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Berry Back Briefly with R.E.M.
09/06/2006 6:55 PM, E! Online
Josh Grossberg
Won't you come home, Bill Berry?
The former R.E.M.
drummer, who officially retired from the alt-rock outfit in 1997, has
confirmed plans to reunite with his former band mates when R.E.M. is
inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on Sept. 16 in Atlanta, the
group's publicist told E! Online Wednesday.
Berry, 48,
will be back behind the kit when R.E.M. performs a three-song set at the
ceremony. But fans shouldn't expect anything beyond the one-off gig.
"People shouldn't take literally that he's rejoining the
band," R.E.M. spokeswoman Bertis Downs said. "They're playing together
only for the induction ceremony which will be three songs. We're all
very much looking forward to it."
Downs says Berry will
join singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills
in rehearsals next week, at which point they'll decide what songs they
plan on playing.
Berry decided to leave R.E.M. for good
nearly a decade ago after suffering a brain aneurysm during the Georgia
rockers' 1995 Monster.
Following his departure, the
Grammy winners carried on as a three-piece, using drum machines on their
1998 release, Up, and a rotating crew of session drummers in the
studio and on subsequent tours.
Since then, Berry has
gotten back together with the band only three times.
In
October 2003, he turned up at an R.E.M. show in Raleigh, North Carolina,
lending backing vocals to "Radio Free Europe" and getting behind the
toms for a rendition of an early chestnut, "Permanent Vacation."
In October 2005, Berry joined the band for a seven-song set
of early tunes at the wedding of R.E.M. guitar tech Dewitt Burton, and
then in April of this year, he played bass with Buck's side band, the
Minus 5, in a performance of "Country Feedback" at a concert in R.E.M.'s
hometown of Athens, Georgia. Stipe and Mills, who were also in
attendance, joined in.
Other than those appearances, Berry
has spent the majority of his time enjoying the quiet, rural life down
on his Georgia farm.
"Bill's retired and maintains a close
friendship with all the guys in the band, but he's very happy," said
Downs.
While never officially replacing Berry, R.E.M.
recently hired a new full-time drummer, Bill Rieflin, late of industrial
metal band Ministry.
Before their induction into the
Georgia Music Hall of Fame next week, the band will release on Tuesday a
two-CD and DVD anthology chronicling their early years on IRS Records.
And I Feel Fine: The Best of the IRS Years, 1982-1987 features
classic cuts like "Radio Free Europe," "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville,"
"Fall on Me," The One I Love" and "It's The End Of The World As We Know
It (And I Feel Fine)" along with a full disc of rare tracks, outtakes,
live songs, demos and alternative versions. The DVD contains the bands
music videos, TV appearances and interviews.
After the
induction, R.E.M. will head back into the studio sans Berry to record
their 14th studio album, a follow-up to 2004's underwhelming Around
the Sun.
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