On This Day, May 18, 1991…
R.E.M. hit #1 with their seventh studio album, Out of Time. The record, their first-ever #1, spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and 109 weeks on the chart overall.
Out of Time’s success was aided by two hit singles: “Losing My Religion,” which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the band’s highest charting single, and “Shiny Happy People,” featuring The B-52’s Kate Pierson, which peaked at #10.
Out of Time would go on to sell over four million copies in the U.S. and earn R.E.M. three Grammys, including best alternative music album, and two for “Losing My Religion.”
In 2017, “Losing My Religion” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2020, it became the first R.E.M. video to reach one billion views on YouTube.
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