Mike Mills

Michael Edward "Mike" Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for being a member of the alternative rock band, R.E.M..^[1] Although he usually plays bass guitar, the piano and sings, he also plays keyboards, accordion and percussion instruments. He helped write many of the band's songs.

Mike Mills
Mike Mills in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Michael Edward Mills
Born	(1958-12-17) December 17, 1958 (age 65) Orange County, California, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, college rock, jangle pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, producer
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, piano, accordion, percussion
Years active	1980–present
Labels	I.R.S., Warner Bros.

Life and career

Mills was born in Orange County, California. He grew up in Macon, Georgia. He went to college at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. While living in Athens, he met the other musicians who later became R.E.M.^[2]

Mills is the main composer of many of R.E.M.'s songs, including "Nightswimming",^[3] "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville",^[3] and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?".

He has also played on recordings by the Indigo Girls, Warren Zevon, the Smashing Pumpkins, Jason Ringenberg and The Troggs.

Mills is a member, along with songwriters Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, and Linda Pitmon, of The Baseball Project.^[4]

In 2007, Mills was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with the other members of R.E.M.

Mills performing in 2004

Discography: recordings with other artists

For releases with R.E.M., see R.E.M. (band).

• 1984 – Hindu Love Gods – "Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight"/"Narrator".
• 1985 – Full Time Men – Full Time Men (EP), organ on "One More Time"
• 1987 – Warren Zevon – Sentimental Hygiene on "Sentimental Hygiene", "Boom Boom Mancini", "The Factory", "Trouble Waiting to Happen", "Detox Mansion", "Bad Karma", "Even a Dog Can Shake Hands", and "The Heartache"
• 1987 – Waxing Poetics – Hermitage, production
• 1988 – Billy James – Sixes and Sevens, production
• 1988 – The Cynics – "What's It Gonna Be"/"Roadrunner" (live)
• 1989 – Kevn Kinney – MacDougal Blues
• 1989 – Indigo Girls – Indigo Girls, bass guitar on "Tried to Be True"
• 1989 – Vibrating Egg – Come On in Here If You Want To, writing and performance
• 1990 – Mike Mills wrote music for Howard Libov's short film Men Will Be Boys
• 1990 – Hindu Love Gods – Hindu Love Gods
• 1990 – Hindu Love Gods – "Raspberry Beret"
• 1991 – Nikki Sudden – The Jewel Thief
• 1991 – Nikki Sudden – "I Belong to You"
• 1991 – The Troggs – Athens, Andover
• 1991 – Robbie Robertson – Storyville, singing on "Shake This Town"
• 1992 – Jane Pratt Show, theme music
• 1993 – Automatic Baby – "One" (a U2 song)
• 1993 – The Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream, piano on "Soma"
• 1993 – Three Walls Down – Building Our House, production
• 1993 – Three Walls Down – "Steps"/"Wooden Nails"/"Faith in These Times" (live)
• 1994 – Backbeat, movie soundtrack
• 1994 – Victoria Williams – Loose, vocals on "You R Loved"
• 2000 – Christy McWilson – The Lucky One
• 2006 – Various artists – Big Star Small World, bass guitar on "The Ballad of El Goodo", with Matthew Sweet
• 2006 – Mike Mills and Sally Ellyson – "Jesus Christ", a Big Star song covered for a charity single for the Red Apple Foundation
• 2007 – Mudville – Iris Nova, piano on "Eternity"
• 2008 – Modern Skirts – All of Us in Our Night, production on "Motorcade"
• 2008 – The Baseball Project – Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails
• 2009 – Favorite Son, movie soundtrack – "Gift of the Fathers"
• 2009 – Jill Hennessy – Ghost in My Head, backing vocals on "Erin"
• 2009 – The Baseball Project – Homerun EP
• 2010 – Various artists – The Voice Project, cover of Billy Bragg's "Sing Their Souls Back Home"
• 2011 – The Baseball Project – Volume 2: High and Inside
• 2011 – The Baseball Project – The Broadside Ballads
• 2012 – Jason Ringenberg – Nature Jams – vocals on one track^[5]
• 2012 – Patterson Hood & The Downtown 13 – "After It's Gone"/"Unspoken Pretties" – performance on A-side, single released for Record Store Day^[6][7]
• 2014 – The Baseball Project – 3rd^[4]

References

1. Ankeny, Jason. "Mike Mills Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
2. Kretsch, Ron (March 7, 2014). "R.E.M.'s Mike Mills on 'Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee'" (YouTube clip). Dangerous Minds. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
3. Hyden, Steven (16 November 2011). "R.E.M.'s Mike Mills". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
4. Leggett, Steve. "The Baseball Project - Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
5. "Mike Guests on Jason Ringenberg's New Album Nature Jams". R.E.M. 24 February 2012. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
6. "Weekend Update: Record Store Day, Dresden, Will Rock 4 Food, Futurebirds, Finster, and Future Music". R.E.M. 2012-04-20. Archived from the original on 2013-04-07. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
7. Kane, Tyler (February 1, 2012). "Patterson Hood, Mike Mills of R.E.M. Record Walmart Protest Song". Paste Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2014.