💗🎉✨ℍ𝔸ℙℙ𝕐 𝔹𝕀ℝ𝕋ℍ𝔻𝔸𝕐 𝕄𝕀ℂℍ𝔸𝔼𝕃!✨🎉💗

☮"𝘼𝙨 𝙄 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚, 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚 – 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙗𝙤𝙬."☮𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙚𝙡 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙚

Photo credits: Michael Stipe - Jenn Five, screenshots from video, Michael and Brian from Brixton Academy 1997 - Justin Thomas / Edit by Marti

Dear soulmates,
today we have another important date.
𝟲𝟯 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼, 𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟰, 𝟭𝟵𝟲𝟬, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 -
- 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻, 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗿, 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗥.𝗘.𝗠. ⭐𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝗠𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗘𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗣𝗘⭐.

It is a great honour for me to be able to write a few words about a man whose music and his whole being is a celebration of life. Prepare yourself for a long read full of various links, because Michael is simply my idol.

⚡🌹💗🎉✨ℍ𝔸ℙℙ𝕐 𝔹𝕀ℝ𝕋ℍ𝔻𝔸𝕐 𝕋𝕆 𝕐𝕆𝕌, 𝕄𝕀ℂℍ𝔸𝔼𝕃!✨🎉💗🌹⚡

Photo credit: Noam Galai 

Let's summarize in this post the most important things about this charismatic man.

⭐𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬
Michael is a creative artist with an open heart. His work and ideas support various charity projects, the latest being Brian Eno's 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 project, founded in 2021, which aims “to offer simple and innovative ways for businesses and artists to donate to the most impactful organisations addressing the climate emergency”.

🔹𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:
https://bit.ly/3GxYXmp


Michael and R.E.M. have always actively supported various human rights organizations (e.g. Amnesty International), fought for the ethical treatment of animals, participated in concerts as part of charity projects for victims of Hurricane Katrina and others.

In this article, Michael admits to being a member of the climate change movement 🔹'𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧'🔹 and enjoying the ongoing nonviolent protests:

🔹💬“𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤!” 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘦. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 [𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯] 𝘴𝘰 𝘐’𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴.”
(𝑁𝑀𝐸, 𝑅.𝐸.𝑀. 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 25 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ‘𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟’: “𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑤𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟 – 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑤”, 𝑂𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 2019)

~🔹~🔹~🔹~

⭐𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐥
When he became interested in rock music as a teenager, it was mainly the singer-songwriter ⭐𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐈 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐇⭐ who became his idol and most influenced his musical talent.

Michael managed to sing with Patti on the same stage several times. Enjoy these two amazing videos:

🔹🎶𝐑.𝐄.𝐌. 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 : "𝐄-𝐁𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫" (𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖)
https://bit.ly/3VDiq9C

🔹🎶 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐑.𝐄.𝐌. 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 "𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫" 𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔/𝟏𝟐/𝟎𝟓
https://bit.ly/3WHS6MJ


⭐𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨: 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡
Michael Stipe followed friend and fellow musician Patti Smith on tour for two weeks in 1995. Two Times Intro is his intimate and evocative visual diary of her return to live performance, along with portraits of other cultural celebrities, such as Allen Ginsberg, who appeared with her.

The photos in the book feel more like a personal scrapbook than a typical photobook. The book also includes reproductions of Stipe's diary and cut-and-paste experiments with text, which is a method we already know from William Burroughs.

Photo credit:  Justin Thomas

⭐𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑.𝐄.𝐌.
In 1980 Michael formed the band R.E.M. with three of his friends: drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills.

R.E.M. was pivotal in the creation and development of the alternative rock genre.
AllMusic stated, "𝘙.𝘌.𝘔. 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵-𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬."

Alternative bands such as Nirvana, Radiohead, Coldplay, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, have drawn inspiration from R.E.M.'s music.

🔹💬𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐑.𝐄.𝐌.:
"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰. 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤."
(𝐾𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑖𝑛: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤)

𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐱 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞.

He tried to help Kurt in his battle with depression and drug addiction. He was even godfather to their daughter, Frances Bean.

The deaths of both close friends hit Michael hard.
𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐑.𝐄.𝐌. 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 "𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐈𝐧" 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐭.

🔹🎶𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐄𝐌'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐮𝐫t:
https://bit.ly/3VIsbn8

🔹💬𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙆𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝘾𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙭?
Stipe: “Yes, River died before we started making the record (Monster) and I went through a six month period where I just shut down and couldn’t write anything. That was really frustrating for me and the band, who were also grieving. We all knew him and loved him – but particularly for me, that friendship and relationship was like having a brother. It was the most profound loss that I’d had experienced at that point. We commenced with the record, we were almost at the end of it, and that’s when Kurt died. I can’t say that any of that thematically ties to where we were going with the record – except certainly on the song ‘Let Me In’.”

Mills: “The most direct song on the record is ‘Let Me In’. It’s the one song where there is no ironic distance. It’s exactly what it sounds like it is. It’s personal and real. That’s a song that came about because of what happened. It’s a direct response to losing a friend.”
(𝑁𝑀𝐸 𝑅.𝐸.𝑀. 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 25 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ‘𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟’: “𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑤𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑟 – 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑤”, 𝑂𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 2019)

About the music and legacy of R.E.M. I could write for a very long time.
R.E.M. released a total of 15 highly successful albums and amicably broke up in 2011 after selling more than 90 million records worldwide and becoming one of the best-selling music groups in the world.

Photo credit unknown

⭐𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫
An avid photographer, he published the first photo book in 2018 titled 🔹"𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟏"🔹 featuring images of celebrities such as River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain.

In 2019, Michael published the second photo book 🔹'𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬'🔹 with his friend Douglas Coupland.

🔹💬"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵: 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 (“𝘐𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦; 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺. 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳”) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 11𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 5𝘢𝘮, 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. “𝘔𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴. “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩: 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘴𝘢𝘺… 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘤, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘮."
(𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑒𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑒: ‘𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑑𝑢𝑚𝑏’, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝐴𝑝𝑟 2021)


🔹𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐀 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝
https://bit.ly/3Z8yjry

Well, in this amazing article from The Guardian you can read more not only about Michael's third book of photographs called simply - 🔹'𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐞'🔹, but about his life during the pandemic and also about his many memories - like his beloved Patti Smith.
🔹💬 https://bit.ly/3XlIMhR

~🔹~🔹~🔹~

⭐𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬
Michael hates social media. I could end this thread with that one sentence. But since Michael recently reappeared on Instagram, it is necessary to clarify this topic.

In 2018, Michael expressed his opinion in this interview for the BBC:
🔹💬 “𝘐’𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥. “𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺…𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.”
(𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑔., 𝑆𝑒𝑝 2018)

But in November 2022, Michael certainly pleased a lot of his fans:
🔹💬 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐕𝐨𝐭𝐞
Today, on this highly stressful 2022 midterms elections day, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe is back after a four-year social-media hiatus to remind people to vote. In fact, that’s what he wrote in his newly resurrected Instagram bio:

“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 4𝘺𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺…𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴!”

Photo credit: Adam Berry/Getty Images

Stipe also shared one post containing three photos of himself walking through New York with a fist aloft and an “I Voted” sticker on his jacket. “𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘵—𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘝𝘖𝘛𝘌—𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴…𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥—𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴!! 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩!!!,” he captioned.
Patti Smith even replied in the comments: “𝘈𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
As should we all.
(𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘮, 𝘕𝘰𝘷 8, 2022)

To the delight of all his fans, Michael's instagram is still active, the last post was on December 20th, so we can still see Michael there after the election.
~🔹~🔹~🔹~

⭐𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎
Brian, Stefan, Steve (Hewitt) and Michael have known each other since the late 90ies because they both performed at a lot of festivals.

In 1998 Michael Stipe was executive producer of the movie “𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞” in which all three Placebo members played minor parts as glam rock musicians. He was also involved in the production of other great movies like “Being John Malkovich” or “Man on the moon” and made a number of acting appearances himself on film and on television.

🔹💬 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥:
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 ‘20𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘉𝘰𝘺’ 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘌𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘤𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

How did you get on with Michael Stipe?
“𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘩𝘢 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵,” 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯. “𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺.”

Everyone turns to look at Stefan, who raises an eyebrow, glances away, throws a peanut in his mouth and chews with studied innocence.

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵,” laughs Brian, utterly upstaged. But only for a moment. “𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘔𝘦, 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰.”
(𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰, 𝘕𝘔𝘌 𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 1998)


In 2006 Placebo invited Michael to collaborate on the Meds album and together they recorded the absolutely stunning ballad 🔹"𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞"🔹.
I can imagine that Brian checked off another dream come true then.

🔹🎶 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - '𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞'
https://bit.ly/3VKoA7R


🔹💬 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧:
“𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦. 𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘌𝘔, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘯. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦; 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴; 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱; 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭’𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
(𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚘, 𝙽𝙼𝙴, 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 2016)


⭐𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎:
"𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥!"
(Michael Stipe 09.28.2016)

Photo credit:  Justin Thomas

⭐𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐫
Michael refers to himself as a queer individual in his intimate relationships.
He talked about it beautifully in this article - https://bit.ly/3QfxYiH - from which I want to quote at the very end of this post.

🙏𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼'𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆: 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲.

🔹💬𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐞: 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

It's been 20 years since I announced to the world that I was queer – and that I had found the strength and the voice to say that, and to move forward with my life as a completely out, publicly queer individual. .../.../

For the promotion of our next album, Monster, and its world tour, I decided to publicly announce my sexuality. I said simply that I had enjoyed sex with men and women my entire adult life. It was a simple fact, and I’m happy I announced it..../.../

In 1994, most people had a largely binary perception of sexuality – the message was complicated for them. I am thrilled to see how much this has changed in those 20 years. The 21st century has provided all of us, recent generations particularly, with a clearer idea of the breadth of fluidity with which sexuality and identity presents itself in each individual. Gender identification, and the panoply of sexuality and identity are now topics that are more easily and more widely discussed, debated and talked about openly. It’s thrilling to see progressive change shift perceptions so quickly.

What I feel we have arrived at with all this, is that queerness – as I am happy to call an all-embracing, foundational tenet – is really a state of mind brought about by an understanding: it is understanding difference, accepting your own truth, desire and identity, and lovely, lovely choice. It is the final, completely obvious contemporary acceptance and understanding that this enormous world of beauty, sexuality, identity, lust, feeling, excitement, and love isn’t just black and white, or simple, at all – it is literally every shade and gradation of the rainbow. It doesn’t just lie in one of two camps. It includes accepting and supporting positions that you may not even completely understand; and to arrive at that conviction is so, so beautiful, and to quote my great friend Casey Legler: “Fierce!”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑂𝑐𝑡. 2014)

𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 - 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭💗, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵.
🌹𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 🌹
~🔹~🔹~🔹~

👉Michael Stipe YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/3ChB6on
👉Michael Stipe's website - https://michaelstipe.com/
👉R.E.M. on Spotify - https://bit.ly/3Ciwf6w
👉Michael Stipe on Spotify - https://bit.ly/3VOy3Ls
👉Michael Stipe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelstipe/

Post by Marti

✨𝗞𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗕𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝟱𝟱 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬✨

Today, on February 20th, an alternative rock icon Kurt Cobain would have celebrated his 55th birthday.
⭐️💫𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑷𝒀 𝑩𝑰𝑹𝑻𝑯𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑲𝑼𝑹𝑻 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆💫⭐️

Placebo covered Nirvana's 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐄𝐒 and performed it live mostly during Battle For The Sun tour. But in fact, it was in 2001 at Sziget Festival in Hungary when they played the song for the first time ever! Almost ten years later, the cover was brought back on stage and, as far as we know, included into 36 Placebo setlists in total.
📍𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐄𝐒 was released as the final song on Nirvana’s third and final studio record, 𝐈𝐧 𝐔𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨, in September 1993. On December 6, 1993, it was released as the second single from the album to become the band’s final single before Kurt’s suicide four months later.

Photo credits unknown

𝐍𝐢𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐚 - 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐌𝐓𝐕 𝐔𝐧𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟑
➡️ https://bit.ly/35iV5FE

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐚, 𝟐𝟏.𝟎𝟔.𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎
➡️ https://bit.ly/3g3PYeM

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎
➡️ https://bit.ly/3rTK5pW

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲, 𝟐𝟖.𝟎𝟗.𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎
➡️ https://bit.ly/3o5VdPA

Photo credit: Getty Images

⭐️𝐊𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐍, in full Kurt Donald Cobain, (born February 20, 1967, Aberdeen, Washington - died April 5, 1994, Seattle, Washington), was an American rock musician who rose to fame as the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for the seminal grunge band Nirvana.
◾️Cobain had a generally happy childhood until his parents divorced when he was nine years old. After that event, he was frequently troubled and angry, and his emotional pain became a subject of, and catalyst for, much of his later music. As a teenager, he moved between various relatives’ houses, stayed with friends’ parents, and occasionally slept under bridges while he began to use drugs. Cobain was musically inclined from an early age, and in the mid-1980s he began to play with members of the local “sludge rock” band the Melvins. In 1987, he formed 𝐍𝐢𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐚 with Krist Novoselic and Aaron Burckhard and established it as part of the Seattle music scene which later became known as grunge.


◾️One of the band’s demo tapes found its way to Jonathan Poneman of the Seattle independent record label Sub Pop, which signed the band to produce its first single, “Love Buzz”, in 1988 and its first album, Bleach, in 1989. The album had a unique (and soon-to-be signature) sound that mixed the rawness of punk rock with pop hooks, and the group soon became a target of major record labels. With new drummer Dave Grohl (who joined the band in 1990) Nirvana released its major-label debut, 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 (1991), which featured the hit single “Smells Like Teen Spirit”; it became the first alternative-rock album to achieve widespread popularity with a mainstream audience. Nevermind catapulted Nirvana to worldwide fame, and Cobain came to be hailed as the voice of his generation, a title that he was never comfortable with.

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◾️In 1992 Cobain married Courtney Love, then the leader of the band Hole, and the couple had a daughter that same year. The following year Nirvana released its final studio album, 𝐈𝐧 𝐔𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨, in which Cobain railed against his fame. Cobain had long suffered from depression and chronic stomach pain. He treated his issues with drugs: Cobain was a frequent user of heroin in the years after Nirvana’s breakthrough, and he took a variety of painkillers in an attempt to numb his constant stomach agony. In March 1994 he was hospitalized in Rome after overdosing and slipping into a coma in what was later characterized as a failed suicide attempt. One month later he left a drug treatment centre and returned to his Seattle home, where, on April 8, 1994, he was found dead. Police concluded he had died on April 5 from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.


◾️Cobain was posthumously inducted into the 𝑹𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒍𝒍 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒆, along with Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. Rolling Stone included Cobain in its lists of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, 100 Greatest Guitarists, and 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. He was ranked 7th by MTV in the "22 Greatest Voices in Music". In 2006, he was placed 20th by Hit Parader on their list of the "100 Greatest Metal Singers of All Time".

Photo credit unknown

⭐️𝐊𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐍’𝐒 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒⭐️
✨“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”
✨“I’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.”
✨“If my eyes could show my soul, everyone would cry when they saw me smile.”
✨“It’s better to burn out than fade away.”
✨“Thank you for the tragedy. I need it for my art.”
✨“No one is afraid of heights, they’re afraid of falling down. No one is afraid of saying I love you, they’re afraid of the answer.”
✨“I would like to get rid of the homophobes, sexists, and racists in our audience. I know they’re out there and it really bothers me.”
✨“They laugh at me because I’m different; I laugh at them because they’re all the same.”
✨“Holding my baby is the best drug in the world.”

Post by Olga

⭐𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗨𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗟𝗞𝗢 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗕𝗢 (𝗙𝗔𝗥 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭)⭐

"𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑲𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐’𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑰𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒊𝒏’𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒔." (𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘔𝘤𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘺)

Photo credits at the end od the text

🔸 Today, I'd like to share an article about "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐" by 𝐹𝑎𝑟 𝑂𝑢𝑡. It was published on Brian Molko's birthday, December 10th, 2021. 🔸

What a beautiful tribute 💕
Enjoy reading as much as I did 😊

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐

📕 Placebo’s Brian Molko has established himself as one of the most significant figures in the world of music over the past 30 years. Defying musical, aesthetic, thematic and personal mores, he and Placebo partner in crime Stefan Olsdal showed that music did not have to be the boisterous and misogynistic place it was in the mid-late 1990s amongst all the Britpop and nu-metal.


Following in the footsteps of Lou Reed, David Bowie and perhaps even Leigh Bowery, Molko shaped Placebo into an outfit that helped to bring the discussion of sexuality, fluidity and politics into the mainstream and change pop culture for the better.


To put things into perspective, when the 1997 single ‘Nancy Boy’ went to number four in the UK Singles Charts, the band stuck out like a sore thumb, but a refreshing and necessary one, to say the least. Discussing what were then taboo themes, the band’s message contained considerable weight, particularly when you match it against what Oasis were doing at the time with tracks like ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’.


Taking off when Britpop was at it the tail end of its commercial zenith, ironically, this proved to be very fortuitous for Molko and Placebo. They became the de jure band for all the outsiders, the square pegs in round holes, an outfit that didn’t relate to the bucket hat-wearing, alpha male brashness of the bustling music industry of the time.

Photo credit: Par Pope

It wasn’t all about sexuality, though. Molko’s lyrics touch on a whole host of challenging topics such as death, violence, teenage angst, drug use and the modern fascination with money. They often provide a means of escaping from humanity’s increasingly grim reality. The latest single, for example, ‘Surrounded by Spies’, discusses surveillance culture and the environmental collapse that world leaders are ignoring, showing that Molko always has his finger on the pulse.


Like Lou Reed, Molko has never been afraid to get into the nitty-gritty. This is one of the key facets of his brilliance, he’s a realist, a cynic even, and this again has filled his music with a pulp that many of his contemporaries could only have dreamed of having. There’s a reason why we’re still talking about Molko and Co. today and why, in comparison, Britpop eventually committed suicide by becoming a ridiculous caricature of itself, as did the mid-2000s indie scene. Placebo has, to varying degrees of success, remained relevant.


Again like Reed, Molko’s lyrical style positions him as somewhat of a Gonzo journalist stuck right in the middle of society’s most critical debates, peeling back the curtain and revealing the truth. He’s a witness that provides lessons in how we can better ourselves by outlining our faults, much like Thomas Pynchon or Hunter S. Thompson. He’s also captivated us by instilling a thrill to all of his music, much like the stomach churn you get after popping a pill. It’s a little naughty, but one hell of a ride.


Musically, in the early days, his down-tuned guitar and Generation X attitude aligned him with Sonic Youth, Nirvana and even riot grrrl groups like Pussy Riot. He espoused a caustic, sardonic wit that constantly proved that society’s established mores are flawed and something to be laughed at. “𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒,” Molko said in 2017, when he explained the band’s early ethos to The Independent. “𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑐 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 ‘𝑂ℎ, 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟’,” ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑. “𝑆ℎ𝑒’𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑡! 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠-𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑒𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑡; 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.”

Photo credit: Alfred Steffen

It’s a shame Kurt Cobain didn’t live long enough to witness Placebo’s rise, as it is certain he would have been captivated. In many ways, they are Cobain’s subversive spiritual successors. Showing just how provocative they are, in 2013, the band teamed up with the literary master of satire, Bret Easton Ellis, to deliver the pertinent video for single ‘Loud Like Love’, and his narration on suburban secrets is another superb indication of Placebo’s artistic vision.


“𝑊𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑,” Molko told The Guardian in 2021. “𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ, 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑥 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 90𝑠, 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 – 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜, 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠𝑜𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑦 1% – 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒’𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔”.


Another exemplary element of Molko’s artistry is that he has always tread his own path, staunch in his beliefs even if millions of dollars are offered to him. He once turned down the offer of a million euros to become a judge on the French version of The X Factor, saying “𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑” that could have persuaded him, regardless of the fact he’s bi-lingual and speaks French fluently.


Molko is driven by artistry and dedication to what is right. That’s what makes him such a refreshing breath of ice-cool air. He’s not a careerist or a money grabber, he’s Brian Molko, and he’s true to his own convictions. Considering that we live in the age of cultural pastiche, where rip-offs reign supreme both economically and musically, Molko continues to lead by example. 📖

(Mick McStarkey - faroutmagazine.co.uk)


🔸 I never thought about the fact that Kurt Cobain might have liked Placebo, but it seems like a no-brainer to me actually !

I really like this post by Mick McStarkey who has found the right words to describe the mind of Brian and Placebo. The last sentence, in my opinion, best defines Placebo's line of work throughout their career. And I'm sure that 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑀𝑒 𝐺𝑜 will have some interesting insights in this respect. 🔸

⭐ 𝑆𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 ? 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 ? ✨

Photo credit: Sebastien Dolidon

🎶 Let's listen (and watch !) to the first song that propelled Placebo to fame, 𝑁𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝐵𝑜𝑦 , and the latest song they released, 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑦 𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑠 from their upcoming album, 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑀𝑒 𝐺𝑜 🎶

⭐🎥 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝑩𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒊 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏 1996 https://bit.ly/3q8FNtN 🎵

⭐🎥 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑩𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒔 https://bit.ly/3me1PKA 🎵

Photo credits collage: Robin (2), Liam Duke, David Willis, Scarlet Page, Joseph Llanes (2), Mads Perch / edit by Laetitia 

Post by Laetitia