R.E.M. Was An American Rock Band From Athens Georgia Formed In 1980 By Drummer Bill Berry Guitarist Peter Buck Bassist/backing Vocalist Mike Mills And Lead Vocalist Michael Stipe. One Of The First Alternative Rock Bands R.E.M. Was Noted For Buck's Ringing Arpeggiated Guitar Style Stipe's Distinctive Vocal Quality And Obscure Lyrics Mills's Melodic Basslines And Backing Vocals And Berry's Tight Economical Style Of Drumming. R.E.M. Released Its First Single—"Radio Free Europe"—in 1981 On The Independent Record Label Hib-Tone. Read More On Last.Fm
"At My Most Beautiful" Is A Song By R.E.M. And The Third Single From The Album Up. With A Heavy Influence From The Beach Boys Mainly Pet Sounds-Era Songs And The Beatles Lyricist Michael Stipe Wanted It To Be The Most Romantic Song He'd Ever Written. According To An Interview To The Canadian News Site CANOE This Was The Inspiration For The Song “It Came From I Was Driving Up And Down Santa Monica Boulevard When I Was Putting Together The Patti Smith Book I Was Working On 2XIntro On The Road With Patti Smith . I Was Consistently Late. It's One Of My Bad Personality Traits. I Was Stuck In Traffic This Mid-Day Traffic On Santa Monica Boulevard But I Had The Tapes And I Was Listening To Them In The Car And I Was Trying To Come Up With Stuff. I Wrote The Line 'I Found A Way To Make You Smile' And I Just Thought That's The Most Beautiful Thing In The World.” The Single's Video Directed By Nigel Dick Shows An Accident-Prone Cellist Played By Rain Phoenix On Her Way To An Audition Of Which The Band Are The Panel. It Appears On In View The DVD Companion To In Time R.E.M.'s Warner Brothers 2003 "Best Of" Album Which Also Includes The Song.