Restoration begins on R.E.M. steeple
ATHENS, Ga. — Workers are beginning to restore the steeple of the old church in Athens where Georgia rock band R.E.M. played its first show. Scaffolding is rising around all that remains of the structure — its now-iconic steeple, The Athens Banner-Herald reported.
Last year, the nonprofit Nuçi's Space launched a 60-day crowdfunding campaign aimed at restoring the steeple and helping to fund the organization's health care assistance and other services it provides to local musicians. Nuçi's Space works to prevent suicide.
R.E.M. performed its first show at the church on April 5, 1980, as Twisted Kites and renamed itself a few weeks later. R.E.M. had formed in Athens, where all four members were students at the University of Georgia.