Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

, singer, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

who was a founding member of the

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American 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 alternati ...

Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., his musical repertoire also includes keyboards and occasional lead vocals. He contributed to a majority of the band's musical compositions and is the only member to have had formal musical training.

Early life

Michael Edward Mills was born to Frank and Adora Mills in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, where his father was stationed in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. The family moved to

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

, when Mills was around six months old. Mills met future R.E.M. bandmate Bill Berry while they attended high school in Macon. The duo started out in bands together. Early projects included the band Shadowfax, later called The Back Door Band. Mills attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, which is where R.E.M. formed.

Career

Mills is credited with being the chief composer behind many of R.E.M.'s songs, including " Nightswimming", " Find the River", " At My Most Beautiful", "Why Not Smile", "Let Me In", "

Wendell Gee "Wendell Gee" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the third and final single from the group's third studio album ''Fables of the Reconstruction'' in 1985. It was released in Europe only, in two 7" and two 12" for ...

", " (Don't Go Back To) Rockville", "Beat a Drum", "Be Mine", "

Electrolite "Electrolite" is a song by R.E.M. released as their third single and closing track from their tenth studio album, ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi''. The song is a piano-based ballad to Los Angeles, Hollywood icons and the closing 20th century. Initia ...

", and "

What's the Frequency, Kenneth? "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. from their ninth studio album, '' Monster'' (1994). The song's title refers to an incident in New York City in 1986, when two then-unknown assailants attacked j ...

" In particular, R.E.M.'s 2004 album ''

Around the Sun ''Around the Sun'' is the 13th studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on October 5, 2004 on Warner Bros. Records. Description The album was released in three editions: Cassette (the band's final release on the medium), ...

'' was heavily shaped by Mills' piano and keyboard contributions. Mills is responsible for the prominent backing vocal and

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

parts found in the band's back catalog, with his vocal contributions being most noticeable on 1986's ''

Lifes Rich Pageant ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on July 28, 1986. R.E.M. chose Don Gehman to produce the album, which was recorded at John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall Studios in Belmont, India ...

'' and 2008's ''

Accelerate In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnitude and direction). The orientation of an object's acceleration is given by the ...

''. He sang lead vocals on the songs " Texarkana", " Near Wild Heaven",

The Clique A clique is a close social group. Clique or The Clique may also refer to: Math and computing * Clique (graph theory) ** Clique problem in computer science Business and brands * Clique (vodka), a Latvian vodka sold in the United States Entertai ...

cover "

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

" and

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", " With a Girl Like You" and " Love Is All Around", all ...

cover "

Love Is All Around "Love Is All Around" is a song recorded by English rock band the Troggs, featuring a string quartet and a 'tick tock' sound on percussion, in D-major. Released as a single in October 1967, it was a top-ten hit in both the UK and US. "Love I ...

R.E.M. had been talking about disbanding since 2008, and eventually did so in 2011. In a 2013 interview, Mills said there is no possibility of an R.E.M. reunion. Mills described it as "31 wonderful years and the opportunity to end it on our own terms". Mills has written and performed with friends on various projects during his time with the band and since. In 1990 he wrote music for Howard Libov's short film ''Men Will Be Boys''. That same year, he recorded with

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

together with Buck and Berry as the Hindu Love Gods. In 2012, Mills contributed piano to a

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

single released by

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama ...

member

Patterson Hood Patterson David Hood (born March 24, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and co-founder of the band Drive-By Truckers. Early life Hood was born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the son of Jan Patterson Adams and David Hood, the longtime bassist ...

, in protest of a

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

development being built in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

. Mills is a member, along with

Steve Wynn Stephen Alan Wynn (''né'' Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He is known for his involvement in the American luxury casino and hotel industry. Early in his career he oversaw the construction ...

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his car ...

, and

Linda Pitmon Linda Pitmon is an American drummer known for her work with the supergroups The Baseball Project and the Filthy Friends. Pitmon played percussion in band and orchestra in high school. She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and drumming was a he ...

, of

The Baseball Project The Baseball Project is a supergroup composed of Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon formed in 2007. The performers came together from discussions between McCaughey and Wynn at R.E.M.'s March 21, 2007 inductio ...

. Mills performs as part of singer-songwriter

Joseph Arthur Joseph Arthur (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur has built his reputation over the years through ...

's band. On April 3, 2014, while performing with Arthur, Mills broke the news that David Letterman would be retiring in 2015. Mills took a band self-portrait that he posted to

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

and did a short interview about "breaking" the story. Since 2010, Mills has played with a rotating group of musicians for a series of concerts built around

Big Star Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guiar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a ne ...

's album ''

Third/Sister Lovers ''Third'' (reissued in 1985 as ''Third/Sister Lovers'') is the third album by American rock band Big Star. Sessions started at Ardent Studios in September 1974. Though Ardent created promotional, white-label test pressings for the record in 197 ...

''. Known as Big Star's Third, the concerts have taken place in London, Sydney, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York. A longtime Big Star fan, Mills wrote the liner notes for the 2014 reissue of the band's first two releases, 1972's '' #1 Record'' and 1974's '' Radio City''. In 2016, he toured to support a ''Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra'' with childhood friend Robert McDuffie, along with guitar players William Tonks and

John Neff John B. Neff, CFA, (September 19, 1931 – June 4, 2019) was an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. He was notable for his contrarian and value investing styles as well as for heading Vanguard's Windsor Fund. Windsor ...

. The tour resumed in 2022.

Musical style

Mills' melodic approach to bass playing is inspired by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes. He was the longest-serving original member, having r ...

of Yes; Mills has said, "I always played a melodic bass, like a piano bass in some ways ... I never wanted to play the traditional locked into the kick drum, root note bass work." Mills has more musical training than his bandmates, which he has said "made it easier to turn abstract musical ideas into reality." During R.E.M.'s career, Mills often harmonized with

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence. Poss ...

in songs; in the chorus for "Stand", Mills and Stipe alternate singing lyrics, creating a dialogue.

Discography

*1984 – Hindu Love Gods – "Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight"/"Narrator". *1985 – Full Time Men– ''Full Time Men'', organ on "One More Time" *1987 –

– '' Sentimental Hygiene'' on "Sentimental Hygiene", "Boom Boom Mancini", "The Factory", "Trouble Waiting to Happen", "Detox Mansion", "Bad Karma", "Even a Dog Can Shake Hands", and "The Heartache" *1987 – Waxing Poetics– ''Hermitage'', production *1988 – Billy James – ''Sixes and Sevens'', production *1988 –

The Cynics The Cynics are an American garage rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band, at the time consisting of guitarist Gregg Kostelich, drummer Bill Von Hagen, vocalist Michael Kastelic who joined in 1985, bass player Steve Magee, and keyboa ...

– "What's It Gonna Be"/"Roadrunner" (live) *1989 –

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...

– ''

'', bass guitar on " Tried to Be True" *1989 – Vibrating Egg – ''Come On in Here If You Want To'', writing and performance *1990 –

Kevn Kinney Kevin Kinney, known professionally as Kevn Kinney (born March 12, 1961),"The Baseball Project at Wux ...

– '' MacDougal Blues'' *1990 – Hindu Love Gods – '' Hindu Love Gods'' *1990 – Hindu Love Gods – "

Raspberry Beret "Raspberry Beret" is a song written by American musician Prince and is the lead single from Prince & the Revolution's 1985 album ''Around the World in a Day''. Background The sound of the song expanded upon previous Prince arrangements, incorpor ...

" *1991 –

Nikki Sudden Adrian Nicholas Godfrey (19 July 195626 March 2006), known professionally as Nikki Sudden, was a prolific English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He co-founded the post-punk band Swell Maps with his brother, Epic Soundtracks, while attending So ...

– '' The Jewel Thief'' *1991 – Nikki Sudden – " I Belong to You" *1991 –

– '' Athens, Andover'' *1991 – Robbie Robertson – '' Storyville'', singing on "Shake This Town" *1992 – '' Jane Pratt Show''

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

*1993 – Automatic Baby – " One" *1993 –

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamb ...

– ''

Siamese Dream ''Siamese Dream'' is the second studio album by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 27, 1993, on Virgin Records. Despite recording sessions fraught with difficulties and tensions, ''Siamese Dream'' debuted at num ...

'', piano on "Soma" *1993 –

Three Walls Down 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

– '' Building Our House'', production *1993 – Three Walls Down – "Steps"/"Wooden Nails"/"Faith in These Times" (live) *1994 – ''

Backbeat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a p ...

'' soundtrack *1994 –

Victoria Williams Victoria Williams (born December 23, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. Diagnosed with multi ...

– ''

Loose Loose may refer to: Places * Loose, Germany * Loose, Kent, a parish and village in southeast England People * Loose (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Loose'' (B'z album), a 1995 album by B'z * ''Loose'' (Crazy Horse album ...

'', vocals on "You R Loved" *2000 – Christy McWilson – '' The Lucky One'' *2006 – Various artists – '' Big Star Small World'', bass guitar on "The Ballad of El Goodo", with

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

*2006 – Mike Mills and Sally Ellyson – "Jesus Christ", a

song covered for a charity single for the

Red Apple Foundation Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

*2007 – Mudville – '' Iris Nova'', piano on "Eternity" *2008 –

Modern Skirts Modern Skirts was an alternative rock band based in Athens, GA. The band consisted of four members: Jay Gulley (guitar and vocals), JoJo Glidewell (guitar, piano, and vocals), Phillip Brantley (bass, guitar, and vocals) and John Q. Swint (drums). ...

– ''All of Us in Our Night'', production on "Motorcade" *2008 –

– '' Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails'' *2009 – ''

Favorite Son Favorite son (or favorite daughter) is a political term. * At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a ...

'' soundtrack – "Gift of the Fathers" *2009 –

Jill Hennessy Jillian Noel Hennessy (born November 25, 1968) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is most known for her roles on the American television series '' Law & Order'', on which she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons, and ''Crossin ...

– ''Ghost in My Head'', backing vocals on "Erin" *2009 –

– '' Homerun EP'' *2010 – Various artists – ''The Voice Project'', cover of

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

's "Sing Their Souls Back Home" *2011 –

– '' Volume 2: High and Inside'' *2011 –

– '' The Broadside Ballads'' *2012 –

Jason Ringenberg Jason Ringenberg (born November 22, 1958) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist and the lead singer of Jason & the Scorchers. Early life and education Ringenberg was born in Kewanee, Illinois, and grew up in nearby Sheffi ...

– ''Nature Jams'' – vocals on one track *2012 –

& The Downtown 13 – "After It's Gone"/"Unspoken Pretties" – performance on A-side, single released for

*2014 –

– ''

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

'' *2022 - Superchunk - ''

Wild Loneliness ''Wild Loneliness'' is the twelfth studio album by the American indie rock band Superchunk. It was released on February 25, 2022, by Merge Records. Ahead of the album release, the band put out three singles: "Endless Summer," "This Night," and " ...

'', vocal on "On the Floor"

Personal life

Mills is an avid

fantasy sports A fantasy sport (also known less commonly as rotisserie or roto) is a game, often played using the Internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams composed of proxies of real players of a professional sport. These teams compete bas ...

player, with interest in NFL,

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, and PGA teams, among others. He is also a fan of his alma mater's football team, the Georgia Bulldogs. He is married to Jasmine Pahl. He is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

.'' Q'', March 1995 Mills has one sibling, younger brother Mitch, who is also a musician.

Notes and references

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Mike 1958 births American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Living people American atheists Melodica players Writers from Athens, Georgia Musicians from Orange County, California R.E.M. members Songwriters from California The Minus 5 members American alternative rock musicians American rock songwriters American male songwriters Alternative rock bass guitarists Alternative rock keyboardists American rock pianists American organists American male organists American rock keyboardists Musicians from Athens, Georgia The Baseball Project members Hindu Love Gods (band) members Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) Guitarists from California Record producers from California Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American male pianists 21st-century organists 21st-century American keyboardists 20th-century organists 20th-century American keyboardists