Automatic Baby

Automatic Baby is the name that half of the members of R.E.M. and U2 performed under at MTV's Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 1993. The "supergroup" performed a single song: U2's One.

The name comes from combining each band's then-most-recent album titles, respectively: "Automatic for the People" and "Achtung Baby".

Automatic Baby was comprised of: Michael Stipe and Mike Mills (both R.E.M.) and Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. (both U2).

The members of R.E.M. and U2 are good friends, and Bono also appeared onstage with R.E.M. in 2003 for EIF's Love Rocks benefit [1] in honor of his humanitarian efforts. He and Michael Stipe sang One as a duet, but this was not a performance of Automatic Baby.

At some live U2 concerts, while playing One, occasionally, there is a short rendition of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" dedicated to Michael Stipe, who is often said to be in the audience.

Commercial Availability

The sole Automatic Baby performance has been released on at least four commercial compilations. The first was the second edition of Atlanta radio station 99x's Live X CD series, released in 1995. The following year, Maryland alternative radio station WHFS released a compilation of performances from its Just Passin' Thru program, and included the track. Later in 1996, a UK compilation released by Island Records titled Childline included the track. Island Records released another benefit CD the following year in the US, titled Amazing Grace, which included the song. The radio station compilations were very limited, possibly as few as 10,000 copies each. The Island Records releases had a larger pressing. However, all four releases are currently out of print.