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Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Colin Greenwood (bass), Phil Selway (drums, percussion) and Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals).

Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992. The song was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead's popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international fame. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienationOK Computer is often acclaimed as one of the landmark records of the 1990s.

Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in Radiohead's musical style, as the group incorporated experimental electronic musickrautrock and jazz influences. Kid A, though somewhat polarising at the time of its release, is now frequently recognised as one of the best albums of the decade. Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of piano and guitar driven rock, electronics and lyrics inspired by war, was the band's final album for their major record label, EMI. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a digital download for which customers could set their own price, and later in physical form to critical and chart success. Radiohead's eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), was an exploration of rhythm and quieter textures, which the band released independently.

Radiohead have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, with the band's work being placed highly in both listener polls and critics' lists, they have the distinction of doing so in both the 1990s and 2000s. In 2005, Radiohead were ranked number 73 in Rolling Stone's list of "The Greatest Artists of All Time", while Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien were both included in Rolling Stone's list of greatest guitarists, and Thom Yorke in their list of greatest singers. In 2009, Rolling Stone readers voted the group the second best artist of the 2000s.



History[]

[edit]Formation and first years (1985–91)[]

[1][2]Abingdon School, where the band formed

The musicians who formed Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, an independent school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood were in the same year, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway were one year older and Jonny Greenwood two years younger than his brother. In 1985 they formed the band "On a Friday", the name referring to the band's usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. The group played their first gig in late 1986 at Oxford's Jericho Tavern; Jonny Greenwood originally joined as a harmonica and then keyboard player, but he soon became the lead guitarist.

Although Yorke, O'Brien, Selway, and Colin Greenwood had left Abingdon by 1987 to attend university, the band continued to rehearse often on weekends and holidays. In 1991, when all the members except Jonny had completed their university degrees, On a Friday regrouped, began to record demos such as Manic Hedgehog, and performed live gigs around Oxford at venues such as The Jericho Tavern. Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley had an active independent music scene in the late 1980s, but it centred around shoegazing bands such as Ride and Slowdive; On a Friday were never seen as fitting this trend, commenting that they had missed it by the time they returned from university.

Nevertheless, as On a Friday's number of live performances increased, record labels and producers became interested. Chris Hufford, Slowdive's producer and the co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard Studios, attended an early On a Friday concert at the Jericho Tavern. Impressed by the band, he and his partner Bryce Edge produced a demo tape and became On a Friday's managers; they remain the band's managers to this day. Following a chance meeting between Colin Greenwood and EMI A&R representative Keith Wozencroft at the record shop where Greenwood worked, the band signed a six-album recording contract with the label in late 1991. At the request of EMI, the band changed their name; "Radiohead" was taken from title of a song on Talking HeadsTrue Stories album.

[edit]Pablo HoneyThe Bends and early success (1992–95)[]

Radiohead recorded their debut release, the Drill EP, with Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge at Courtyard Studios. Released in May 1992, its chart performance was very poor. Subsequently, the band enlisted Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade—who had worked with US indie bands Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.—to produce their debut album, recorded quickly in an Oxford studio in 1992. With the release of the "Creep" single later that year, Radiohead began to receive attention in the British music press, not all of it favourable. NME described them as "a lily-livered excuse for a rock band", and "Creep" was blacklisted by BBC Radio 1 because it was deemed "too depressing".

The band released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in February 1993. It stalled at number 22 in the UK charts, as "Creep" and its anthemic follow-up singles "Anyone Can Play Guitar" and "Stop Whispering" failed to become major hits. "Pop Is Dead", a non-album single later disavowed by the band, sold equally poorly. Some critics compared the band's early style to the wave of grunge music popular in the early 1990s—to the extent of Radiohead being dubbed "Nirvana-lite"—yet Pablo Honey failed to make either a critical or a commercial splash upon its initial release. Despite shared influences with popular guitar-heavy acts, and some notice for Yorke's falsetto voice, the band toured only British universities and clubs.

In the first few months of 1993, Radiohead began to attract listeners elsewhere. "Creep" had been played very frequently on Israeli radio by influential DJ Yoav Kutner, and in March, after the song became a hit in that country's charts, Radiohead were invited to Tel Aviv for their first live gig overseas. Around the same time, the San Francisco alternative radio station KITS added the song to its playlist. Soon other radio stations along the west coast of the United States followed suit. By the time Radiohead began their first North American tour in June 1993, the music video for "Creep" was in heavy rotation on MTV. The song rose to number two on the US modern rock chart, entered the lower reaches of the top 40 pop chart, and finally hit number seven in the UK Singles Chart when EMI re-released it in the UK in September.

Unexpected attention to the single in America caused the label to improvise new promotional plans, and the band shuttled back and forth between continents, playing over 150 concerts in 1993. Radiohead nearly broke up due to the pressure of sudden success as the Pablo Honey supporting tour extended into its second year. Band members described the tour as difficult to adjust to, saying that towards its end they were "still playing the same songs that [they had] recorded two years previously... like being held in a time warp", when they were eager to work on new songs.

The band began work on their second album in 1994, hiring veteran Abbey Road Studios producer John Leckie. Tensions were high, with mounting expectations on the band to deliver a superior follow-up to match or exceed the success of "Creep". Recording felt unnatural in the studio, band members having over-rehearsed their material. They sought a change of scenery, touring the Far East, Australasia and Mexico in an attempt to reduce the pressure. The band found greater confidence performing their new music live. However, confronted again by the fame he had achieved, Yorke became disillusioned at being "right at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell to the world.

My Iron Lung, an EP and single released late in 1994, was Radiohead's reaction, marking a transition towards the greater depth they aimed for on their second album. Promoted through alternative radio stations, the hard-edged single's sales were better than expected, and suggested for the first time that the band had found a loyal fan base beyond one hit. Having introduced more new songs on tour, Radiohead finished recording their second album by year's end, and they released The Bends in March 1995. The album was driven by dense riffs and ethereal atmospheres from the band's three guitarists, with greater use of keyboards than their debut. It also received stronger reviews for both songwriting and performances.

While Radiohead were seen as outsiders to the Britpop scene that dominated the media's attention at the time, they were finally successful in their home country with The Bends, as singles "Fake Plastic Trees", "High and Dry", "Just", and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" made their way to UK chart success; the latter song placed Radiohead in the top five for the first time. In 1995, Radiohead again toured North America and Europe, this time in support of R.E.M., one of their formative influences and at the time one of the biggest rock bands in the world. The buzz generated by such famous fans as Michael Stipe, along with distinctive music videos for "Just" and "Street Spirit", helped to sustain Radiohead's popularity outside the UK.

However, Radiohead's growing fan base was insufficient for them to repeat the commercial popularity of "Creep" worldwide. "High and Dry" became a modest hit, but The Bends peaked at 88 on the US album charts, which remains Radiohead's lowest showing there. Radiohead were satisfied with the album's reception. Jonny Greenwood said, "I think the turning point for us came about nine or twelve months after The Bends was released and it started appearing in people's [best of] polls for the end of the year. That's when it started to feel like we made the right choice about being a band".

[edit]OK Computer, fame and critical acclaim (1996–98)[]

In late 1995, Radiohead had already recorded one song that would make their next record. "Lucky", released as a single to promote the War Child charity's The Help Album,had come out of a brief session with Nigel Godrich, a young audio engineer who had assisted on The Bends and also produced a 1996 B-side, "Talk Show Host". The band decided to produce their next album with Godrich's assistance, and they began work in early 1996. By July they had recorded four songs at their rehearsal studio, Canned Applause, a converted apple shed in the countryside near Didcot, Oxfordshire.

In August 1996, Radiohead toured as the opening act for Alanis Morissette, seeking to perfect their new songs live before completing the record. They then resumed recording, again outside a traditional music studio, settling instead at a 15th-century mansion, St. Catherine's Court, near Bath. The recording sessions were relaxed, with the band playing at all hours of the day, recording songs in different rooms, and listening to The BeatlesDJ ShadowEnnio Morricone and Miles Davis for inspiration. Radiohead contributed "Talk Show Host", as well as a newly recorded song called "Exit Music (For a Film)", to Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of Romeo + Juliet late in the year. Most of the rest of the album was complete by the end of 1996, and by March 1997, the record was mixed and mastered.

Radiohead released their third album, OK Computer, in June 1997. Largely composed of melodic rock songs, the new record also found the band experimenting with song structures and incorporating some ambientavant garde andelectronic influences, prompting Rolling Stone to call the album a 'stunning art-rock tour de force.' Radiohead denied being part of the progressive rock genre, but critics in the mid-'90s began to compare their work to Pink Floyd, a band whose early 1970s work influenced Greenwood's guitar parts at the time. Some compared OK Computer thematically to Floyd's best-seller The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), although Thom Yorke said the album's lyrics had been inspired by observing the "speed" of the world in the 1990s. Yorke's lyrics, embodying different characters, had expressed what one magazine called "end-of-the-millennium blues" in contrast to the more personal songs ofThe BendsOK Computer met with great critical acclaim, and Yorke admitted that he was "amazed it got the reaction it did. None of us fucking knew any more whether it was good or bad. What really blew my head off was the fact that people got all the things, all the textures and the sounds and the atmospheres we were trying to create."

OK Computer was the band's first number one UK chart debut, propelling Radiohead to commercial success around the world. Despite peaking at number 21 in the US charts, the album eventually met with mainstream recognition there, receiving the first Grammy Awards recognition of the band's career, a win for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year. "Paranoid Android", "Karma Police" and "No Surprises" were released as singles from the album, of which "Karma Police" was most successful internationally.

The release of OK Computer was followed by the "Against Demons" world tour. Grant Gee, the director of the "No Surprises" video, accompanied and filmed the band, releasing the footage in the 1999 documentary Meeting People Is Easy.[39] The film portrays the band's disaffection with the music industry and press, showing their burnout as they progressed from their first tour dates in mid-1997 to mid-1998, nearly a year later. The film is also notable for documenting earlier versions of songs that were never released or were not released until years later, such as "How to Disappear Completely", "Life in a Glasshouse", "I Will" and "Nude". During this time the band also released a music video compilation, 7 Television Commercials, as well as two EPs, Airbag/How Am I Driving? and No Surprises/Running from Demons, that compiled their B-sides from OK Computer singles.

[edit]Kid AAmnesiac and a change in sound (1999–2001)[]

[3][4]Jonny Greenwood has used a variety of instruments, such as this glockenspiel, in live concerts and recordings.

Radiohead were largely inactive following their 1997–1998 tour; after its end, their only public performance in 1998 was at an Amnesty International concert in Paris. Yorke later admitted that during that period the band came close to splitting up, and that he had developed severe depression. In early 1999, Radiohead began work on a follow-up to OK Computer. Although there was no longer any pressure or even a deadline from their record label, tension during this period was high. Band members all had different visions for Radiohead's future, and Yorke was experiencing writer's block, influencing him toward a more abstract, fragmented form of songwriting. Radiohead secluded themselves with producer Nigel Godrich in studios in Paris,Copenhagen, and Gloucester, and in their newly completed studio in Oxford. Eventually, all the members agreed on a new musical direction, redefining their instrumental roles in the band.After nearly 18 months, Radiohead's recording sessions were completed in April 2000.

In October 2000 Radiohead released their fourth album, Kid A, the first of two albums from these recording sessions. Rather than being a stylistic sequel to OK ComputerKid A featured aminimalist and textured style with more diverse instrumentation including the ondes Martenot, programmed electronic beats, strings, and jazz horns. It debuted at number one in many countries, including the US, where its debut atop the Billboard chart marked a first for the band, and the first US number one album by any UK musician since the Spice Girls in 1996.This success was attributed variously to marketing, to the album's leak on the file-sharing network Napster a few months before its release, and to advance anticipation based, in part, on the success of OK Computer.Although Radiohead did not release any singles from Kid Apromos of "Optimistic" and "Idioteque" received radio play, and a series of "blips", or short videos set to portions of tracks, were played on music channels and released freely on the Internet. The band had read Naomi Klein's anti-globalisation book No Logo during the recording, and they decided to continue a summer 2000 tour of Europe later in the year in a custom-built tent free of advertising; they also promoted Kid A with three sold-out North American theatre concerts.

Kid A received a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year in early 2001. It won both praise and criticism in independent music circles for appropriating underground styles of music; some mainstream British critics saw Kid A as a "commercial suicide note", labelling it "intentionally difficult" and longing for a return to the band's earlier style. Radiohead's fans were similarly divided; along with those who were appalled or mystified, there were many who saw the album as the band's best work. Yorke, however, denied that Radiohead had set out to eschew commercial expectations, saying, "I was really, really amazed at how badly [Kid A] was being viewed ... because the music's not that hard to grasp. We're not trying to be difficult ... We're actually trying to communicate but somewhere along the line, we just seemed to piss off a lot of people ... What we're doing isn't that radical."

Amnesiac, released in June 2001, comprised additional tracks from the Kid A recording sessions. Radiohead's musical style on these songs was similar to that of Kid A in their fusion of electronic music and jazz influences, though more reliant on the use of guitars. The record was a critical and commercial success worldwide, it topped the UK Albums Chart and reached number two in the US, being nominated for a Grammy Award and the Mercury Music Prize. After Amnesiac's release, the band embarked on a world tour, visiting North America, Europe and Japan. Meanwhile, "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out", Radiohead's first issued singles since 1998, were modestly successful, and "I Might Be Wrong", initially planned as a third single, expanded into Radiohead's thus far only live record. I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, released in November 2001, featured performances of seven songs from Kid A and Amnesiac along with the acoustic, previously unreleased "True Love Waits".

[edit]Hail to the Thief and departure from EMI (2002–04)[]

During July and August 2002, Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain, playing a number of newly written songs. They then recorded the new material in two weeks in a Los Angeles studio with Nigel Godrich, adding several tracks later in Oxford, where the band continued their work into the next year. Radiohead members described the recording process as relaxed, in contrast to the tense sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac. The band's sixth album, Hail to the Thief, was released in June 2003. Mixing sounds from throughout their career, the album combined guitar-based rock with electronic influences and topical lyrics by Yorke. Hail to the Thief enjoyed commercial success, debuting at number one in the UK and number three on the Billboard chart and eventually being certified platinum in the UK and gold in the US. The album's singles, "There There", "Go to Sleep" and "2 + 2 = 5", achieved a level of play on modern rock radio. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, Radiohead were again nominated for Best Alternative Album, while producer Godrich and engineer Darrell Thorp received the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album.

Yorke denied that Hail to the Thief's title was a comment on the controversial 2000 US presidential election, explaining that he first heard the words in a BBC Radio 4 discussion of 19th century American politics. Yorke said his lyrics had been affected by news reports of war in 2001 to 2002 and "the feeling that we are entering an age of intolerance and fear where the power to express ourselves in a democracy and have our voices heard is being denied us" but said, "[Radiohead] didn't write a protest record, we didn't write a political record." After the release of Hail to the Thief, Radiohead embarked in May 2003 on a world tour, including a headlining performance at the Glastonbury Festival. The tour finished in May 2004 with a performance at the Coachella Festival. During their tour, the band released COM LAG, an EP compiling most of their B-sides from the time. Following their tour, the band began writing and rehearsing in their Oxford studio but soon went on hiatus. Free of their label contract, Radiohead spent the remainder of 2004 resting with their families and working on solo projects.

[edit]In Rainbows, independent work and "pay what you want" (2005–08)[]

[5][6]Yorke in concert with Radiohead in 2006

Radiohead began work on their seventh album in February 2005. In September 2005, the band recorded a piano-based song, "I Want None of This", for the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life. The album was sold online, with "I Want None of This" being the most downloaded track, although it was not released as a single. Radiohead had already begun recording their next album on their own and then with producer Mark Stent. However, in late 2006, after touring Europe and North America and debuting 13 new songs there, the band resumed work with Nigel Godrich in London, Oxford and several rural locations in Somerset, England. Work was finished in June 2007 and the recordings were mastered the following month.

Radiohead's seventh album, In Rainbows, was released through the band's own website in October 2007 as a digital download for which customers could make whatever payment that they deemed appropriate (pay what you want), including paying nothing at all; the site only advised, "it's up to you". Following the band's sudden announcement 10 days beforehand, Radiohead's unusual strategy received much notice within the music industry and beyond. 1.2 million downloads were reportedly sold by the day of release, but the band's management did not release official sales figures, claiming that the Internet-only distribution was intended to boost later retail sales. In a 2011 appearance on The Colbert Report, Ed O'Brien said of the self-release strategy: "We sell less records, but we make more money." Colin Greenwood explained the Internet release as a way of avoiding the "regulated playlists" and "straitened formats" of radio and TV, ensuring fans around the world could all experience the music at the same time, and preventing leaks in advance of a physical release. A "discbox", including a second disc from the recording sessions, vinyl and CD editions of the album, and a hardcover book of artwork, was also sold and shipped in late 2007.

In Rainbows was physically released in the UK in late December 2007 on XL Recordings and in North America in January 2008 on TBD Records, charting at number one both in the UK and in the US. The record's retail success in the US–after having been legally available for months as a free download–marked Radiohead's highest chart success in that country since Kid A, while it was their fifth UK number one album. In Rainbows sold more than three million copies within one year of release. In Rainbows also received extremely positive reviews, among the best of Radiohead's career; critics praised the album for having a more accessible sound and personal style of lyrics than their past work. The album was nominated for the short list of the Mercury Music Prize, and went on to win the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. Their production team won the Grammy for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, while Radiohead received their third nomination for Album of the Year. Along with three other nominations for the band, Godrich's production work and the "House of Cards" music video also received nominations.

Radiohead released a number of singles from In Rainbows in support of the album; "Jigsaw Falling into Place", the first, was released in the UK in January 2008. The second single, "Nude", debuted at number 37 in the Billboard Hot 100, Radiohead's first song to make that chart since 1995's "High and Dry" and their first top 40 hit in the US since "Creep". Radiohead continued to put out tracks from In Rainbows as singles and videos; in July a digitally shot video for "House of Cards" was made available."House of Cards", along with "Bodysnatchers", also received a single release on radio. In September the band announced a fourth single, "Reckoner", and a remix competition similar to one organised for "Nude". A greatest hits album, titled Radiohead: The Best Of, was released by EMI in June 2008. The compilation was made without the input of the band and also did not contain any songs from In Rainbows, as the band had already left their label. Yorke expressed his disapproval on behalf of Radiohead: "We haven't really had any hits so what exactly is the purpose? ... It's a wasted opportunity in that if we'd been behind it, and we wanted to do it, then it might have been good." From mid-2008 to early 2009, Radiohead toured North America, Europe, Japan, Mexico and South America to promote In Rainbows. The band headlined the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2009.

[edit]The King of Limbs and "physical movements" (2009–2012)[]

In May 2009, the band began new recording sessions with producer Nigel Godrich. In August, Radiohead released two singles from these sessions on their website: "These Are My Twisted Words", and "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)", a tribute to Harry Patch, the last surviving British soldier to have fought in the First World War, with proceeds donated to the British Legion. Yorke had suggested Radiohead might move away from the traditional album format, instead releasing singles or EPs, but as work continued into 2010,an eighth long-play record became the focus.

In January, the band played their only concert of 2010 in Los Angeles's Henry Fonda Theater as a benefit for Oxfam. Tickets were auctioned, raising over half a million US dollars for the NGO's 2010 Haiti earthquake relief. In December, a fan-made video of the performance was released via YouTube and torrent with the band's support and a "pay-what-you-want" link to donate to Oxfam. In September 2010, Radiohead released the soundboard recording of their 2009 Prague performance for use in another fan-made concert video. The Radiohead for Haiti and Live in Praha videos were reviewed by mainstream media and described as examples of the band's openness to fans and their positivity toward non-commercial internet distribution.

Radiohead finished recording their eighth album in January 2011.The King of Limbs was announced on Valentine's Day and self-released on 18 February 2011 through the band's website. It was followed by a physical retail release on CD and vinyl formats in March, and a special "newspaper album" edition in May. The album sold an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 copies through Radiohead's website; the retail edition debuted at number six on theBillboard 200 in the United States, with first-week sales of 69,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number seven on the UK Albums Chart, selling 33,469 copies in its first week.

Following the painstaking recording and relatively conventional rock instrumentation of In Rainbows (2007), Radiohead employed a more "spontaneous" process to develop The King of Limbs, sampling their own recordings with turntables.The King of Limbs received positive reviews from most music critics, achieving Metacritic score of 80, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It was nominated for five categories in the 54th Grammy AwardsBest Alternative Music AlbumBest Boxed or Special Limited Edition PackageBest Short Form Music Video (for "Lotus Flower"), Best Rock Performance ("Lotus Flower") and Best Rock Song ("Lotus Flower").Two tracks not included on The King of Limbs but worked on during the same sessions, "Supercollider" and "The Butcher", were released as a single for Record Store Day on 16 April 2011. In June, Radiohead announced a series of remixes of King of Limbs tracks. These remixes and others were compiled on the remix album TKOL RMX 1234567, released in September 2011.

To play the rhythmically complex King of Limbs material live, Radiohead enlisted Portishead touring drummer Clive Deamer and recorded a second From the Basement session, released as The King of Limbs: Live from the Basementin December 2011. On 24 June 2011 Radiohead played as a "secret" act at the Glastonbury Festival, performing songs from The King of Limbs for the first time. The band then continued playing in support of The King of Limbs in September 2011, when they played two dates at New York City's Roseland Ballroom. They also made TV appearances, including a one-hour special episode of The Colbert Report. In February 2012, Radiohead began their first extended North American tour in four years, including dates in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This was followed by dates in Europe and Japan, as well as the band's first concerts ever in Taiwan and South Korea, their first concert in New Zealand in 14 years and their first tour of Australia in eight years.

On 16 June 2012, an hour before gates were due to open at Toronto's Downsview Park for the final concert of Radiohead's North American tour, the roof of the venue's temporary stage collapsed, killing drum technician Scott Johnson and injuring three other members of Radiohead's touring technical crew. The collapse also destroyed the band's light show and much of their musical equipment. The concert was cancelled and Radiohead's tour dates in Europe were postponed. An investigation by the provincial government of Ontario into the cause of the accident is under way.After rescheduling the tour, Radiohead paid tribute to Scott Johnson and their stage crew at their next concert, in Nîmes, France in July.

[edit]Ninth studio album (2013-present)[]

In February 2013, Colin Greenwood said the band will be starting work on their ninth studio album at the end of summer. However, in April 2013, Thom Yorke stated, "I'm sure it'll probably be slightly longer than that, 'cause I am actually going to have to have a break. [...] I really haven't got a clue, which I quite like. We didn't, like, say, "Fuck you, I'll see you whenever." But it was quite exciting to actually finally decide to take a proper, proper break. We'd never really done that, not by choice."


Band members[]

Additional live members
  • Clive Deamer – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2011–present)
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