Michael Stipe joined actor Michael Shannon and indie rock veteran Jason Narducy onstage to perform R.E.M.’s “These Days” and “The Great Beyond” at New York City’s Brooklyn Steel on Saturday night, marking the first time the former R.E.M. frontman has played either song live in 18 years.
Shannon and Narducy are currently touring the United States on an R.E.M. tribute run celebrating the 40th anniversary of Lifes Rich Pageant. And really, what better way to honor the band than by having Stipe himself show up? When he stepped onstage, the crowd went absolutely bonkers. Stipe grabbed the microphone, made a joke, and spoke about how meaningful it was to hear others take on the songs. “You can’t imagine how insane it is to hear these songs performed by people so talented,” he said. “I’ve always been right in the middle of the songs, so to hear them is really fucking surreal.”
Stipe previously joined Shannon and Narducy at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, in 2024. At the time, he didn’t sing — but he did appear with the rest of his R.E.M. bandmates who were onstage together for the first time in 17 years. That same year, R.E.M. staged a reunion performance at their Songwriters Hall of Fame induction.
In 2025, Stipe hit the stage with Shannon and Narducy to perform “Pretty Persuasion” in Athens and Brooklyn.
Shannon and Narducy’s tour to celebrate R.E.M’s Lifes Rich Pageant is on its tail end after kicking off on February 11th in Denver. There are six more shows left at the time of this writing, with stops in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago (twice), Minneapolis, and Bloomington.
