R.E.M. performs together for first time in nearly 20 years

R.E.M.'s still got it.

The group — comprised of frontman Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bass player Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry — had a surprise onstage reunion at the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony in New York on Thursday, performing their 1991 hit "Losing My Religion."

The performance marked the first time all four members of the indie band took the stage together since their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

R.E.M. slowly dissolved after Berry left the band in 1997 after suffering a double brain aneurysm. The band continued on as a trio until 2011, but never quite found their groove without their drummer.

In their speech, Stipe spoke about their latest accolade on behalf of his bandmates.

"Writing songs and having a catalogue of work that we’re all proud of that is out there for the rest of the world for all time is hands-down the most important aspect of what we did," he said. "Second to that is that we managed to do so all those decades and remain friends. And not just friends, dear friends."

The frontman also noted that even amid the band's difficulties, they were united.

"We are four people that very early on decided that we would own our own masters and we would split our royalties and songwriting credits equally," he said. "All for one and one for all."

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The "Everybody Hurts" band's reunion comes the same day their "CBS Mornings" interview aired where they discussed their breakup and joked it would take a "comet" to get them together onstage again.

"At that point, there wasn’t anything we could agree on really, musically — what kind of music, how to record it, are we gonna go on tour," Buck said of when Berry left R.E.M. "We could barely agree on where to go to dinner. And now we can just agree on where to go to dinner."

He added: "I think we quit at the right time. This is a really good place to finish, you know – great tour, great album, go home."

When asked if they would ever consider a reunion, Buck said, "It'd never be as good."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Songwriters Hall of Fame: R.E.M. reunites for first time in 17 years