Tender may refer to something which has Tenderness, or:

Transportation

Tender (rail), a type of railroad car hauled immediately after the locomotive and used to carry fuel and water

Water tender, fire truck tanker

Boats/ships

One of several types of boat or ship, all sharing the general function of servicing another type of air or sea vessel:

Buoy tender, used to maintain Aids to Navigation (Aton) including buoys

Lighthouse tender, used to tend lighthouses and, later, buoys

Destroyer tender

Luxury yacht tender

Seaplane tender

Submarine tender

Motor torpedo boat tender, used to service motor torpedo boats

Ship's tender, used to transport people and supplies to and from a large ship

Dive tender, another name for a diving support vessel

Finance

Legal tender, a term for currency

Tender offer, used to propose a buyout of a public company

Business

Request for tender, a structured invitation by governments or government agencies to suppliers for the supply of goods or services

* Tendering, or public procurement, a way in which bodies governed by public law buy what they need for their activities

* Tender, a supplier's offer for a contract

Organizations

Tender (Until the Violence Stops), London-based charity that works to prevent domestic and sexual violence

Music

''Tender'' (Wishbone Ash album), a 2008 compilation

"Tender" (song) by Blur

"Shatter / Tender" by Feeder

"Love Me Tender" (song) by Elvis Presley

Love for Tender, song by Elvis Costello from the ''Get Happy!!'' album

"Here's the Tender Coming" (2009), a song by The Unthanks

Food

Chicken tender

See also

"Tenderly", song

Tenderfoot (disambiguation)

Tenderloin (disambiguation)

Tenderness (disambiguation)

Tendernob, area in San Francisco, California, US

Tenderpreneur

Tendre, fictional French country

''Tendrement'', 2002 French pop music album by Lorie

Tend (disambiguation) TenDRA, C/C++ compiler for POSIX-compatible operating systems,tender tiger

bs:Tender (čvor) cs:Tendr de:Tender fr:Tender it:Tender lt:Tenderis nl:Tender ja:テンダー ro:Tender ru:Тендер sk:Tender sr:Тендер

name	Natalie Merchant
background	solo_singer
birth name	Natalie Anne Merchant
born	October 26, 1963Jamestown, New York, USA
instrument	Vocals, keyboard, piano
occupation	Musician, Songwriter
years active	1981–present
label	Elektra RecordsMyth America RecordsNonesuch/Elektra Records
associated acts	10,000 ManiacsMichael Stipe
website	NatalieMerchant.com }}

Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.

Early life

Natalie Merchant was born October 26, 1963 in Jamestown, New York, the third of four children of Anthony and Ann Merchant. Her paternal grandfather, who played the accordion, mandolin and guitar, emigrated to the United States from Sicily; his surname was "Mercante" before it was Anglicized. Her maternal grandfather, a cartoonist, piano tuner and member of a barbershop quartet, was Irish. Her parents divorced when she was eight years old, and her mother later remarried.

When Merchant was a child, her mother listened to music (Beatles, Al Green, Aretha Franklin) and encouraged her children to study music, but she wouldn't allow TV after Natalie was 12. "I was taken to the symphony a lot because my mother loved classical music. But I was dragged to see Styx when I was 12. We had to drive 100 miles to Buffalo, New York. Someone threw up next to me and people were smoking pot. It was terrifying. I remember Styx had a white piano which rose out of the stage. It was awe-inspiring and inspirational." "She [her mother] had show tunes, she had the soundtrack from ''West Side Story'' and ''South Pacific''. And then eventually... she'd always liked classical music and then she married a jazz musician, so that's the kind of music I was into. I never really had friends who sat around and listened to the stereo and said 'hey, listen to this one', so I'd never even heard of who Bob Dylan was until I was 18." During 1988–1989, Natalie claimed she still didn't have a TV: "I grew up in a house where no one watched the news on television and no one read the paper. I've been discovering these things as I get older, and the news has affected me more than it ever has before."

At 16, Merchant left high school and started working in a health food store. In 1981 she started singing for a band called Still Life, which was to become 10,000 Maniacs.

Career

10,000 Maniacs

Merchant was lead singer and primary lyricist for 10,000 Maniacs, joining in its infancy in 1981 while she was a student at Jamestown Community College. The group recorded their album "Human Conflict Number Five" and performed a corresponding Music video at The Hotel Franklin and at Group W Westinghouse studios (Jamestown, New York) in 1982. Merchant sang lead vocals, and later played the piano as well, for 10,000 Maniacs for seven studio albums. In 1993 she announced that she was leaving the group.

''Tigerlily'' (1995)

Merchant has said in interviews that after her split with 10,000 Maniacs she was so eager to begin writing her own material that she went home that very day and composed the song "I May Know the Word", which was originally meant to appear on the soundtrack to the Tom Hanks movie ''Philadelphia''. The song was eventually cut from the soundtrack, but it would go on to appear on Merchant's debut solo album, ''Tigerlily'', which was released on the Elektra label in 1995. Merchant chose to name the album ''Tigerlily'' as she felt it captured the feel of the album, which she described as both "fierce" and "delicate".

The third song on the album, "Beloved Wife", was featured as the first song in the trailer for the movie ''Message in a Bottle''.

Seeking creative control, Merchant chose to fund ''Tigerlily'' herself, refusing the advance from the record company. She also wanted to work with a core-group of young musicians who she felt would be enthusiastic about the music. The group would consist of guitarist Jennifer Turner, bassist Barrie Maguire, and former-Wallflower and eventual boyfriend to Merchant, Peter Yanowitz, who played drums on the album and who continued to do so with Merchant until their abrupt split in 2000.

''Tigerlily'' was a critical and commercial success, spawning her first top-ten hit in the single "Carnival", and achieving top-40 success with subsequent singles "Wonder" and "Jealousy". The album would go on to sell over 5 million copies, and continues to be Merchant’s most successful album to date. Merchant did extensive touring for the album and made numerous television appearances, including performances on ''SNL'', The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and all late-night talk shows. The media's immediate and critical impact on culture and cultural icons was of particular interest to Merchant. In "River", a song from Tigerlily, Merchant defends River Phoenix as she castigates the media for systematically dissecting the child actor after his death. Much of their emphasis was on Phoenix' suspected drug-using lifestyle. In "River," Merchant asks, "Why don't you let him be / Give his mother and father peace." Merchant's anger is later replaced with quiet reflection, asking, "It was such a nightmare raving, 'How could we save him from himself?'"

''Ophelia'' (1998–1999)

Three years passed before Merchant would release her second solo effort, ''Ophelia''. While ''Tigerlily'' contained a lot of sparse instrumentation, the music on ''Ophelia'' featured plenty of lush symphonic arrangements composed and conducted by British composer Gavin Bryars. Merchant treated the recording of ''Ophelia'' as a series of workshops, where she would invite various musicians she had met over the years into her home studio to collaborate and record. In the end, 30 different musicians featured on the album, among them Brand New Heavies frontwoman N'Dea Davenport (with whom she duets on the song ''Break Your Heart''), famed trumpet player Chris Botti, and the husband and wife duo, Don and Karen Peris, from the band The Innocence Mission.

While ''Ophelia'' is not a concept record in the traditional sense, the album-cycle saw Merchant flexing her creative muscles in surprising ways. The name of the album and the title track are a literary reference to Shakespeare's Ophelia, who in the play ''Hamlet'' becomes mad and eventually commits suicide when Hamlet remains non-committal and lost in himself. Merchant's ''Ophelia'' describes a series of women throughout time—women who dared question the patriarchal status quo and who were often castigated for doing so—and is a cry for women's rights and for more understanding of female archetypes beyond the scope of the "mother" and the "whore", both of which severely limit women and attempt to turn them into little more than chattel. The portrayal of the women in the song is a tribute to the non-traditional, the "too smart for her own good" type of woman who is often misunderstood by society. As a lyric to the title song cries: "Your common sense, your best defense, was wasted and in vain!" A reflection of women driven mad by social limitations, Natalie's tribute described Ophelia as being at once a "novice carmelite," a "suffragette," a "circus queen," a "demigoddess" and a "mafia courtesan." The album sleeve saw Merchant pictured in colorful and ornate costumes as each of these different characters. As a companion to the album, she also released a film where she portrays each of these different characters, with voice-overs used for the "novice carmelite," the "sweetheart" and the "courtesan" as they are Spanish, German and Italian, respectively.

The first single off the album was a happy and uncharacteristically simple song called "Kind and Generous", which received massive airplay on VH1 and which solidified Merchant's role as a bona fide solo artist. That summer, Sarah McLachlan invited Merchant to co-headline the year's biggest music festival with her, Lilith Fair. The exposure from the tour helped the album reach Platinum status in just under a year, with subsequent singles "Break Your Heart" and "Life Is Sweet" receiving moderate airplay on adult contemporary stations. No video was filmed for the latter, however, with a clip from Merchant's appearance on VH1's ''Storytellers'' being used instead. She would also go on to appear on PBS' ''Sessions at West 54th'' and VH1's ''Hard Rock Live'' before the year's end. In 1998, Merchant also recorded George Gershwin's "But Not for Me" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album ''Red Hot + Rhapsody'', a tribute to George Gershwin, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

The ''Ophelia'' tour ended in 1999 with the final few shows being performed and recorded on Broadway. The performance would be released as the album ''Natalie Merchant: Live in Concert'' with a companion video of the same name. The performance was notable in that it featured numerous covers including songs by David Bowie, Neil Young, and the Breton-Welsh singer-songwriter Katell Keineg.

American Folk Music Tour (2000)

In 2000, Merchant embarked on a folk tour in the United States with many shows being supported by alt-country band Wilco.

Merchant's next studio album on the Elektra label was ''Motherland'', released in 2001. ''Motherland'' saw Merchant at her most experimental musically. ''Motherland'' achieved Gold on the Billboard charts after debuting at No. 30 on the Billboard 200 and No. 13 on the Top Internet Albums of 2001, respectively. Rolling Stone favored this album with 3½ stars, and also noticed a difference in Merchant's voice, which was more deep and gritty than her previous albums. Singles that were released from ''Motherland'' were Just Can't Last, Build a Levee and Tell Yourself.

Merchant embarked on a year and a half world tour to promote ''Motherland''. The first leg of the tour started in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 17, 2001, trekking all over the United States, and then heading to Europe with some special acoustic shows in Europe. Merchant also participated in the Rock am Ring Festival and Rock im Park in 2002. In the summer of 2002, she was paired with Chris Isaak and both played at stadiums and arenas.

''The House Carpenter's Daughter'' (2003)

After her contract with Elektra expired in August 2002, Merchant decided not to sign with them again, or any other major label. Her next studio album, ''The House Carpenter's Daughter'', was released in September 2003 on her own label, Myth America Records. To date this has been the only release on Myth America.

''Leave Your Sleep'' (2010)

In October 2009, the official websites of Nonesuch Records and Natalie Merchant announced that she had signed with the label. ''Leave Your Sleep'' was released on April 13, 2010 and is a compilation of five years of inspiration from a "conversation" with her daughter over the "first 6 years of her life." The album debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at No. 17, Billboard Folk Albums at No. 1, Amazon.com at No.1, and ITunes, No. 3. The album was co-produced by Grammy winning Andres Levin.

Personal life

Merchant is married to Daniel de la Calle and has a daughter named Lucia. She likes gardening and painting. Some paintings can be seen at her official website.

She has been a vegetarian since 1980, save for the duration of her pregnancy when she temporarily resumed eating meat. In 1997, she said:

"The '60s aesthetic has never really appealed to me, the tie-dyed Deadhead running barefoot through the forest on LSD. I don't think that's really me. But I've been a vegetarian for 17 years and I consider myself an environmentalist in as much as I can be, considering the job that I have. I prefer living in the countryside rather than the city; I find it more sane and sustaining for myself..."

Discography

With 10,000 Maniacs

''Human Conflict Number Five'' (1982)

''Secrets of the I Ching'' (1983)

''The Wishing Chair'' (1985)

''In My Tribe'' (1987)

''Blind Man's Zoo'' (1989)

''Hope Chest: The Fredonia Recordings 1982-1983'' (1990)

''Our Time in Eden'' (1992)

''MTV Unplugged'' (1993)

''Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings'' (2004)

Solo

1995: ''Tigerlily''

1998: ''Ophelia''

2001: ''Motherland''

2003: ''The House Carpenter's Daughter''

2010: ''Leave Your Sleep''

Filmography

Films

One Fine Day Ophelia Bringing Out the Dead Natalie Merchant: Live in Concert When in Rome Cheaper by the Dozen Purgatory House Candida Earthlings

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
1990	Time Capsule	Herself (Vocals, Piano, Organ)
1996	|	Performer "One Fine Day"	Soundtrack
1998	|	Performer	Short Film
1999	|	Performer/Writer: "These Are Days"	Soundtrack
1999	|	Herself (Vocals, Piano)	Live Concert Video
2002	|	Performer/Writer: "These Are Days"	Soundtrack
2003	|	Performer/Writer: "These Are Days"	Soundtrack
2004	|	Performer/Writer: "My Skin"	Soundtrack
2006	|	Performer/Writer: "Motherland"	Soundtrack
2007	|	Composer	Documentary

Television

Saturday Night Live MTV Unplugged Rock & Roll Inaugural Ball MTV VMAS Concert for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Saturday Night Live Sessions at West 54th Saturday Night Live Hard Rock Live VH1 Storytellers Sessions at West 54th Man in the Sand Late Night with Conan O'Brien Lifetime's Intimate Portrait ABC 2000: The Millennium Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words & Music Up Close and Personal Austin City Limits Go Further Good Morning America

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
1990	MTV Unplugged	Herself (as 10,000 Maniacs)
1992	|	Herself (as 10,000 Maniacs)	(NBC) Aired 31 October 1992; songs: Candy Everybody Wants and These Are Days
1993	|	Herself (as 10,000 Maniacs)	First artist to make 2nd appearance
1993	|	Herself (as 10,000 Maniacs)
1993	|	Herself–Presenter	TV Special
1995	|	Herself–Performer	Sang "I Know How to Do It"
1995	|	Herself–Performer	(NBC) Host David Schwimmer
1997	|	Herself–Performer	(PBS) "Planctus" with Philip Glass
1998	|	Herself–Performer	(NBC) Host Matthew Broderick
1998	|	Herself–Performer	VH1
1998	|	Herself–Performer	Later released as DVD
1998	|	Herself–Performer	(NBC) Host David Byrne
1999	|	Herself	Video Documentary
1999	|	Musical Guest	(NBC) "Life Is Sweet"
1999	|	Herself	Biographical
2000	|	Herself–Performer	"Kind and Generous"
2001	|	Herself–Performer	"Nowhere Man"
2001	|	Herself–Performer	Oxygen
2002	|	Herself–Performer	PBS
2003	|	Herself	Documentary
2010	|	Herself–Performer	ABC News

Talk Shows !! Years
The Late Show with David Letterman:	1995, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2001, 2004
The Rosie O'Donnell Show:	1996, 1996, 1998, 1998, 1999, 1999, 2001, 2002
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno:	1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2010

References

External links

Natalie Merchant at the Ectophile's Guide to Good Music

Launch's page on Merchant

Natalie Merchant interview at musicOMH

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:10,000 Maniacs members Category:American contraltos Category:American female singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Female rock singers Category:Feminist artists Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:People from Jamestown, New York Category:American vegetarians Category:Elektra Records artists Category:Nonesuch Records artists Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American vibraphonists Category:Musicians from New York Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American folk singers Category:Folk pianists Category:American rock pianists Category:People from Ridgefield, Connecticut

de:Natalie Merchant et:Natalie Merchant es:Natalie Merchant fa:ناتالی مرچنت fr:Natalie Merchant it:Natalie Merchant he:נטלי מרצ'נט nl:Natalie Merchant pt:Natalie Merchant fi:Natalie Merchant sv:Natalie Merchant

name	Michael Stipe
background	solo_singer
birth name	John Michael Stipe
born	January 04, 1960Decatur, Georgia, United States
genre	Alternative rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter, producer, film producer, television producer, blogger extraordinaire
years active	1980–present
instrument	Vocals, harmonica, guitar, synthesizer, melodica
associated acts	R.E.M.Automatic BabyPlaceboKristin HershNatalie MerchantThe Golden Palominos }}

John Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960) is an American singer and the lead vocalist for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe has been occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career, as well as his social and political activism. Stipe is in charge of the band's visual image, often selecting album artwork and directing many of the band's music videos. Stipe's work extends outside of the music industry: he runs his own film production companies, C-00 and Single Cell Pictures.

Life and career

Early life

Stipe was born in Decatur, Georgia on January 4, 1960. Stipe was a military brat; his father was a serviceman in the United States Army whose career resulted in frequent relocations for his family. Stipe and his family moved to various locales during his childhood, including Germany, Texas, Illinois, Alabama and Georgia. Stipe graduated from high school in Collinsville, Illinois in 1978. His senior photo is pictured in the album art work of ''Eponymous''. Stipe also worked at the local Waffle House. Stipe later enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, as an art major, studying photography and painting.

Formation of R.E.M.

While attending college in Athens, Stipe frequented the Wuxtry record shop where he met store clerk Peter Buck in 1980. "He was a striking-looking guy and he also bought weird records, which not everyone in the store did", Buck recalled. The two became friends and eventually decided to form a band. Buck and Stipe started writing music together; at the time Stipe also spent time in a local group named Gangster. The pair were soon joined by Bill Berry and Mike Mills and named themselves R.E.M., a name Stipe selected at random from a dictionary.

All four members of R.E.M. dropped out of school in 1980 to focus on the band. Stipe was the last to do so. The band issued its debut single, "Radio Free Europe", on Hib-Tone. The song was a college radio success and the band signed to I.R.S. Records for the release of the ''Chronic Town'' EP one year later. R.E.M. released its debut album ''Murmur'' in 1983, which was widely acclaimed by critics. Stipe's vocals and lyrics received particular attention from listeners. ''Murmur'' went on to win the ''Rolling Stone'' Critics Poll Album of the Year over Michael Jackson's ''Thriller''. The band's second album, ''Reckoning'', followed in 1984.

R.E.M. traveled to England to record its third album ''Fables of the Reconstruction'' (1985). The process was difficult and brought the band to the verge of break-up. Even after the album was released, relationships were tense within the band. Stipe said of the period: "I was well on my way to losing my mind". Stipe gained weight and his behaviour became more eccentric; he shaved his hair into a monk's tonsure.

Personal life

With the success of the albums ''Out of Time'' (1991) and ''Automatic for the People'' (1992), R.E.M. became mainstream music stars. Around 1992, rumors that Stipe had contracted HIV began to circulate. According to Stipe, he did not start the rumor and he does not know who did.

In 1994, with questions still swirling about his sexuality, Stipe described himself as "an equal opportunity lech," and said he did not define himself as gay, straight, or bisexual, but that he was attracted to and had relationships with both men and women. In 1995 he appeared on the cover of ''Out'' magazine. Stipe described himself as a "queer artist" in ''Time'' in 2001 and revealed that he had been in a relationship with "an amazing man" for three years at that point. Stipe reiterated this in a 2004 interview with ''Butt'' magazine. When asked if he ever declares himself as gay, Stipe stated, "I don’t. I think there’s a line drawn between gay and queer, and for me, queer describes something that’s more inclusive of the grey areas."

In 1999, author Douglas A. Martin published a novel, ''Outline of My Lover'', in which the narrator has a six-year romantic relationship with the unnamed lead singer of a successful Athens, Georgia-based rock band; the book was widely speculated, and later confirmed by its author, to have been a roman à clef based on a real relationship between Martin and Stipe. The two had previously collaborated on two books, both in 1998: ''The Haiku Year'' (for which the two had both contributed haikus) and Martin's book of poetry ''Servicing the Salamander'' (for which Stipe took the cover photograph).

Stipe was a vegetarian from 1980 to 2000.

Projects

Stipe had planned a collaboration with friend, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in 1994, partly in an attempt to lure Cobain away from his home and his drug addiction, but did not manage to compose or record anything before Cobain's death. Stipe was chosen as the godfather of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. R.E.M. wrote and recorded the song "Let Me In" from the 1994 album ''Monster'' (R.E.M. album) in tribute to Cobain

Stipe was once very close to fellow singer Natalie Merchant and has recorded a few songs with her, including one titled "Photograph" which appeared on a pro-choice benefit album titled ''Born to Choose'' and they have appeared live with Peter Gabriel singing Gabriel's single "Red Rain".

Stipe and Tori Amos became friends in the mid 1990s and recorded a duet in 1994 called "It Might Hurt a Bit" for the ''Don Juan DeMarco'' motion picture soundtrack. Both Stipe and Amos decided to keep it in the vaults, though it was later slated to appear on the Empire Records motion picture soundtrack in 1995. The song remains unreleased and unheard.

In 1998, Stipe published a collection called ''Two Times Intro: On the Road with Patti Smith.'' In 2006, Stipe released an EP that comprised six different cover versions of Joseph Arthur's "In The Sun" for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund. One version, recorded in a collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin, reached number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. Also in 2006, Stipe appeared on the song "Broken Promise" on the Placebo release ''Meds''. Continuing his non-R.E.M. work in 2006, Stipe sang the song "L'Hôtel" on the tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg titled ''Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited'' and appeared on the song "Dancing on the Lip of a Volcano" on the New York Dolls album ''One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This''.

In 2008, Stipe collaborated with Lacoste to release his own "holiday collector edition" brand of polo shirt. The design depicts a concert audience from the view of the performer on stage.

In 2011, Stipe participated in a live online Facebook chat with fans following the premiere of a new R.E.M. video on ''Dazed & Confused'''s website, Dazed Digital. The video for "Walk It Back" was taken from R.E.M.'s 15th album, ''Collapse into Now''.

Musical style

Stipe's role in the songwriting process for R.E.M. is to write lyrics and devise melodies. While each member is given an equal vote in the songwriting process, Peter Buck has conceded that Stipe, as the band's lyricist, can rarely be persuaded to follow an idea he does not favor. Stipe sings in "wailing, keening, arching vocal figures" that R.E.M. biographer David Buckley compared to Celtic folk artists and Muslim muezzin. Stipe often harmonizes with Mills in songs; in the chorus for "Stand," Mills and Stipe alternate singing lyrics, creating a dialogue. Early articles about the band focused on Stipe's singing style (described as "mumbling" by ''The Washington Post''), which often rendered his lyrics indecipherable. Stipe commented in 1984, "It's just the way I sing. If I tried to control it, it would be pretty false."

"That voice. It's an extraordinary voice," said U2's Bono in 2003. "I often tell him I think he's a crooner, and he doesn't like that very much. But it is sort of one part some sort of Bing Crosby '50s laid-back crooner, and one part Dolly Parton," he added, laughing.

Stipe insisted that many of his early lyrics were "nonsense", saying in a 1994 online chat, "You all know there aren't words, ''per se'', to a lot of the early stuff. I can't even remember them." In truth, many early R.E.M. songs had definite lyrics that Stipe wrote with care. Stipe explained in 1984 that when he started writing lyrics they were like "simple pictures", but after a year he grew tired of the approach and "started experimenting with lyrics that didn't make exact linear sense, and it's just gone from there." In the mid-1980s, as Stipe's pronunciation while singing became clearer, the band decided that its lyrics should convey ideas on a more literal level. Mills explained, "After you've made three records and you've written several songs and they've gotten better and better lyrically the next step would be to have somebody question you and say, are you saying anything? And Michael had the confidence at that point to say yes . . ." After what Stipe has referred to as "The Dark Ages of American Politics [The Reagan/Bush Years]", R.E.M. incorporated more politically oriented concerns into his lyrics on ''Document'' and ''Green''. "Our political activism and the content of the songs was just a reaction to where we were, and what we were surrounded by, which was just abject horror," Stipe said later. "In 1987 and '88 there was nothing to do but be active." While Stipe continued to write songs with political subject matter like "Ignoreland" and "Final Straw", later albums have focused on other topics. ''Automatic for the People'' dealt with "mortality and dying. Pretty turgid stuff", according to Stipe, while ''Monster'' critiqued love and mass culture.

Stipe normally does not play instruments, focusing more on his singing, but has played instruments on albums, including harmonica on ''Reckoning'', synthesizer on ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'', guitar on ''Up'' and melodica on ''Out of Time'', and has occasionally played guitar on some songs in concert.

Film and television work

In early 1987 Stipe co-founded C00 Films with Jim McKay, a mixed-media company that was "designed to channel its founder's creative talents towards the creation and promotion of alternative film works." Stipe and his producing partner, Sandy Stern, have served as executive producers on films including ''Being John Malkovich'', ''Velvet Goldmine'', and ''Man on the Moon''. He was also credited as a producer of the 2004 film ''Saved!''.

In 1998 he worked on Single Cell Pictures, a film production company which released several arthouse / indie movies.

Stipe has made a number of acting appearances on film and on television. Stipe appeared in an episode of ''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' as an ice cream man named Captain Scrummy. Stipe has appeared as himself with R.E.M. on ''Sesame Street'' playing a reworked version of "Shiny Happy People" called "Furry Happy Monsters", and appeared in an episode of ''The Simpsons'' titled "Homer the Moe", where R.E.M. was tricked into playing a show in Homer Simpson's garage. He also appeared as a guest on the Cartoon Network talk show spoof Space Ghost Coast to Coast in the episode 'Hungry'.

Stipe voiced Schnitzel the Reindeer in the 1999 movie ''Olive, the Other Reindeer''.

Stipe appeared on the BBC topical magazine-style daily television programme, "The One Show" which was broadcast in the UK on 10 March 2011.

Discography

;Albums

With The Golden Palominos: "Boy (Go)", "Omaha", and "Clustering Train" on ''Visions of Excess'' (1985); "Alive and Living Now" on ''Drunk With Passion'' (1991)

With Our Favorite Band: "Dreamin' Of Eternity" ''Saturday Nights...Sunday Mornings'' (1987)

With 10,000 Maniacs: "A Campfire Song" on ''In My Tribe'' (1987)

With the Indigo Girls : "Kid Fears" on ''Indigo Girls'' (1988); "I'll Give You My Skin" on ''Rarities'' (2005)

With Syd Straw: "Future 40's" on ''Surprise'' (1989)

With The Blue Aeroplanes: "What It Is" on ''Swagger'' (1990)

With Billy Bragg: "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood" on ''Don't Try This at Home'' (1991)

With Neneh Cherry: "Trout" on ''Homebrew'' (1992)

With Kristin Hersh: "Your Ghost" on ''Hips and Makers'' (1994)

"My Gang" on ''Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness'' (1997)

With Vic Chesnutt: "Injured Bird" on ''The End of Violence'' (1997)

With Patti Smith: "Last Call" on ''Peace & Noise'' (1997); "Glitter in Their Eyes" on ''Gung-Ho'' (2000)

With Rain Phoenix: "Happiness" on the soundtrack for the film ''Happiness'' (1998)

With Grant Lee Buffalo: "Everybody Needs a Little Sanctuary" on ''Jubilee'' (1998)

With Spacehog: "Almond Kisses" on ''The Chinese Album'' (1999)

With Utah Saints: "Sun", "Rhinoceros" and "Wiggedy Wack" on ''Two'' (2000)

With Community Trolls: "Tainted Obligation" (1983) on ''To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet'' (2002)

With Faultline: "Greenfields" on ''Your Love Means Everything'' (2002)

With 1 Giant Leap: "The Way You Dream" on ''1 Giant Leap'' (2002); ''I Have Seen Trouble'' on ''What About Me?'' (2009)

With Stéphane Pompougnac: "Clumsy" on ''Living on the Edge'' (2003)

"L'Hôtel" (Serge Gainsbourg cover) on ''Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited'' (2006)

With Placebo: "Broken Promise" on ''Meds'' (2006)

With Miguel Bosé: "Lo que hay es lo que ves" on ''Papito'' (2007)

With Maria Taylor: "Cartoons And Forever Plans" on ''LadyLuck'' (2009)

;Singles

"In the Sun" (with Chris Martin) (2006)

;Compilation albums

''Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films'' - "Opening Melody — Little April Shower" (with Natalie Merchant and Mark Bingham and The Roches)

;Production

With Vic Chesnutt: "Little (album)" (1990), "West of Rome" (1992)

With Magnapop: ''Magnapop'' (1992)

References

Buckley, David. ''R.E.M.: Fiction: An Alternative Biography''. Virgin, 2002. ISBN 1-85227-927-3

Platt, John (editor). ''The R.E.M. Companion: Two Decades of Commentary''. Schirmer, 1998. ISBN 0-02-864935-4

Notes

External links

Category:1960 births Category:American activists Category:American baritones Category:American male singers Category:American rock singers Category:Bisexual musicians Category:English-language singers Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:People from Athens, Georgia Category:People from DeKalb County, Georgia Category:R.E.M. members Category:The Golden Palominos members Category:University of Georgia people Category:American record producers Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:American vegetarians Category:People from Decatur, Georgia Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American rock songwriters Category:American musicians of European descent

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