Conversation so far:
How did the band R.E.M form?
Peter Buck met Michael Stipe in Wuxtry Records. Through mutual friend Kathleen O'Brien, Stipe and Buck met Bill Berry and Mike Mills/. The quartet agreed to collaborate on several songs
What was R.E.M's first song?
During April 1981, R.E.M. recorded its first single, Radio Free Europe, at producer Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studios in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
How did the R.E.M. song Radio Free Europe do on the charts?
Radio Free Europe peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
what was R.E.M's first album?
Murmur is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M.
Is there anything interesting about R.E.M's formation?
After considering names such as Cans of Piss, Negro Eyes, and Twisted Kites, the band settled on R.E.M., which Michael Stipe selected at random from a dictionary.

Question: Were they all students at the time?
Self-contained rewrite: Where R.E.M's band members students at the time R.E.M. formed?