Michael Stipe finds new way to connect with India: The Upanishads

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Akshay Sawai

, ET BureauLast Updated: Nov 20, 2019, 08:32:00 AM IST

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In a recent interview, the singer granted readers a rare peek into his current projects and routine.

Sir Roderick David Stewart or Rod Stewart loves kitbashing and scratch building. In simpler words, the Hall of Famer is heavily into model railroading. He has a 1,500-square-foot model-train layout in his Beverly Hills residence, which is a model of New York’s Grand Central Station. The singer traces his interest in trains back to his childhood in London. He never had a train set, but British Rail operated not far from the shop his parents ran.(Image: rodstewart.com)

Back in 2002, REM lead singer Michael Stipe collaborated with Asha Bhosle on an album. These days, the 59-year-old Hall of Famer is connecting with India through reading. In a recent interview, Stipe said he was reading the Upanishads.

When asked what he was currently browsing, the singer of hits like Losing My Religion and Man on the Moon said, “John Giorno’s memoir and Patti Smith’s new book. And I just started the Upanishads last week.”

REM’s alternative sound and surrealist lyrics have made Stipe one of the more respected figures in music history. He’s also enigmatic. In the interview, Stipe granted readers a rare peek into his current projects and routine. Always passionate about the camera, Stipe has finished his second book of photography. And one of his possessions is a camera belonging to Andy Warhol, the pale, ghostly chronicler of celebrities and one of the pioneers of pop art.

“It might have to be Andy Warhol’s Polaroid camera,” Stipe says when asked what the weirdest object in his studio was. “I have his Big Shot. There was a shot in it, by the way. I have what might be Warhol’s last work.”