R.E.M., for their part, held no hard feelings towards Sweet. Peter Buck has said, "The guy wanted to make records. I don't see anything wrong with that." Years later, Sweet recorded with R.E.M.'s Mike Mills on the song "The Ballad of El Goodo", on the Big Star tribute "Big Star, Small World". It was originally scheduled to come out in 1998, but its release was delayed until 2006. On March 26, 2011, Sweet and Mills performed the Big Star song "September Gurls" together live at a tribute to Big Star singer Alex Chilton; Stipe also performed at this concert, singing "The Letter", by Chilton's 1960s group, the Box Tops.