Four decades after igniting college-radio airwaves and launching R.E.M.’s remarkable career, their 1981 debut single “Radio Free Europe” is broadcasting a new signal. R.E.M. proudly announced Radio Free Europe 2025, a five-track benefit EP led by a never-before-released 2025 remix by the band’s longtime collaborator Jacknife Lee. The release celebrates the 75th anniversary of the “OG” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and arrived just ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
Radio Free Europe 2025 is available to stream and download today. A limited-edition 10-inch orange-vinyl pressing—available for pre-order now exclusively via the official R.E.M. store and independent record stores—lands September 12. Proceeds from all vinyl sales will go to RFE/RL, an editorially independent nonpartisan and nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was established by the United States 75 years ago and currently broadcasts news and information in 27 languages to 23 countries where a free press is either banned by the government or under threat. Throughout the Cold War and continuing today, RFE/RL is often the only lifeline to the outside world for people living under extreme censorship.
Members of R.E.M. say this mission of promoting free expression has always resonated with the band.
“Whether it’s music or a free press – censorship anywhere is a threat to the truth everywhere. On World Press Freedom Day, I’m sending a shout-out to the brave journalists at Radio Free Europe,” says Michael Stipe, lead singer and founding member of R.E.M.
“Radio Free Europe’s journalists have been pissing off dictators for 75 years. You know you’re doing your job when you make the right enemies. Happy World Press Freedom Day to the ‘OG’ Radio Free Europe,” says Mike Mills, bassist and founding member of R.E.M.
“To me, R.E.M.’s music has always embodied a celebration of freedom: freedom of expression, lyrics that make us think, and melodies that inspire action. Those are the very aims of our journalists at Radio Free Europe—to inform, inspire, and uphold freedoms often elusive to our audiences. We hold dictators accountable. They go to great lengths to silence us—blocking our websites, jamming our signals, and even imprisoning our colleagues,” saysRFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus.
Released through Craft Recordings, the Radio Free Europe 2025 EP was overseen by the band’s original producer Mitch Easter—who first captured R.E.M. at his Drive-In Studio during their maiden road trip to a professional studio in April 1981. That seminal session yielded the band’s earliest recordings of “Radio Free Europe,” “Sitting Still,” and the instrumental “Wh. Tornado,” all collected here.
The set opens with the 2025 remix by GRAMMY®-winner Jacknife Lee (U2, Snow Patrol, Taylor Swift, The Killers), who also produced R.E.M.’s final two studio albums, Accelerate and Collapse Into Now. Lee gives the track a fresh take while staying true to its indie-rock DNA. Completing the package are Mitch Easter’s original 1981 recordings—the sought-after Hib-Tone single mix of “Radio Free Europe,” its flip-side “Sitting Still,” the “Wh. Tornado” demo, and Easter’s long-rumoured, never-before-released 1981 remix “Radio Free Dub.”
In 2009, “Radio Free Europe” was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry for “setting the pattern for later indie-rock releases.”
Click here to pre-order/stream Radio Free Europe 2025 now.
Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
TRACKLIST:
Radio Side:
- Radio Free Europe 2025 (Jacknife Lee Remix)*
- Radio Free Dub (Mitch Easter 1981 Remix)*
Liberty Side:
- Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single)
- Sitting Still (Original Hib-Tone B-Side)
- Wh. Tornado (From Cassette Set) **
*Never-before-released
**First time on digital and vinyl
About R.E.M.:
One of the most revered bands in popular music history, R.E.M. pioneered the alt-rock movement of the ’90s, influencing future acts like Radiohead, Nirvana, Pavement, and Pearl Jam. Formed in 1980, the group enjoyed an extraordinary three-decade-long run of creative vitality and multi-platinum sales before amicably disbanding in 2011. Despite great success, the band members never lost track of their core values—remaining outspoken in their views about political, social, and environmental issues, and never wavering when it came to artistic integrity. Throughout their career, R.E.M. released 15 studio albums, won three GRAMMY® Awards, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2007) as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2024).
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