Michael Stipe imagines Billie Eilish in his shoes in a biopic

Michael Stipe floated a curious idea for a possible film about REM: Billie Eilish could play the young version of himself. Guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the singer accepted host Stephen Colbert’s provocation about a possible biopic of the band. Between jokes and hypotheses (including the ironic one from David Cross for the more adult and bearded version), Stipe surprised everyone: “Maybe Billie Eilish could do it. She’d be good”. The idea also comes from a small real episode. Stipe said he met the pop star by chance in a restaurant in Manhattan: she held the door for him with great kindness, but he, admitted“she didn’t know who she was until she was already gone.”

During the interview, Stipe also teased details about his new solo materialdescribing it with surreal images: one of the songs, he said, is “the sound of a tree listening to itself for the first time”, a sound experiment that recalls Daft Punk mixed with “sea shanty” suggestions. In the studio he then presented the new song “The Rest Of Ever” live. The artist’s full-length solo debut, long awaited after singles like “Your Capricious Soul” and “Drive To The Ocean,” is finally expected to arrive in 2026. Meanwhile, the link with REM remains solid: In 2024, Stipe reunited with Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry for a rare acoustic performance of “Losing My Religion,” marking a historic moment for fans. AND who knows: if the biopic actually happens, we could see Billie Eilish performing the band’s classics, from “These Days” to “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”.