Losing My Religion - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

"Losing My Religion" was released on February 19, 1991 in the United States as the lead single from R.E.M.'s forthcoming album Out of Time. The band's record label, Warner Bros., was wary about the group's choice of the song as the album's first single. Steven Baker, who was vice president of product management at Warner Bros. at the time, said there were "long, drawn-out discussions" about releasing such an "unconventional track" as the single until the label agreed. While R.E.M. declined to tour to promote Out of Time, the band visited radio stations, gave numerous press interviews, and made appearances on MTV to promote the record. Meanwhile Warner Bros. worked to establish the single at campus, modern rock, and album-oriented rock radio stations before promoting it to American Top 40 stations, where it became a success. "The record crosses the boundaries of being just an alternative record", one Top 40 radio station program director said; he admitted that "Losing My Religion" was "a hard record to program; you can't play L.L. Cool J behind it. But it's a real pop record—you can dance to it."

"Losing My Religion" became R.E.M.'s biggest hit in the United States, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The single stayed on the chart for 21 weeks. It charted at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, and peaked at number 16 and number 11 in Canada and Australia, respectively. Mills said years later, "Without 'Losing My Religion', Out of Time would have sold two or three million, instead of the ten or so it did. But the phenomenon that is a worldwide hit is an odd thing to behold. Basically that record was a hit in almost every civilised country in the world." The success of "Losing My Religion" and Out of Time broadened R.E.M.'s audience beyond its original college radio-based fanbase. When asked at the time if he was worried that the song's success might alienate older fans, Buck told Rolling Stone, "The people that changed their minds because of 'Losing My Religion' can just kiss my ass."

The song received a number of critical plaudits. The single placed second in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll, behind Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". R.E.M. was nominated for seven awards at the 1992 Grammy Awards. "Losing My Religion" alone earned several nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The song won two awards, for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Short Form Music Video. In 2004, Rolling Stone listed the song at number 169 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2007, the song was listed as #9 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s. In 2009, Blender ranked it at number 79 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".