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 REM He is known for his vocal quality poetic lyrics and unique stage presence Possessing a distinctive voice Stipe has been noted for the mumbling style of his early career Since the mid1980s Stipe has sung in wailing keening arching vocal figures that REM biographer David Buckley compared to Celtic folk artists and Muslim muezzin He was in charge of REMs visual aspect often selecting album artwork and directing many of the bands music videos Outside the music industry he owns and runs two film production studios C00 and Single Cell Pictures As a member of REM Stipe was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 As a singersongwriter Stipe influenced a wide range of artists including Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Thom Yorke of Radiohead Bono of U2 has described his voice as extraordinary and Yorke told The Guardian that Stipe is his favorite lyricist saying I loved the way he would take an emotion and then take a step back from it and in doing so make it so much more powerful From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia