sevens_, production
- 1988 – The Cynics – "What's It Gonna Be"/"Roadrunner" (live)
- 1989 – Kevn Kinney – _MacDougal Blues_
- 1989 – Indigo Girls – _Indigo Girls_, bass guitar on "Tried to Be True"
- 1989 – Vibrating Egg – _Come On in Here If You Want To_, writing and performance
- 1990 – Mike Mills wrote music for Howard Libov's short film _Men Will Be Boys_
- 1990 – Hindu Love Gods – _Hindu Love Gods_
- 1990 – Hindu Love Gods – "Raspberry Beret"
- 1991 – Nikki Sudden – _The Jewel Thief_
- 1991 – Nikki Sudden – "I Belong to You"
- 1991 – The Troggs – _Athens, Andover_
- 1991 – Robbie Robertson – _Storyville_, singing on "Shake This Town"
- 1992 – _Jane Pratt Show_, theme music
- 1993 – Automatic Baby – "One" (a U2 song)
- 1993 – The Smashing Pumpkins – _Siamese Dream_, piano on "Soma"
- 1993 – Three Walls Down – _Building Our House_, production
- 1993 – Three Walls Down – "Steps"/"Wooden Nails"/"Faith in These Times" (live)
- 1994 – _Backbeat_, movie soundtrack
- 1994 – Victoria Williams – _Loose_, vocals on "You R Loved"
- 2000 – Christy McWilson – _The Lucky One_
- 2006 – Various artists – _Big Star Small World_, bass guitar on "The Ballad of El Goodo", with Matthew Sweet
- 2006 – Mike Mills and Sally Ellyson – "Jesus Christ", a Big Star song covered for a charity single for the Red Apple Foundation
- 2007 – Mudville – _Iris Nova_, piano on "Eternity"
- 2008 – Modern Skirts – _All of Us in Our Night_, production on "Motorcade"
- 2008 – The Baseball Project – _Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails_
- 2009 – _Favorite Son_, movie soundtrack – "Gift of the Fathers"
- 2009 – Jill Hennessy – _Ghost in My Head_, backing vocals on "Erin"
- 2009 – The Baseball Project – _Homerun EP_
- 2010 – Various artists – _The Voice Project_, cover of Billy Bragg's "Sing Their Souls Back Home"
- 2011 – The Baseball Project – _Volume 2: High and Inside_
- 2011 – The Baseball Project – _The Broadside Ballads_
- 2012 – Jason Ringenberg – _Nature Jams_ – vocals on one track
- 2012 – Patterson Hood & The Downtown 13 – "After It's Gone"/"Unspoken Pretties" – performance on A-side, single released for Record Store Day
- 2014 – The Baseball Project – _3rd_

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Mike Mills
- **image**: MikeMills.jpg
- **caption**: Mike Mills in 2008
- **background**: solo_singer
- **birth name**: Michael Edward Mills
- **birth place**: Orange County, California, Orange County, California, U.S.
- **genre**: Alternative rock, college rock, jangle pop
- **occupation**: Musician, composer, producer
- **years active**: 1980–present
- **label**: I.R.S. Records, I.R.S., Warner Bros. Records, Warner Bros.
- **instrument**: Guitar, vocals, piano, accordion, percussion
- **associated acts**: R.E.M. (band), R.E.M., Hindu Love Gods (band), Hindu Love Gods, The Backbeat Band, Automatic Baby