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64 maconmagazine.com | June/July 2024 The rockstar's favorite hometown places and people M ike Mills grew up in Macon (singing in the choir at First Presbyterian Church) before becoming the founding bassist of R.E.M. in Athens, Georgia, with Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and fellow Maconite Bill Berry. The college band became a bestselling global phenomenon, bringing alternative rock to the 80s and 90s mainstream with 22 hits on the Billboard Top 100 and four hits on their Top 10, collecting three Grammy wins and 12 nominations along the way. While their music went mainstream, their creativity didn't, leading to trailblazing hits like "Losing My Religion," "Man on the Moon," "Nightswimming," and "Everybody Hurts" before disbanding in 2011. To date, they've sold over 90 million records — placing them among the top 75 best-selling artists of all time worldwide. Since his R.E.M. days, the multi- instrumentalist has stayed active, recently returning home to record the Emmy- winning "A Night of Georgia Music." These "hints of the century" might help you experience Macon as creatively as Mills. M I K E M I L L S ' M A C O N T O P 1 0 1 T H E H & H Good food, good vibes. 2 G R A N T ' S L O U N G E In the '70s, it was one of the only places Black folks and white folks could hang out and listen to music together. 3 W E D D I N G O F T H E C E N T U RY Our dear friends Chris Howard and Carey Pickard getting married [in 2015] and having their reception at the Hay House. Robert McDuffie and I played "Nightswimming," and love was in the air. 4 J A M E S G A L L O W AY A teacher at McKibben Lane Elementary. He made school something to actually look forward to. 5 M A RY L I L L I A N W H I T E A ninth-grade humanities teacher at Northeast High. The best teacher I ever had. When I was Star Student, she was my Star Teacher. 6 T H E C A P I T O L T H E AT R E Now a great music venue, but I enjoyed some inexpensive movies back when. 7 M A C O N C I T Y A U D I T O R I U M Loved Mother's Finest there back in the day, and recently played there with Robert McDuffie and my violin concerto. 8 T H E G R A N D O P E R A H O U S E I saw BB King there, among many other great shows. Recorded "A Night of Georgia Music" there. 9 M A C O N C O L I S E U M Saw Kiss there in 1976, played there with R.E.M. in 1989, and saw my very first rock show there – Edgar Winter. 10 R O S E H I L L C E M E T E RY Many days (and a few nights) were spent there thanking Duane and Berry for the music while watching the muddy river flow by. Mike Mills (left) and Robert McDuffie (right) perform "A Night of Georgia Music." Photo by Christopher Ian Smith for Mercer University.