"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. from their ninth studio album, Monster (1994). The song's title refers to an incident in New York City in 1986, when two then-unknown assailants attacked journalist Dan Rather, while repeating "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" The song was the first single taken from the album and was released on September 5, 1994. It peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 2 in Canada, number 4 in New Zealand, and number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. In Iceland, it peaked at number 1 for four weeks. It was the first song to debut at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" was placed on R.E.M.'s compilation albums In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 in 2003 and Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011 in 2011, the only track from Monster to feature on either. The song was one of the band's most-played songs at live gigs, and was played at every show on their 2008 Accelerate tour. A live version was released on R.E.M. Live in 2007. History Background and recording R.E.M. began work on Monster in August 1993 and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" was realized about two months later in October. This song was written and recorded at Kingsway Studio, New Orleans, where the band also wrote and recorded "Tongue" and "Crush with Eyeliner". Lead singer Michael Stipe has said in interviews that the lyrics are about the Generation X phenomenon in contemporary mass media, sung in character as an older critic whose information consists exclusively of media products. Guitarist Peter Buck explained why the song slows towards its conclusion in an interview with Guitar World magazine: The lyric, “Richard says withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy” is a reference to Richard Linklater’s 1990 indie comedy-drama film Slacker. Post-release "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" made its first live television debut on November 12, 1994, for Saturday Night Live, recorded at NBC Studios in New York City. The set on the show opened with "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and was followed by two other songs from the new album, Monster, "Bang and Blame" and "I Don't Sleep, I Dream". The following year, on June 22, 1995, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Dan Rather accompanied the band during a soundcheck