Monday night in New York City, Patti Smith sang and read poetry at Milk Studios for the opening of ‘Illumination: Who Are Poets,’ an exhibit by rock ‘n’ roll photographer Steven Sebring — and was joined onstage by Michael Stipe for an impromptu performance of R.E.M. smash ‘Everybody Hurts.’

For his first live dates since a series of trouble-prone 2009 outings, Morrissey will return to the stage this summer with a nine-date U.K. tour leading up to a slot headlining the Hop Farm Music Festival alongside such icons as Lou Reed, Iggy & The Stooges and Patti Smith.

Back on Dec. 19, visitors to New York City’s Museum of Modern Art witnessed a surprise ‘walk-in concert’ by R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and Patti Smith as part of the museum’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of French political activist and writer Jean Genet.

R.E.M. today released a free MP3 of ‘Discoverer,’ the opening track off its new album ‘Collapse Into Now’ — which will be released March 7 in the U.K. and March 8 in the U.K. via Warner Bros. Download it here.

R.E.M. employed a decidedly old-school medium to announce the full tracklist of its new album ‘Collapse Into Now’: The band revealed the titles of the record’s 12 songs via its snail-mail fanclub newsletter.

Mike Mills revealed the first details of R.E.M.’s 15th studio album, ‘Collapse Into Now,’ on Wednesday, telling Spin.com that the record features a ‘more expansive’ sound than 2008’s hard-rocking ‘Accelerate,’ thanks, in part, to guest appearances by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye and Peaches.

The Library of Congress today added R.E.M.’s debut single ‘Radio Free Europe’ — one of the cornerstones of ’80s college rock — to its National Recording Registry, honoring the landmark song as ‘culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.’

The latest entry in Amoeba Records’ clever “What In My Bag?” video series — in which musicians shopping at the California chain’s outlets show off […]

In recent years, Bruce Springsteen’s influence on the indie-rock scene has grown increasingly evident, with acts like The Hold Steady and Arcade Fire not just […]

This week’s star-studded Carnegie Hall tribute to legendary college-rock grads R.E.M. was capped off with an appearance by the band itself, performing “E-Bow the Letter” […]