Michael Stipe performed at a Harris-Walz get-out-the-vote rally in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday attended by Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz (MN) and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. He performed R.E.M.’s “Driver 8” from the band’s third album, 1985’s Fables of the Reconstruction.
“Thank you for being here, and thank you all for voting or getting ready to vote,” Stipe said as video footage showed from the event. “I want to encourage everyone in Georgia, because we know what it means. We’ve been here before. We know what it means when you get every single person in your community, your church, your skate club — whatever the hell it is, get them out, talk to them, get them there to vote.”
Before launching into the song, he explained he was performing the tune because it was Walz’s favorite from the band’s repertoire: “A little bird backstage told me that this is the governor’s favorite R.E.M. song, so we’re going to do it for you.”
Before the performance, he trolled Trump’s use of the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” at his rallies, urging fans in the audience to sing V-O-T-E instead, while spelling out the letters with their arms. And then Stipe shared a sweet love story. He said back in 2018 while in New York celebrating his friend’s birthday who was not having a good day, he saw a couple eating dinner next to them.
“They’re sitting so close to each other, they’re so crazy in love, it’s obvious. And at some point they got up to leave. I didn’t notice that, I was enjoying my friend’s company,” he said. “I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn around and this woman says, ‘My husband loves your music. He’s a big fan of yours. My name is Kamala Harris. This is Doug Emhoff.”
He added that six years later, “These people are real, genuine, crazy in love with each other, and what a joy it is to see that, then, privately, just the two of them enjoying each other’s company, and now to see and celebrate that type of dedication and that type of love on a national and a global stage.”
Last month, Stipe also performed “Driver 8,” along with “The One I Love,” alongside Jason Isbell at a Harris-Walz Pittsburgh fundraising event.
