R.E.M.'s original foursome has recorded a cover of John Lennon's "#9 Dream" as the centerpiece of the charity album "Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur." The song will be released to U.S. radio outlets today (March 12) and to digital retailers tomorrow, while the album is due June 12 via Warner Bros.
As previously reported, the R.E.M. track was recorded by frontman Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and ex-drummer Bill Berry last fall at an Athens, Ga., studio. It was the first time the quartet had been in the studio since Berry's 1997 retirement.
The full track list for "Instant Karma" has yet to be revealed, but it will feature Lennon covers from Green Day, Christina Aguilera, Snow Patrol, the Postal Service, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jack Johnson and Regina Spektor. All proceeds will benefit Amnesty International's efforts to halt the human rights horrors in Darfur.
"It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music that is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation," says Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. "John's music set out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, we really can make the world a better place."
In conjunction with the benefit, Amnesty International is organizing a host of events to affect change in Darfur in the coming weeks, including symposiums, protests and meetings with political leaders. For more information, visit InstantKarma.org.
As previously reported, the R.E.M. track was recorded by frontman Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and ex-drummer Bill Berry last fall at an Athens, Ga., studio. It was the first time the quartet had been in the studio since Berry's 1997 retirement.
The full track list for "Instant Karma" has yet to be revealed, but it will feature Lennon covers from Green Day, Christina Aguilera, Snow Patrol, the Postal Service, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jack Johnson and Regina Spektor. All proceeds will benefit Amnesty International's efforts to halt the human rights horrors in Darfur.
"It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music that is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation," says Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. "John's music set out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, we really can make the world a better place."
In conjunction with the benefit, Amnesty International is organizing a host of events to affect change in Darfur in the coming weeks, including symposiums, protests and meetings with political leaders. For more information, visit InstantKarma.org.
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