"Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in February 1991 by Warner Bros. as the first single and the second track from the group's seventh album, Out of Time (1991). Built on a mandolin riff, it was written by lead singer Michael Stipe and is about unrequited love. The song was an unlikely hit for the group, garnering extensive airplay on radio as well as on MTV and VH1 due to its critically acclaimed music video, directed by Tarsem Singh. The single became R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the United States, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and expanding the group's popularity beyond its original fan-base. At the 1992 Grammy Awards, "Losing My Religion" won two awards: Best Short Form Music Video and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. In 2017, "Losing My Religion" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Losing My Religion
Peter Buck playing Losing My Religion with his mandolin.
R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style; Stipe's distinctive vocal quality, unique stage presence, and obscure lyrics; Mills's melodic bass lines and backing vocals; and Berry's tight, economical drumming style. In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left the band in 1997, the band continued its career in the 2000s with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011 with members devoting time to solo projects after having sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music acts.
R.E.M. performing in 2003. From left to right: Mike Mills (partially cropped), Michael Stipe, touring drummer Bill Rieflin, and Peter Buck
The church steeple of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in 2015; this is all that remains of where members of R.E.M. lived briefly and performed their first concert on April 5, 1980.
Mitch Easter (near left) was R.E.M.'s producer until 1984, helping to define the band's early sound.
Michael Stipe (left) and Peter Buck (right) on stage in Ghent, Belgium, during R.E.M.'s 1985 tour