{"id":2387863,"date":"2026-04-24T19:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2387863"},"modified":"2026-04-24T19:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:21:13","slug":"watch-r-e-m-s-michael-stipe-perform-soulful-new-solo-song-the-rest-of-ever-on-colbert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/watch-r-e-m-s-michael-stipe-perform-soulful-new-solo-song-the-rest-of-ever-on-colbert\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch R.E.M.&#8217;s Michael Stipe perform soulful new solo song &#8216;The Rest Of Ever&#8217; on &#8216;Colbert&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/r-e-m\">R.E.M.<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/michael-stipe\">Michael Stipe<\/a> has given a live debut to a new solo song \u2018The Rest Of Ever\u2019 on <i>The Late Show\u00a0With\u00a0Stephen Colbert<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 watch below.<\/p>\n<p>The legendary singer\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/michael-stipe-offers-update-on-his-debut-solo-album-i-have-a-deadline-now-3552487\">has been working on his first full solo album for several years<\/a>\u00a0and while he has said in recent weeks that\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/r-e-m-s-michael-stipe-gives-update-on-debut-solo-album-its-taken-longer-than-i-wanted-3934675\">it has taken \u201clonger than I wanted\u201d<\/a>,\u00a0he has\u00a0said\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/trees-sea-shanties-and-daft-punk-r-e-m-s-michael-stipe-on-adding-the-finishing-touches-to-his-debut-solo-album-3942163\">he is\u00a0now adding the\u00a0finishing touches\u00a0to the record<\/a>, and has said it should be out in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday (April 23), Stipe appeared on Colbert to play the never-before-heard song \u2018The Rest\u00a0Of\u00a0Ever\u2019, alongside the house band Louis Cato and The\u00a0Great Big Joy Machine.<\/p>\n<p>The mature, contemplative track sounds like a slower-tempo version of an outtake from R.E.M.\u2019s \u2018Monster\u2019, with Stipe earnestly addressing a loved one, embracing the deep huskiness of his current vocal register.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the performance here:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;THE REST OF EVER&quot; - Michael Stipe (LIVE on The Late Show)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ERgxcNyneYI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Also on the show,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/trees-sea-shanties-and-daft-punk-r-e-m-s-michael-stipe-on-adding-the-finishing-touches-to-his-debut-solo-album-3942163\">Stipe attempted to describe the sound of his new album<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cOne of the songs is the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s this confusing situation. My friend recorded a tree in my backyard in Georgia and played it back to itself, and so it sounds like <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/daft-punk\">Daft Punk<\/a>, but\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0putting a sea shanty [in the song].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colbert then asked which sea shanty it was, to which Stipe said, \u201cIt\u2019s the most familiar that everyone knows,\u201d before breaking into \u2018Drunken Sailor\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tree has not responded yet,\u201d Stipe added. \u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0gonna\u00a0let his people get back to my people and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DXf9iZAhf30\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Speaking about the album\u2019s delay in March, Stipe said: \u201cCovid\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0help, but\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0finishing it. When the band split, I just needed a break. I took five\u00a0years\u00a0but I got pulled back into music.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0been a struggle.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0the main thing. I want it to be great, but\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0got the pressure of having been in R.E.M. and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a high bar, because I want this to be as good as that, and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0near impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Previous\u00a0Stipe solo releases include the 2019 single \u2018<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/michael-stipe-announces-first-solo-single-since-r-e-m-s-split-2553125\">Your Capricious Soul<\/a>\u2019 and \u2018<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/michael-stipe-release-second-solo-single-drive-to-the-ocean-60th-birthday-2592035\">Drive To The Ocean<\/a>\u2019 the following year. He also released \u2018<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/michael-stipe-shares-new-collaboration-no-time-for-love-like-now-a-collaboration-with-the-nationals-aaron-dessner-2636891\">No Time\u00a0For\u00a0Love Like Now<\/a>\u2019 with\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/the-national\">Aaron Dessner<\/a>\u2019s Big Red Machine in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, he also joined forces with\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/andrew-watt\">Andrew Watt<\/a>, Josh Klinghoffer and\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/travis-barker\">Travis Barker <\/a>to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/r-e-m-s-michael-stipe-teams-up-with-andrew-watt-josh-klinghoffer-and-blink-182s-travis-barker-for-epic-rooster-theme-song-i-played-the-fool-3933760\">share the new theme song for the show\u00a0<i>Rooster<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>By all accounts, Stipe\u00a0remains\u00a0on good terms with his former R.E.M. bandmates \u2013 guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike\u00a0Mills\u00a0and drummer Bill Berry \u2013\u00a0and they\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/watch-r-e-m-reunite-for-first-performance-in-15-years-at-songwriters-hall-of-fame-3765549\">appeared together in summer 2024 when they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"R.E.M. looking back on their legacy and 25 years of &#039;Monster&#039;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zG8MpHbLIK8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The band split amicably in 2011, while Berry had left the group during the height of their commercial success in 1997. However, at the ceremony, the quartet gave a surprise acoustic performance of their 1991 classic \u2018Losing My Religion\u2019. That marked the first time the four played live together since their 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.<\/p>\n<p>Last month,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/watch-r-e-ms-michael-stipe-join-michael-shannon-and-jason-narducy-for-the-great-beyond-and-these-days-3933396\">Stipe joined Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy at one of their \u2018Lifes Rich Pageant\u2019\u00a040th\u00a0anniversary tour shows in Brooklyn<\/a>. They played versions of R.E.M.\u2019s \u2018These Days\u2019 and \u2018The Great Beyond\u2019.\u00a0A year ago,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brooklynvegan.com\/michael-stipe-joined-michael-shannon-jason-narducys-r-e-m-tribute-brooklyn-steel-pics-video-setlist\/\">he also sang \u2018Pretty Persuasion\u2019 with them<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/michael-stipe-clarifies-more-lyrics-from-r-e-m-s-its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-that-fans-get-wrong-3891118\">Stipe has also been clarifying lyrics from \u2018It\u2019s The End\u00a0Of\u00a0The\u00a0World\u00a0As\u00a0We Know It (And I Feel Fine)\u2019 on Bluesky<\/a>, revealing that many fans have been getting some of the lines wrong for decades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('consent', 'revoke');\n  fbq('init', '370979561341328');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nme.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>R.E.M.\u2019s\u00a0Michael Stipe has given a live debut to a new solo song \u2018The Rest Of Ever\u2019 on The Late Show\u00a0With\u00a0Stephen Colbert\u00a0\u2013 watch below. The legendary singer\u00a0has been working on his first full solo album for several years\u00a0and while he has said in recent weeks that\u00a0it has taken \u201clonger than I wanted\u201d,\u00a0he has\u00a0said\u00a0he is\u00a0now adding the\u00a0finishing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2387864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[21935],"class_list":["post-2387863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-indie"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Watch-REMs-Michael-Stipe-perform-soulful-new-solo-song-The.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2387863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2387865,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387863\/revisions\/2387865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2387864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2387863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2387863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2387863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}