R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe has poked fun at his homosexuality by reading out a 'statement' revealing his bandmates Mike Mills and Peter Buck are heterosexual. In the staged press conference video on the group's YouTube webpage, Stipe sits down to read his humorous statement as camera bulbs flash repeatedly around him.

The frontman, who first revealed his sexual preference in an interview with Time magazine in 2001, retains a deadly serious composure throughout the clip, before collapsing in a heap of laughter at the end.

In the video, Stipe says: "R.E.M.'s Pete Buck and Mike Mil...