Man on the Moon

R.E.M. recorded “Man On The Moon” during the 1991–1992 Automatic for the People sessions at Bearsville Studio in New York, Criteria Studios in Miami, John Keane Studio in Athens, Kingsway Studio in New Orleans and Bosstown Recording Studios in Atlanta. Michael Stipe wrote the lyric around Andy Kaufman after Bill Berry and Peter Buck developed the music, with Scott Litt producing the recording with the band. Released by Warner Bros. in November 1992 as the second single from Automatic for the People, it reached number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the UK Official Singles Chart. Its Andy Kaufman references, country-rock lift and Peter Care video helped make it one of R.E.M.’s most recognisable early-1990s singles. The track remains one of R.E.M.’s signature songs and became inseparable from Kaufman’s cultural afterlife after lending its title to the 1999 film Man on the Moon. It continues to stand as a central example of the band’s ability to turn oblique storytelling into mainstream pop reach.