According to lead vocalist Michael Stipe it is a great honour to be recommemorated in their hometown. Bill Berry will play along with three songs.

It took a long time before REM had found a proper replacement for Bill Berry. He was not followed up officially until January 2005, when ex-Ministry drummer Bill Rieflin joined the fold as an official member.

Berry has only played three times with his longtime colleagues since exiting the band in 1997, most prominently at the October 2005 wedding of REM guitar tech Dewitt Burton. A few hundred lucky wedding guests got the surprise of their life as REM\'s original four members reunited to play a seven-song set at the wedding.

Following the Hall of Fame induction, REM will end a year-long hiatus and hit the studio to begin work on the follow-up to 2004`s critically acclaimed \"Around the Sun\".