We’re sending a big, virtual hug to this unibrowed legend. Bill Berry left R.E.M. in 1997, two years after he suffered a brain aneurysm while the band was touring in Europe. Despite a successful surgery, Berry ultimately decided to eschew the music industry and enjoy a quieter life as a farmer — and R.E.M. went on to release five more albums without him as drummer before their permanent breakup. In celebration of their induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the famously reunion-prone quartet agreed to sit for a CBS Mornings interview to discuss their Really Entertaining Music, with Berry admitting he harbored second thoughts about walking away from everything they created. “Of course I did.

That was a weird time for me and I made it weird for these guys too,” he said. However, Berry refuses to use his health issues as an excuse. “It may have lowered my energy level and I just didn’t have the drive I once did,” he added. “I didn’t regret it at the time, but I’ve sort of regretted it a little later.” But now, looking at Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, and Peter Buck, “we’re all sitting here, friends again.” Take comfort in them.