By now, [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]R.E.M.[/lastfm] fans know the news: After 31 years and 15 albums together, the bandmembers have mutually agreed to call it quits. As they blazed trails for American alternative rock in the ’80s, they also created some of the most memorable hit songs and music videos of the past three decades.

Let’s have a look at three of the greatest works from alternative rock royalty.

---

“The One I Love”

from Document (1987)

---

This is the single the first launched R.E.M. into the mainstream, with its chorus and hook delivering a simple shout-out, but to a person just about all of us has in our lives. It’s no wonder the song (and its video) touched so many people.

---

“Losing My Religion”

from Out of Time (1991)

---

[mtv]http://www.mtv.com/videos/rem/65748/losing-my-religion.jhtml#id=1617148[/mtv]
Still considered one of the greatest and most beloved music videos ever created, “Losing My Religion” represented a band taking the music video, then mostly considered a commercial/promotional vehicle for a single, and turning it into a work of art. It also earned R.E.M. several major prizes at that year’s MTV Video Music Awards show, including Video of the Year for 1991.

And finally….