it's the end of a name as we know it.

the artists formerly known as R.E.M. are now just, simply, REM.

as reported on r.e.m. HQ, which has served for a long time as the band's headquarter tell-all website for news and information, singer Michael Stipe says:

This has been a long time in the making, and I am glad we finally made this decision together, which is truly the only way forward.

adds Peter Buck:

Yeah, with the whole digital thing in the past few years, we were finding people referring to us as 'R dot E dot M dot,' which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, you know.

good point. i suppose sometimes unnecessary periods/dots/full-stops could be too much for a clan of musicians whose complex artistry has really always rested in the mindset of simplicity.

while this may not seem like a big deal and actually really isn't, for those of us who spent an occasional summer night sipping cocktails and discussing philosophy on the modest front porches of the band members homes, this is tremendous. because we followed them. and always have. and while they are rockstars in their own right, to us Athenians, they are neighbors and even friends.

if your buddy changed his name from John to Jack, it would be big news to you, too.