Thom Yorke sings “E-Bow the Letter” with R.E.M. in a London church

Thom Yorke came on halfway through R.E.M.'s secret show at St James's Church, Piccadilly, on Wednesday 15 September and sang “E-Bow the Letter” with Michael Stipe. The band had to start the song again after Stipe fumbled the opening. I was so excited I fucked up the beginning¹, he told the 200 invited guests, and then apologised for swearing in a church. They gave Yorke a huge ovation.

“E-Bow the Letter” was R.E.M.'s 1996 UK top five hit, and Yorke has been friends with the band since Radiohead supported them on the Monster tour in 1995. He has sung Patti Smith's part with them at least twice before: at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Washington in 1998, and at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver on 29 August last year, the night before Stipe sang “Karma Police” with Radiohead.

BBC Radio 2 staged and recorded the show for broadcast on 23 October. R.E.M. played seven songs from Around the Sun, which is out on 4 October, three of them (“Wanderlust”, the title song and “Aftermath”) for the first time. Stipe, in a white suit, asked the reviewers present not to headline their pieces with a pun on “Losing My Religion”.

R.E.M. at St James's Church, 15 September 2004