R.E.M. - WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY, KENNETH?

Released: September 5, 1994

Charts: US: #21   UK: #9 

By 1994, R.E.M. were no longer the quiet heroes of college rock—they were one of the biggest bands in the world. After the introspective acoustic calm of “Automatic for the People”, the group plugged back in, cranked up the distortion, and came roaring into the mid-’90s with “Monster”. Its lead single, “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”, was both a reinvention and a riddle: a snarling rock anthem inspired by one of America’s strangest unsolved mysteries.

The title comes from a bizarre 1986 incident in New York City, when CBS news anchor Dan Rather was attacked by an assailant who repeatedly shouted, “Kenneth, what is the frequency?” The attacker, later identified as William Tager, claimed he believed television networks were beaming signals into his head. When R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe first wrote the song, Tager’s identity was still unknown — which only deepened the surrealism. Stipe called the episode “the premier unsolved American surrealist act of the 20th century,” and his lyrics reflect that fascination with media confusion, paranoia, and generational disconnect.

But “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” is more than just a headline turned into rock poetry. Stipe channels the voice of an aging cultural critic baffled by Generation X, a man who filters reality through pop culture but can’t quite understand the world he’s observing. Lines like “Richard said, ‘Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy’” jab at the gap between cynicism and activism in the MTV era — a self-aware critique that’s both biting and bemused.

The song was a shock to fans expecting another “Everybody Hurts.” Producer Scott Litt captures the band at their loudest and loosest: Peter Buck’s guitar snarls through distortion, Mike Mills’s bass booms beneath, and Bill Berry’s drumming hits like a sledgehammer. Buck plays the solo on Kurt Cobain’s Jag-Stang, gifted to him by Courtney Love after Cobain’s death — a haunting detail that links Monster’s glam-grunge swagger to the grief and noise of the decade it defined.

The accompanying video, directed by Peter Care, amplifies the chaos. Bathed in flashing neon blues, reds, and greens, Michael Stipe — newly bald and visibly electrified — sways, jerks, and snarls through the performance. His transformation from shadowy poet to rock frontman is complete. The rest of the band leans into their own reinventions: Mills in a Nudie suit once owned by Gram Parsons, Buck wielding Cobain’s guitar upside down.

Released on September 5, 1994, the song hit No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and reached the Top 10 in the UK, New Zealand, and Germany. Yet its cultural impact went far beyond the charts. “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” became a national catchphrase — a shorthand for confusion and media absurdity, even parodied on The David Letterman Show, where Rather himself later joined R.E.M. on stage to sing it.