For the Gen-Xers who grew up on R.E.M. and now toil as copy editors for news and entertainment web sites, the breakup of R.E.M. provided a chance for some clever headline writing. Let’s see how they did:
Shiny, Happy Rockers Call It Quits (E! Online)
R.E.M., R.I.P. (MSN)
R.E.M. Breaks Up, Everybody Hurts (Metro Boston)
They Stood in the Place Where They Lived (Time)
It’s the End of the World: R.E.M. Calls It Quits (Chicago Sun-Times)
It’s the End of the Band As We Know It: R.E.M. Calls It Quits (news.com.au)
It’s the End of R.E.M. As We Know It: Michael Stipe and Crew Break Up After 31 Years (Philly.com)
R.E.M. Break Up: Life’s Rich Pageant (MTV)
The End of R.E.M., and They Feel Fine (The New York Times)
R.E.M. to Fans: It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and We Feel Fine (Red and Black: the University of Georgia student paper)
They Have Got to Leave to Find Their Way (oddly, no one)
