Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M.

[2] Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., his musical repertoire also includes keyboards, guitar and occasional lead vocals.

While his father was away, six-month-old Mills, with his mother and grandmother, moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived for around ten years.

I had A Night at the Opera by Queen, Tres Hombres by ZZ Top, and I don't remember the third one."

[6] Records Mills regularly listened to during high school include Suitable for Framing by Three Dog Night (his favorite band for a long time), Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts and You Don't Mess Around with Jim by Jim Croce.

Upon arriving, they bought their equipment back, having been turned onto punk music by Ian Copeland,[8] who Berry worked with at Paragon Booking Agency in Macon.

's songs, including "Nightswimming",[11] "Find the River", "At My Most Beautiful", "Why Not Smile", "Let Me In", "Wendell Gee", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville",[11] "Beat a Drum", "Be Mine", "Electrolite",[12] and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"

[14] That same year, he recorded with Warren Zevon together with Buck and Berry as the Hindu Love Gods.

[14] In 2012, Mills contributed piano to a Record Store Day single released by Drive-By Truckers member Patterson Hood, in protest of a Walmart development being built in Athens, Georgia.

[15] Mills is a member, along with Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, and Linda Pitmon, of The Baseball Project.

[17] On April 3, 2014, while performing with Arthur, Mills broke the news that David Letterman would be retiring in 2015.

"[19] Mills took a band self-portrait that he posted to Instagram[20] and did a short interview about "breaking" the story.

[21] Since 2010, Mills has played with a rotating group of musicians for a series of concerts built around Big Star's album Third/Sister Lovers.

Known as Big Star's Third, the concerts have taken place in London, Sydney, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York.

[22] A longtime Big Star fan, Mills wrote the liner notes for the 2014 reissue of the band's first two releases, 1972's #1 Record and 1974's Radio City.

[23] In 2016, he toured to support a Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra with childhood friend Robert McDuffie,[24] along with guitar players William Tonks and John Neff.

I never wanted to play the traditional locked into the kick drum, root note bass work.

"[33] Mills is an avid fantasy sports player, with interest in NFL, NBA, and PGA teams, among others.