Michael Stipe joins members of The National for “E-Bow The Letter” in Biarritz

R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe joined The National’s Matt Berninger and twin brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner at the Atabal venue in Biarritz, France, on 17 October to perform “E-Bow The Letter”. The appearance came at the opening night of AB100, a festival celebrating the Dessners’ 50th birthdays, according to NME.

The two-day event is split between Biarritz and the Spanish city of San Sebastián. The opening concert, billed as “Mixtape”, also featured Ben Howard, Kevin Morby and Jon Hopkins. Before the song, Stipe gave both Dessner brothers handmade sculptures, while Berninger jokingly handed out chewing gum. Stipe said R.E.M. wrote the song during a 1995 stay in San Sebastián, and Aaron Dessner recalled that The National “begged” the band to play it when they supported R.E.M. in 2008.

“E-Bow The Letter” was the lead single from R.E.M.’s 1996 album “New Adventures In Hi-Fi” and originally featured Patti Smith. Stipe and Aaron Dessner previously released “No Time For Love Like Now” in June 2020 under Dessner’s Big Red Machine project. On 18 October The National were due to close the festival at the Kursaal Auditorium in San Sebastián, their only full-band show of 2026.

R.E.M. are an American alternative rock band formed in 1980 in Athens and disbanded in 2011; their newest studio album, according to MusicBrainz, is “Collapse Into Now” (2011). In October mbuzz reported that Stipe has set May 2027 for his debut solo album. In July he shared the spoken-word track “Hum Desiderata”.