Won't you come home, Bill Berry?

The former R.E.M. drummer, who officially retired from the alt-rock outfit in 1997, has confirmed plans to reunite with his former band mates when R.E.M. is inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on Sept. 16 in Atlanta, the group's publicist told E! Online Wednesday.

Berry, 48, will be back behind the kit when R.E.M. performs a three-song set at the ceremony. But fans shouldn't expect anything beyond the one-off gig.

"People shouldn't take literally that he's rejoining the band," R.E.M. spokeswoman Bertis Downs said. "They're playing together only for the induction ceremony which will be three songs. We're all very much looking forward to it."

Downs says Berry will join singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills in rehearsals next week, at which point they'll decide what songs they plan on playing.

Berry decided to leave R.E.M. for good nearly a decade ago after suffering a brain aneurysm during the Georgia rockers' 1995 Monster.

Following his departure, the Grammy winners carried on as a three-piece, using drum machines on their 1998 release, Up, and a rotating crew of session drummers in the studio and on subsequent tours.

Since then, Berry has gotten back together with the band only three times.

In October 2003, he turned up at an R.E.M. show in Raleigh, North Carolina, lending backing vocals to "Radio Free Europe" and getting behind the toms for a rendition of an early chestnut, "Permanent Vacation."

In October 2005, Berry joined the band for a seven-song set of early tunes at the wedding of R.E.M. guitar tech Dewitt Burton, and then in April of this year, he played bass with Buck's side band, the Minus 5, in a performance of "Country Feedback" at a concert in R.E.M.'s hometown of Athens, Georgia. Stipe and Mills, who were also in attendance, joined in.

Other than those appearances, Berry has spent the majority of his time enjoying the quiet, rural life down on his Georgia farm.

"Bill's retired and maintains a close friendship with all the guys in the band, but he's very happy," said Downs.

While never officially replacing Berry, R.E.M. recently hired a new full-time drummer, Bill Rieflin, late of industrial metal band Ministry.

Before their induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame next week, the band will release on Tuesday a two-CD and DVD anthology chronicling their early years on IRS Records. And I Feel Fine: The Best of the IRS Years, 1982-1987 features classic cuts like "Radio Free Europe," "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville," "Fall on Me," The One I Love" and "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" along with a full disc of rare tracks, outtakes, live songs, demos and alternative versions. The DVD contains the bands music videos, TV appearances and interviews.

After the induction, R.E.M. will head back into the studio sans Berry to record their 14th studio album, a follow-up to 2004's underwhelming Around the Sun.