Michael Stipe Picks Billie Eilish for R.E.M. Biopic

0:00It's April 26th. I'm Corey with The Story, and this is Music News today, your AI-powered music briefing. Michael Stipe dropped a wild idea on the late show with Stephen Colbert this week, suggesting Billie Eilish play his younger self in a potential. R.E.M. biopic? With all these musician movies popping up lately, Colbert joked David Cross could handle bearded era stipe, but for the fresh phase version stipe. And straight for Eilish, they bonded over her blue eyes matching his, and stipe shared how she once held a door for him at a Manhattan spot without him even recognizing her, till later she's that polite. On the show, Stipe got poetic about his new solo album, calling one track the sound of a tree, hearing itself for the first time, like Daft Punk mixed, with a sea shanty from his Georgia backyard. He even debuted a husky new solo cut, called The Rest of Ever. He's rapping that first full solo project for a 2026 release after years in the works,

1:00building on singles like your capricious soul and, collabs with Big Red Machine. Stipe stays tight with XR E.M. Crew 2, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill Berry re-uniting for a songwriter's Hall of Fame surprise, last summer with losing my religion, lately he's jammed R.E.M. Classics at anniversary gigs and clear to fan mix-ups on those frantic it's the end of the world lyrics online, keeping the legacy alive while he builds his next chapter.