For R.E.M.'s frontman Michael Stipe to perform is a rare happening to begin with, but Tuesday night (Nov. 10), the singer opened for the legendary Patti Smith at New York City's Beacon Theatre and performed covers of John Lennon's "Imagine" and The Doors' "People Are Strange," among other gems.
The performance was not Stipe's first with Patti Smith, he previously appeared as the opener for one of her shows last year, also in New York City at Webster Hall. Smith's history with Stipe includes a number of collaborations, including a vocal feature on the REM track "E-Bow the Letter" off of their 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
The videos posted to Instagram by attendees show the singer performing the classic Doors song, as well as David Bowie's "All the Young Dudes." His entire six-song set was reportedly comprised of all cover songs. Aside from the songs previously mentioned, including the Lennon cover, the singer also reinterpreted the songs "Old Man" by Neil Young, "The Crying Game" by David Berry and The Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs."
R.E.M. broke up in 2011, with the iconic singer making very limited appearances since. Stipe, who is openly gay, has been an active proponent of LGBT rights, speaking in a public forum regarding the topic on numerous occasions, including his appearance on Logo TV's Trailblazers, which serves to honor pioneers in LGBTQ equality.
Stipe had also been in the news recently for bashing Donald Trump's use of his former band's hit "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." R.E.M. member Mike Mills relayed the Stipe's response via Twitter: "Go f*ck yourselves, the lot of you - you sad, attention grabbing, power-hungry little men. Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign".
Michael Stipe! #whenyourestrange
A video posted by Laura Kaye (@laurakayemusic) on Nov 10, 2015 at 5:15pm PST
Michael Stipe covering "All the Young Dudes" before Patti Smith. Not bad ;) #michaelstipe #REM #horses #nyc A video posted by Liz Raftery (@lizzo1) on Nov 10, 2015 at 5:45pm PST
