After recruiting bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry, R.E.M. released its first single, ???Radio Free Europe,??? in 1981, followed by 1982???s Chronic Town EP. Widely credited with inventing the college-rock genre, R.E.M. became the most influential American alternative rock band in history ??? inspiring such artists as Sonic Youth, Pavement, Nirvana, and Radiohead ??? for achieving multi-pl