Mike Mills
Background information
Birth name	Michael Edward Mills
Born	December 17, 1958 (1958-12-17) (age 49) Orange County, California
Genre(s)	Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Musician Songwriter Producer
Instrument(s)	Bass Vocals Acoustic guitar Electric guitar Piano
Years active	1980 - present
Associated acts	R.E.M. Hindu Love Gods The Backbeat Band Automatic Baby

Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958 in Orange County, California) is the bass player of the band R.E.M. Though known primarily as a bassist and piano player, his musical repertoire includes many other keyboard, guitar, string, wind and percussion instruments. He also contributes to much of the band's songwriting. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (812x1024, 118 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Mike Mills ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Cities in Orange County Orange County is a county in Southern California, United States. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alternative music redirects here. ... “Instrumentalist” redirects here. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... A sunburst-colored Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... A steel string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. ... An electric guitar An electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into electrical current, which is then amplified. ... A short grand piano, with the lid up. ... // January 1 - The year starts off with a strong disco backlash, which causes the majority of musicians to abandon the use of real instruments in an attempt to distant themselves from anything associated with disco. ... Present redirects here. ... R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 by Bill Berry (drums), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass guitar), and Michael Stipe (vocals). ... Hindu Love Gods formed in Athens, GA in 1984. ... Backbeat is a 1994 movie that chronicles the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany. ... Automatic Baby is the name that half of the members of R.E.M._(band) and U2 performed under at MTVs Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 1993. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Cities in Orange County Orange County is a county in Southern California, United States. ... A sunburst-colored Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 by Bill Berry (drums), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass guitar), and Michael Stipe (vocals). ...

Biography

Early life

As a young boy, he moved with his family to Macon, Georgia and attended Mount de Sales in the early '60s. Mills' father Frank was a singer whose appearances included The Ed Sullivan Show, while his mother Adora was a piano teacher, which helped him develop a love of music at an early age. He met and formed a band with drummer friend Bill Berry in high school. They met Peter Buck, Michael Stipe, and Joe Thomas, a musical influence from the University of Georgia, after starting at the University of Georgia in Athens. Macon is a city located in central Georgia, USA. It is among the largest metropolitan areas in Georgia, and the county seat of Bibb County, It lies near the geographic center of Georgia, approximately 75 miles (129 km) south of Atlanta, hence the citys nickname as the Heart of... Mount de Sales Academy can refer to more than one school: Mount de Sales Academy, the school in Georgia Mount de Sales Academy, the school in Maryland The schools are not affilliated with each other. ... The Ed Sullivan Show was an American television variety show that ran from June 20, 1948 to June 6, 1971, and was hosted by former entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. ... William Bill Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) was the drummer in alternative rock band R.E.M. for 17 years, before retiring from the group and becoming a farmer. ... Peter Lawrence Buck (born 6 December 1956 in Berkeley, California) is the guitarist and co-founder, along with Bill Berry, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe of the alternative rock band R.E.M. // After spending time in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Buck family moved to Atlanta, Georgia. ... REDIRECT Template:Infobox Musician John Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960 in Decatur, Georgia) is the lead singer of the American rock band R.E.M. Stipe has become well-known (and occasionally parodied) for the mumbling style of his early career and for his complex, surreal lyrics, as well... The University of Georgia (UGA) is the largest institution of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. ... For other uses, see Athens (disambiguation). ...

R.E.M.

Mills, Berry, Buck and Stipe decided to drop out of University and focus on their band, now named R.E.M. The band quickly developed a following and were soon signed to I.R.S. Records. I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the US in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. ...

He is responsible for the songwriting of some of R.E.M.'s songs, including "Find the River", "At My Most Beautiful", "Why Not Smile", "Let Me In", "Wendell Gee", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", "Beat a Drum", "Be Mine" and "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?". In addition to providing backing melodies, he has also sung lead vocals on "Texarkana", "Near Wild Heaven", The Clique cover "Superman" and The Troggs cover, "Love Is All Around". Find the River was the sixth and final single off of R.E.M.s eighth studio album Automatic for the People. ... At My Most Beautiful is a song by R.E.M. and the third single from the album Up. ... Wendell Gee was the third and final single issued by R.E.M. from their third studio album Fables of the Reconstruction in 1985. ... (Dont Go Back To) Rockville was the second and final single released by R.E.M. from their second studio album Reckoning. ... Whats the Frequency, Kenneth? is a song by the rock group R.E.M. from their 1994 album Monster. ... Near Wild Heaven was the third single released from R.E.M.s seventh studio album Out of Time in 1991. ... The Clique are a late 1960s U.S. sunshine pop band from Austin, Texas. ... Superman is a song recorded by R.E.M. from their fourth album, 1986s Lifes Rich Pageant. ... The Troggs were a successful English rock band of the 1960s, who had a number of hits in Britain and America, including their most famous song, Wild Thing. The Troggs were from the town of Andover in southern England. ...

A close-up of Mills' bass guitar.

Mills was arrested for indecent exposure in Athens in the early 1980s, known in R.E.M. lore as "the water tower incident".

Mills is also known for his collection of Nudie suits that he often wears on stage, and were first seen in the 1994 video for "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and then regularly on the subsequent 1995 Monster Tour. Gram Parsons wearing a Nudie Suit Nudie Suit is a brand name of rhinestone- and spangle-decorated cowboy attire worn by many popular country music artists from the 1940s until Nudie Cohens death in 1984. ... Whats the Frequency, Kenneth? is a song by the rock group R.E.M. from their 1994 album Monster. ...

Recent album Around the Sun was received with huge media criticism. Mike Mills' influence was arguably greater on that album than ever before, with his piano lines and keyboards coming to the fore far more than the guitar playing of Peter Buck. His background vocals have become increasingly mixed into the background, and this has been the case since 2003's "Animal". Some would suggest that Buck's songwriting may be somewhat diluted in R.E.M., and that he focuses greatly on various side projects, leaving Mills to write more than ever. Around the Sun is an album by R.E.M. released in 2004. ... Animal is a single released by R.E.M. It was one of two new songs recorded for the bands Warner Brothers Records best of album, In Time - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, and was released as a single in support of the album. ...

Other work

Mills co-produced (along with Mitch Easter) Hermitage, the 1987 album by the Virginia-based band Waxing Poetics. Mitch Easter producing Game Theorys Lolita Nation. ...

In late 2003, Mills briefly joined the "Tell Us the Truth" tour, an anti-war, anti-Bush administration collaboration with Tom Morello (guitarist for Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine, who, like Mills, did a solo acoustic set), Jill Sobule, Steve Earle, Janeane Garofalo, Billy Bragg, and others. Tom Morello (born May 30, 1964, as Thomas Baptist Morello) is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist of the band Rage Against the Machine. ... For the bands self-titled album, see Audioslave (album). ... Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1991. ... Jill Sobule and Lloyd Cole during a concert in Seattle Jill Sobule (born January 16, 1961 in Denver, Colorado) is an American singer-songwriter best known for the controversial 1995 song I Kissed a Girl, and for Supermodel from the soundtrack of the hit 1995 film Clueless. ... Steve Earle (born Stephen Fain Earle January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, well known for his rock and country music, as well as for his political views. ... Janeane Garofalo (born September 28, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist, writer and former co-host on Air America Radios The Majority Report. ... Stephen William Bragg (born December 20, 1957 in Essex, England), better known as Billy Bragg, is an English musician who blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs. ...

In March 1999, Mills defeated over one thousand other entrants in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's annual "Final Four Fiasco" contest by correctly picking the final four teams in the 1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta and its suburbs. ... The 1999 NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of mens NCAA Division I college basketball. ...

Mills also recorded a piano part for the song "Soma" from The Smashing Pumpkins' 1993 album Siamese Dream The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... Siamese Dream is the second album for alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. ...

Personal life

Mills has one son, Julian, born in 1989. Mills introduced Julian during a show at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, Colorado, in 1999. Julian was present at R.E.M.'s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007, at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel as well as the Georgia Music Hall of Fame induction in 2006.

Mills' father, Frank, died on September 25, 2001, at the age of 65. A singer whose appearances included The Ed Sullivan Show, he had recently retired to Lake Oconee in Greene County, reported Online Athens at the time. In addition to singing, Mr. Mills had been a pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps. He was laid to rest four days later at the First Methodist Church of Greensboro, Georgia.

In February 2005, Mills fell ill with an ear infection moments before beginning a concert in Sheffield, England. As Mills is noted as a very mild-mannered and gregarious individual, his doctor jokingly remarked to him, during his stay at the hospital: "You call yourself a rock star? You've been here three nights and you haven't smashed your room up yet!"

External links

• Mike Mills at the Internet Movie Database