Michael Stipe was joined by Jason Isbell as he performed two R.E.M. songs at a campaign concert for Kamala Harris on Friday (October 4).
The ‘Get Out The Vote’ event took place at Schenley Plaza in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and saw Stipe singing ‘The One I Love’ and ‘Driver 8’, both songs he has not performed in public since 2008.
The two musicians also played two songs from Isbell’s catalogue: ‘Traveling Alone’ from 2013 album ‘Southeastern’ and ‘Hope The High Road’ from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s ‘The Nashville Sound’ from 2017.
Watch fan-captured footage from the event here:
Stipe and Isbell were introduced by Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff, and Stipe, ahead of ‘The One I Love’, said: “It’s been a while since I’ve sung these songs, 16 years in fact, but I’m really happy to be here with Jason and with the soon-to-be First Gentleman ever of the United States of America,”
‘The One I Love’ was R.E.M.’s first chart hit in the US, reaching Number Nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. ‘Driver 8’ was first released on 1985’s ‘Fables Of The Reconstruction’, the Athens band’s third studio album.
In playing in support of the Democratic nomination for US President, Stipe and Isbell become the latest musicians to throw their weight behind her campaign.
Bon Iver recently played at a rally in Wisconsin, Alanis Morissette took to the stage at a Harris fundraiser in Los Angeles last weekend, and P!nk recently joined Isbell to perform at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Other names to have come out in support of Harris include Ariana Grande, Lizzo and Olivia Rodrigo – the latter of whom highlighted the VP’s stance on reproductive rights.
Charli XCX endorsed Harris by posting: “Kamala IS brat”, a reference to her new hit album and pop culture phenomenon ‘Brat’. This led to CNN attempting to explain the ‘Brat summer’ trend to its viewers live on air.
The election will be held on November 5.
Elsewhere, R.E.M. recently shared ‘We Are Hope Despite The Times’, a digital compilation of songs to mark National Voter Registration Day.
The compilation features 18 hand-picked R.E.M tracks by the band from their career-spanning discography, highlighting themes of activism and social responsibility. The songs include ‘World Leader Pretend’, ‘Fall On Me’, ‘Welcome To The Occupation’, ‘Drive’, ‘Finest Work Song’, ’Turn You Inside-Out’, ‘Pop Song ’89’, ‘Stand’ and ‘Its the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’.
The former band also urged their fans to visit vote.gov or headcount.org in order to register to vote or update their voting information.