NEW YORK (AP) A comet must have landed at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The members of R.E.M. had joked only hours before it would take a comet to get the band to perform together one last time. Yet there they were, reunited during the gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City Thursday night.

The annual event celebrated a talented group of songwriters that included R.E.M., Steely Dan and Timbaland, who conducted a medley of his massive hits.

R.E.M. s Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe were behind numerous alt-rock hits such as Everybody Hurts and Its the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine). On Thursday, they stunned audiences with the undisputed highlight of the night: reuniting for an acoustic version of Losing My Religion.

We are R.E.M., Stipe said. And this is what we did.

Stipe highlighted their strength as a group and early endeavors to own their master recordings and split songwriting credits equally. There are a lot of people who believed in us, he said.

Jason Isbell covered the groups hit, Its the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine). Afterward he joked, Ive never said that many words that quickly in my whole life.