Happy 50th Birthday, Michael

Michael Stipe probably never thought when he was 20 years old, four short months before a band named Twisted Kites would play its first show in an abandoned church, that 30 years later he’d be playing music with those same people. In fact, he’d most likely laugh in your face.

But here he is, 30 years later, still cranking out music with two of those three guys. Sure the stakes are much higher, but the meaning and purpose remains the same.

Michael Stipe turned 50 today (Jan. 4), and not too long ago that was an old age for someone to be leading a rock and roll band. But much has changed over the years, as Mick Jagger and Roger Daltry are two senior citizens who proved you can keep on rocking instead of collecting Social Security (not that the two could, being British and all, but you get my meaning).

Through the decades, Stipe and his bandmates created a different feel and mood with their music. The 80s saw them as mysterious and cutting edge, leading the way for college radio to become a force. The 90s saw a mature band, heading into their 30s, writing amazing songs with depth and purpose. The aughts saw the band struggle with the loss of one of the beginning four, going through a mid-life crisis while trying to see what works (and what didn’t. While Around The Sun had some strong points, it was a bit tricked out, kinda like a fancy sports car with bad gas mileage). And now, on the heels of an album of much acclaim, the aughts see a band revitalized and ready to take the world by storm again.

Fifty is the new 30, right?

So Happy Birthday Michael. You’ve never looked better.