"It's The end of the world as we know it" - or so sang Grammy-award winning US rock group REM on their 1987 album Document. The song is bound to get more than a few plays tonight as the multi-million album selling group has "decided to call it a day as a band".
The band, comprising singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills, released their debut album, Murmur, in 1983. Drummer Bill Berry was also in the group but left in 1997.
The online message said the band members "walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished".
REM gained a great amount of their success in the 1990s, releasing back-to-back multi-platinum albums and enjoying hits like Losing My Religion and Everybody Hurts.
Their last album, Collapse Into Now, was released in March.