166-862: Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead . He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto . Rolling Stone described Yorke as one of the greatest and most influential singers of his generation. Yorke formed Radiohead with schoolmates at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire . They gained notice with their debut single, " Creep ", and went on to achieve acclaim and sales of more than 30 million albums. Yorke's early influences included alternative rock acts such as Pixies and R.E.M . With Radiohead's fourth album, Kid A (2000), Yorke moved into electronic music , influenced by Warp acts such as Aphex Twin . For most of his career, he has worked with
332-509: A Fender Stratocaster , since at one point in the video, Queen singer Freddie Mercury would snatch the guitar from May and "throw" it back to him. The Red Special was omitted from the video for " Princes of the Universe ", in which May used a white Washburn RR11V (This guitar is often mistaken for a Jackson Rhoads ). He recorded the original of " Crazy Little Thing Called Love " on Queen drummer Roger Taylor 's Fender Esquire , but performed
498-459: A Gibson EB-0 type chrome-covered humbucking neck pick-up and a rear-position single coil pick-up hooked up to a passive volume/volume/tone circuit. The Guild models of the early 1990s featured three major configurations. Of the three, the "Signature" model was closest to May's guitar, although it was made of mahogany (body and neck) and ebony (fingerboard) and sported Trisonic-styled "Brian May" pick-ups made by Seymour Duncan and hardware (including
664-551: A box set of Radiohead material recorded before In Rainbows , released in the same week as the In Rainbows special edition. Commentators including the Guardian saw the move as retaliation for the band choosing not to re-sign with EMI. In June 2008, EMI released a greatest hits album, Radiohead: The Best Of . It was made without Radiohead's involvement and contains only songs recorded under their contract with EMI. Yorke
830-600: A minimalist 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 it became the first Radiohead album to debut atop the Billboard chart and the first US number-one album by any UK act since the Spice Girls in 1996. This success was attributed variously to marketing, to
996-403: A "commercial suicide note" and "intentionally difficult", and longed for a return to Radiohead's earlier style. Fans were similarly divided; along with those who were appalled or mystified, many saw it as the band's best work. Yorke denied that Radiohead had set out to eschew expectations, saying: "We're not trying to be difficult ... We're actually trying to communicate but somewhere along
1162-467: A 2000 tour of Europe 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 British critics saw Kid A as
1328-587: A 24-fret neck and the body outline of the Red Special went into production in 2007. This model is named the "Rhapsody", after the Queen song " Bohemian Rhapsody ". A bass guitar called the Bri-Bass was announced on May's website and is available. It looks like his normal guitar but with four bass strings. It features a bound mahogany body and 31.5" scale neck, topped with a 20-fret ebony fingerboard. Pickups are
1494-474: A Japanese collector for an undisclosed sum. While the woods used in John and Paul are more faithful to the original, George Burns was built with New Guinea rosewood for a "more aggressive edge" tonally. John is May's main back-up Red Special, and is tuned to standard. His green Guyton has replaced George Burns for Drop D tuning duties to play " Fat Bottomed Girls " live. In 2004, Andrew Guyton of Guyton Guitars,
1660-619: A North American tour, their first there in three years, in June 2001. With a string of sold-out dates, The Observer described it as "the most sweeping conquest of America by a British group" since Beatlemania , succeeding where bands such as Oasis had failed. Recordings from the Kid A and Amnesiac tours were released on I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings in November 2001. In July and August 2002, Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain, playing
1826-415: A band, On a Friday, named after the only day they were allowed to practice. According to Selway, while each member contributed songs in the band's early period, Yorke emerged as the main songwriter. After leaving Abingdon, Yorke took a gap year and tried to become a professional musician. He held several jobs, including a period selling suits and working in an architect's office, and made a demo tape . He
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#17328008048631992-430: A band." In later years, The Bends appeared in many publications' lists of the best albums of all time, including Rolling Stone 's 2012 edition of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" at No. 111. 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. Attention from famous fans such as
2158-701: A collaboration between Greenwood, Godrich, the Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and Indian musicians, was released in November 2015, accompanied by a documentary directed by Anderson . In April 2016, Radiohead's back catalogue was acquired by XL Recordings , which had released the retail editions of In Rainbows and The King of Limbs and most of Yorke's solo work. XL reissued Radiohead's back catalogue on vinyl in May 2016. Radiohead began work on their ninth studio album in September 2014. In 2015, they resumed work in
2324-594: A converted apple shed in the countryside near Didcot , Oxfordshire. In August 1996, Radiohead toured as the opening act for Alanis Morissette . They resumed recording not at a studio but at St. Catherine's Court , a 15th-century mansion near Bath . The sessions were relaxed, with the band playing at all hours of the day, recording in different rooms, and listening to the Beatles , DJ Shadow , Ennio Morricone and Miles Davis for inspiration. Radiohead released their third album, OK Computer , in May 1997. It found
2490-668: A dance piece by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company , which debuted in October 2003 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music . Radiohead's sixth album, Hail to the Thief , was released in June 2003. Its lyrics were influenced by what Yorke called "the general sense of ignorance and intolerance and panic and stupidity" following the 2000 election of US President George W. Bush . The album was promoted with
2656-413: A deadlock, Radiohead toured Asia, Australasia and Mexico and found greater confidence performing their new music live. However, troubled by his new fame, Yorke became disillusioned with being "at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell to the world. The My Iron Lung EP and single, released in 1994, was Radiohead's reaction, marking a transition towards
2822-552: A fan-made video of the performance, Radiohead for Haiti , was released via YouTube and torrent with Radiohead's support and a "pay-what-you-want" link to donate to Oxfam. Radiohead also released the soundboard recording of their 2009 Prague performance for use in a fan-made concert video, Live in Praha . The videos were described as examples of Radiohead's openness to fans and positivity toward non-commercial internet distribution. In June 2010, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed
2988-580: A hit, and told Rolling Stone in 1993: "It's like it's not our song any more ... It feels like we're doing a cover." According to Yorke, around this time he "hit the self-destruct button pretty quickly". He tried to project himself as a rock star and drank heavily, often becoming too drunk to perform. Yorke said: "When I got back to Oxford I was unbearable ... As soon as you get any success you disappear up your own arse." Years later, Yorke said he had found it difficult to cope with Radiohead's success: "I got angry ... I got more control-freakery. I put my hands on
3154-562: A landmark record of the 1990s and the Generation X era, and one of the greatest albums in recording history. In 1998, Radiohead performed at a Paris Amnesty International concert and the Tibetan Freedom Concert . In March, they and Godrich entered Abbey Road Studios to record a song for the 1998 film The Avengers , " Man of War ", but were unsatisfied with the results and it went unreleased. Yorke described
3320-412: A large advance, but had instead wanted control over their back catalogue. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows , on their website on 10 October 2007 as a download , for any amount users wanted, including £0. The landmark pay-what-you-want release, the first for a major act, made headlines worldwide and created debate about the implications for the music industry. Media reaction
3486-591: A luthier in the UK, manufactured 50 authorised, limited edition replicas of the Red Special: 40 in red to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the guitar, and ten in green, as he had previously seen a green Guild copy that he liked. In the 1970s, Japanese guitar manufacturer Greco was the first company to market a line of mass produced Red Special copies, albeit unofficial and unlicensed. They did, however, send one to May himself, which he used in various mimed performances
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#17328008048633652-628: A major influence on Radiohead, picked them as their support act for their European tour. Yorke befriended the R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe , who gave him advice about how to deal with fame. Yorke joined R.E.M. to perform their song " E-Bow the Letter " on several occasions from 1998 to 2004. During the production of Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), the members had differing opinions and equal production roles, with Yorke having "the loudest voice", according to O'Brien. OK Computer achieved acclaim and strong sales, establishing Radiohead as one of
3818-427: A modest hit, but Radiohead's growing fanbase was insufficient to repeat the worldwide success of "Creep". The Bends reached number 88 on the US album charts, and remains Radiohead's lowest showing there. Jonny Greenwood later said The Bends was turning point for Radiohead: "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
3984-660: A new band, Atoms for Peace , to perform his solo material, with musicians including Godrich and the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea . They played eight North American shows in 2010. In January 2010, Radiohead played their only full concert of the year in the Los Angeles 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. That December,
4150-487: A non-album single, also sold poorly. O'Brien later called it "a hideous mistake". Some critics compared Radiohead to the wave of grunge music popular in the early 1990s, dubbing them " Nirvana -lite", and Pablo Honey initially failed to make a critical or a commercial impact. The members of Radiohead expressed dissatisfaction with the album in later years. In early 1993, Radiohead began to attract listeners elsewhere. "Creep" had been played frequently on Israeli radio by
4316-492: A number of new songs. For their next album, they sought to explore the tension between human and machine-generated music and capture a more immediate, live sound. They and Godrich recorded most of the material in two weeks at Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles. The band described the recording process as relaxed, in contrast to the tense sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac . Radiohead also composed music for "Split Sides",
4482-431: A period of a year and a half, suddenly, bang ." Recording Radiohead's second album, The Bends (1995), was stressful, as they felt pressured to release a follow-up to "Creep". Yorke in particular struggled. According to the band's co-manager, Chris Hufford, "Thom became totally confused about what he wanted to do, what he was doing in a band and in his life, and that turned into a mistrust of everybody else." The Bends
4648-564: A piano dirge , for the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life . The album was sold online, with "I Want None of This" the most downloaded track, though it was not released as a single. In late 2006, after touring Europe and North America with new material, Radiohead re-enlisted Godrich and resumed work in London, Oxford and rural Somerset , England. Recording ended in June 2007 and
4814-423: A plastic knitting needle tip). For the same reason, at the other end of the neck the strings pass over a zero fret and through a bakelite string guide. Originally the guitar had a built-in distortion circuit, adapted from a mid-1960s Vox distortion effects unit . The switch for this was in front of the phase switches. May soon discovered that he preferred the sound of a Vox AC30 distorting at full power, so
4980-421: A production model. After viewing the replicas and taking note of the wear and tear the Red Special had suffered during nearly 30 years of constant touring, May had Fryer restore the original Red Special in 1998 using as much original and time-period specific material as possible. Damaged veneer on the back of the guitar was removed and new pieces scarfed in. The binding was removed and various nicks and dents in
5146-545: A record deal by Island Records , but the members decided they were not ready and wanted to go to university first. Yorke had wanted to apply to St John's to read English at the University of Oxford , but, he said, "I was told I couldn't even apply – I was too thick. Oxford University would have eaten me up and spat me out. It's too rigorous." He also considered studying music, but could not read sheet music . In late 1988, Yorke left Oxford to study English and fine arts at
Thom Yorke - Misplaced Pages Continue
5312-437: A reverse wound coil) which made his favoured pickup combination of bridge and middle in phase humbucking . He originally wound his own pick-ups, as he had for his first guitar, but he did not like the resulting sound because of the polarity of these pick-ups: alternating North-South instead of all North. The tremolo system is made from an old hardened-steel knife-edge shaped into a V and two motorbike valve springs to counter
5478-513: A rock star after seeing the Queen guitarist Brian May on television for the first time at the age of eight. He initially wanted to be a guitarist rather than a singer, but began singing as he had no one else to sing the songs he was writing. He received his first guitar as a child. At 10, he made his own guitar, inspired by May's homemade Red Special . By 11, he had joined his first band and written his first song. Seeing Siouxsie Sioux in concert at
5644-517: A room when it's with Radiohead ... I'm trying to manage a relationship between [Yorke] and the band and it's me butting heads with him and trying to work on behalf of the band." The Eraser was released in 2006 on the independent label XL Recordings , backed by the singles " Harrowdown Hill ", which reached number 23 in the UK Singles Chart , and " Analyse ". It reached the top ten in the UK, Ireland, United States, Canada and Australia, and
5810-595: A series of "minimalist soundscapes", was released free in February 2015 through the online music platform SoundCloud . Yorke released his second solo album, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes , via BitTorrent on 26 September 2014. It became the most torrented album of 2014 (excluding piracy ), with more than a million downloads in its first six days. Yorke and Godrich hoped to use the BitTorrent release to hand "some control of internet commerce back to people who are creating
5976-409: A set of Burns Tri-Sonic pick-ups and covered the coils of two with Araldite epoxy to reduce microphonics . The middle pickup remained uncoated and this is understood to have been modified in the early 1980s when DiMarzio examined the Red Special when designing pickups for the first Guild replica. The magnet was turned over to change its polarity and the wires on the solder posts swapped (to mimic
6142-559: A six-album recording contract with EMI. At EMI's request, they changed their name; "Radiohead" was taken from the song "Radio Head" on the Talking Heads album True Stories (1986). Yorke said the name "sums up all these things about receiving stuff ... It's about the way you take information in, the way you respond to the environment you're put in." Radiohead recorded their debut EP, Drill , with Hufford and Edge at Courtyard Studios. Released in May 1992, its chart performance
6308-471: A soundtrack, Subterranea , to The Panic Office , an installation of Radiohead artwork in Sydney, Australia. Yorke and Selway released their solo albums Tomorrow's Modern Boxes and Weatherhouse in late 2014. Jonny Greenwood scored his third Anderson film, Inherent Vice ; it features a version of an unreleased Radiohead song, "Spooks", performed by Greenwood and members of Supergrass . Junun ,
6474-439: A standard plectrum ) and the front scratchplate. The restored Red Special is prominently featured during a series of video interviews with Guitarist in 1999, in which May also demonstrated its feedback capabilities. At the end of the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour in 2005, May had several revisions made to the original Red Special, including having the zero fret replaced for the first time (this had been judged unnecessary at
6640-551: A statement, Yorke responded: "We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump , but we still play in America. Playing in a country isn't the same as endorsing the government. Music, art and academia is about crossing borders not building them, about open minds not closed ones, about shared humanity, dialogue and freedom of expression." Red Special The Red Special is the electric guitar designed and built by Queen 's guitarist Brian May and his father, Harold, when Brian
6806-515: A string arrangement composed by Jonny Greenwood. Later that month, another new song, " These Are My Twisted Words ", featuring krautrock -like drumming and guitars, was leaked via torrent , possibly by Radiohead. It was released as a free download on the Radiohead website the following week. Commentators saw the releases as part of Radiohead's new unpredictable release strategy, without the need for traditional marketing. In 2009, Yorke formed
Thom Yorke - Misplaced Pages Continue
6972-601: A surprise set at Glastonbury Festival with Jonny Greenwood, performing Eraser and Radiohead songs. Yorke provided vocals for "...And the World Laughs with You" from the Flying Lotus album Cosmogramma , and for "Shipwreck" and "This" on the Modeselektor album Monkeytown , both released in 2010. Along with Damien Rice and Philip Glass , he contributed to the soundtrack for the 2010 documentary When
7138-462: A surprise set at Glastonbury Festival , performing Eraser and Radiohead songs. Selway released his debut solo album, Familial , in August. Pitchfork described it as a collection of "hushed" folk songs in the tradition of Nick Drake , with Selway on guitar and vocals. Radiohead released their eighth album, The King of Limbs , on 18 February 2011 as a download from their website. Following
7304-652: A variety of Red Special style replicas hand-built in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. RS Guitars which were hand-built in Arizona, U.S. by Steve Turpin discontinued production of their models in January 2011. In Germany Scheithauer Guitars makes a Red Special style replica called "Mayday" in Mühlhausen. Harley Benton Guitars make replicas of the Red Special, however, their model has a single five-way switch in place of
7470-464: A vocal recital of a Schubert piece, which helped him find the confidence to become a singer. Terence Gilmore-James, the Abingdon director of music, recalled Yorke as "forlorn and a little isolated" thanks to his unusual appearance, but talkative and opinionated. He said Yorke was "not a great musician", unlike his future bandmate Jonny Greenwood , but a "thinker and experimenter". Yorke later credited
7636-536: A website, radiohead.tv, where short films, music videos, and studio webcasts were streamed. Hail to the Thief debuted at number one in the UK and number three on the Billboard chart, and was eventually certified platinum in the UK and gold in the US. The singles " There There ", " Go to Sleep " and " 2 + 2 = 5 " achieved heavy circulation on modern rock radio. At the 2004 Grammy Awards , Radiohead were again nominated for Best Alternative Album , and Godrich and
7802-679: Is his band". Yorke also sang backing vocals on Björk's 2008 charity single " Náttúra ". In 2009, Yorke released a cover of the Miracle Legion song "All for the Best" with his brother, Andy , for the compilation Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy . In July, Yorke performed solo at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk and released a double-A-side single, " FeelingPulledApartByHorses/TheHollowEarth ". He also contributed
7968-409: Is acclaimed as a landmark record and one of the best albums in popular music, with complex production and themes of modern alienation . Their fourth album, Kid A (2000), marked a dramatic change in style, incorporating influences from electronic music , jazz , classical music and krautrock . Though Kid A divided listeners, it was later named the best album of the decade by multiple outlets. It
8134-410: Is an activist on behalf of human rights , animal rights , environmental and anti-war causes, and his lyrics incorporate political themes. He has been critical of the music industry, particularly of major labels and streaming services such as Spotify . With Radiohead and his solo work, he has employed alternative release platforms such as pay-what-you-want and BitTorrent . He was inducted into
8300-549: The Billboard Hot 100 ; it was Radiohead's first song to enter the chart since "High and Dry" (1995) and their first US top 40 since "Creep". In July, Radiohead released a digitally shot video for " House of Cards ". Radiohead held remix competitions for "Nude" and " Reckoner ", releasing the separated stems for fans to remix. In April 2008, Radiohead launched W.A.S.T.E. Central, a social networking service for Radiohead fans. In May, VH1 broadcast In Rainbows – From
8466-566: The 100 greatest artists of all time , and included five of their albums in its lists of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". Radiohead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. The members of Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School , a private school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire . The guitarist and singer Thom Yorke and the bassist Colin Greenwood were in
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#17328008048638632-540: The 2020 Grammy Awards . Yorke performed two shows in 2017, and toured Europe and the US in 2018. That year, Yorke and the artist Tarik Barri created an audiovisual exhibition, "City Rats", commissioned by the Institute for Sound and Music in Berlin. I See You , a limited-edition zine edited by Yorke with Crack Magazine , was published in September 2018, with profits donated to Greenpeace . Yorke contributed music to
8798-536: The Apollo in 1985 inspired him to become a performer; Yorke said he had never seen anyone "captivate an audience like she did". Yorke attended the boys' private school Abingdon in Oxfordshire. He felt out of place, and got into physical fights with other students. He found sanctuary in the music and art departments, and wrote music for a school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream . At school, he performed
8964-648: The Coachella and Glastonbury festivals. They were joined again by Deamer. The tours included a performance in Tel Aviv in July 2017, disregarding the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign for an international cultural boycott of Israel . The performance was criticised by artists including Roger Waters and Ken Loach , and a petition urging Radiohead to cancel it was signed by more than 50 prominent figures. In
9130-528: The EMI A&;R representative Keith Wozencroft at a record shop and handed him a copy of the demo. Wozencroft was impressed and attended a performance. That November, On a Friday performed at the Jericho Tavern to an audience that included several A&R representatives. It was only their eighth gig, but they had attracted interest from several record companies. On 21 December, On a Friday signed
9296-507: The Hail to the Thief tour, Radiohead went on hiatus to spend time with their families and work on solo projects. Yorke and Jonny Greenwood contributed to the Band Aid 20 charity single " Do They Know It's Christmas? ", produced by Godrich. Greenwood composed soundtracks for the films Bodysong (2004) and There Will Be Blood (2007); the latter was the first of several collaborations with
9462-683: The Kid A sessions, including "Life in a Glasshouse", featuring the Humphrey Lyttelton Band . Radiohead stressed that they saw Amnesiac not as a collection of B-sides or outtakes from Kid A but an album in its own right. It topped the UK Albums Chart and reached number two in the US, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and the Mercury Music Prize . Radiohead released " Pyramid Song " and " Knives Out " as singles, their first since 1998. Radiohead began
9628-496: The London Contemporary Orchestra and Choir , and Yorke's son, Noah, on drums. Yorke cited inspiration from the 1982 Blade Runner soundtrack and music from Suspiria 's 1977 Berlin setting, such as krautrock . The lyrics do not follow the film narrative and were influenced by discourse surrounding President Donald Trump and Brexit . "Suspirium" was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media at
9794-545: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Radiohead in 2019. Yorke was born on 7 October 1968 in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire . He was born with a paralysed left eye, and underwent five eye operations by the age of six. According to Yorke, the last surgery was "botched", giving him a drooping eyelid . He decided against further surgery: "I decided I liked the fact that it wasn't the same, and I've liked it ever since. And when people say stuff I kind of thought it
9960-478: The UK singles chart when EMI rereleased it in September. To build on the success, Radiohead embarked on a US tour supporting Belly and PJ Harvey , followed by a European tour supporting James and Tears for Fears . Radiohead began work on their second album in 1994 with the veteran Abbey Road Studios producer John Leckie . Tensions were high, with mounting expectations to match the success of "Creep". To break
10126-486: The US charts , the album eventually met with mainstream recognition there, earning Radiohead their first Grammy Awards recognition, winning Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year . " Paranoid Android ", " Karma Police " and " No Surprises " were released as singles, of which "Karma Police" was most successful internationally. OK Computer went on to become a staple of "best-of" British album lists. In
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#173280080486310292-466: The University of Exeter , Yorke played with the band Headless Chickens, performing songs including future Radiohead material. He also met Stanley Donwood , who later became Radiohead's cover artist. In 1991, the band regrouped in Oxford, sharing a house on the corner of Magdalen Road and Ridgefield Road. They recorded another demo, which attracted the attention of Chris Hufford, Slowdive's producer and
10458-504: The University of Exeter . On a Friday entered hiatus aside from rehearsals during breaks. At Exeter, Yorke performed experimental music with a classical ensemble, played in a techno group called Flickernoise, and played with the band Headless Chickens, performing songs including future Radiohead material. He also met his future wife Rachel Owen , and Stanley Donwood , who later produced artwork for Radiohead and Yorke's solo releases. According to Yorke, his paintings at Exeter were "shit"; he
10624-705: The Unkle track " Rabbit in Your Headlights ", a collaboration with DJ Shadow . Pitchfork cited "Rabbit in Your Headlights" as a "turning point" for Yorke, foreshadowing his work in experimental electronic music. For the soundtrack of the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine , Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Andy Mackay of Roxy Music and Bernard Butler of Suede formed a band, the Venus in Furs, to cover Roxy Music songs. In 2016, Pitchfork wrote that Yorke "weirdly comes off as
10790-475: The war on terror and the resurgence of right-wing politics in the west after the turn of the millennium, and his shifting worldview after becoming a father. Yorke and Jonny Greenwood contributed to the 2004 Band Aid 20 single " Do They Know It's Christmas? ", produced by Godrich. Yorke recorded his debut solo album, The Eraser , during Radiohead's 2004 hiatus. It comprises electronics songs recorded and edited with computers. Yorke, who formed Radiohead while
10956-541: The 2018 short films Why Can't We Get Along? and Time of Day for the fashion label Rag & Bone . On 29 March 2019, Yorke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Radiohead. He did not attend the induction ceremony, citing cultural differences between the UK and America and his negative experience of the Brit Awards , "which is like this sort of drunken car crash that you don't want to get involved with". Yorke's third solo album, Anima ,
11122-413: The 79 pounds (36 kg) string tension. The tension of the springs can be adjusted by screwing the bolts, which run through the middle of the springs, in or out via two small access holes next to the rear strap button. To reduce friction, the bridge was completed with rollers to allow the strings to return perfectly in tune after using the tremolo arm (the arm itself was from a bicycle saddlebag holder with
11288-564: The Astoria , was released in 1995. By late 1995, Radiohead had already recorded one song that would appear on their next record. " Lucky ", released as a single to promote the War Child charity's The Help Album , was recorded in a brief session with Nigel Godrich, the young audio engineer who had assisted on The Bends. Radiohead decided to self-produce their next album with Godrich, and began work in early 1996. By July they had recorded four songs at their rehearsal studio, Canned Applause,
11454-524: The Basement , a special episode of the music television show From the Basement in which Radiohead performed songs from In Rainbows . It was released on iTunes in June. From mid-2008 to early 2009, Radiohead toured North America, Europe, Japan and South America to promote In Rainbows , and headlined the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2009. Days after Radiohead signed to XL, EMI announced
11620-614: The Burns Tri-Sonic pick-ups. 24 guitars were made in a rare baby blue color with a pearloid pickguard and gold hardware. The guitars come in Antique Cherry (a similar color to that of the Red Special), White and 3-Tone Sunburst with chrome hardware. They also have Honey Sunburst, Black and Gold with gold hardware and other various finishes. Greg Fryer, of Fryer Guitars an Australian luthier, produced three replicas of
11786-525: The Dragon Swallowed the Sun . In 2011, Radiohead released their eighth album, The King of Limbs , which Yorke described as "an expression of physical movements and wildness". Yorke sought to move further from conventional recording methods. The music video for " Lotus Flower ", featuring Yorke's erratic dancing, became an internet meme . By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums. In
11952-573: The La Fabrique studio near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence , France. The sessions were marred by the death of Godrich's father and Yorke's separation from his wife, Rachel Owen , who died from cancer in 2016. Work was interrupted when Radiohead were commissioned to write the theme for the 2015 James Bond film Spectre . After their song, " Spectre ", was rejected, Radiohead released it on the audio streaming site SoundCloud on Christmas Day 2015. Radiohead's ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool ,
12118-546: The Moon , although Yorke said the lyrics were 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 of The Bends . According to the journalist Alex Ross , Radiohead had become "the poster boys for a certain kind of knowing alienation" as Talking Heads and R.E.M. had been before. OK Computer received acclaim. Yorke said he
12284-491: The R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe , along with distinctive music videos for "Just" and "Street Spirit", helped sustain Radiohead's popularity outside the UK. The night before a performance in Denver, Colorado, Radiohead's tour van was stolen, and with it their musical equipment. Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed a stripped-down acoustic set with rented instruments and several shows were cancelled. Their first live video, Live at
12450-534: The Radiohead consensus." Selway and Jonny Greenwood appeared in the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as members of the fictional band the Weird Sisters . Radiohead began work on their seventh album in February 2005. Instead of involving Godrich, Radiohead hired the producer Spike Stent , but the collaboration was unsuccessful. In September 2005, Radiohead contributed "I Want None of This",
12616-550: The Red Special have been manufactured in varying numbers and in multiple models (i.e. a higher-end full-featured model, and a lower-cost one lacking some of the intricacies of the former) several times during the 1980s and 1990s, most often by the Guild Guitar Company from 1983–85 and again from 1993–95, and by Burns Guitars from 2001 (mass-produced models made in Korea). The Burns model, produced with guidance from May,
12782-439: The Red Special in 1996/97, and with permission from May, made exhaustive measurements of the original guitar. Fryer named his three replicas John , Paul and George Burns (after two members of The Beatles and the famous American comedian). May has two of these guitars, John and George Burns; Fryer kept Paul for some years and used it for testing modified Vox AC30 amplifiers and his range of treble boosters until he sold it to
12948-641: The Smile "sound like a simultaneously more skeletal and knottier version of Radiohead", exploring more progressive rock influences with unusual time signatures , complex riffs and "hard-driving" motorik psychedelia. Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon , Oxfordshire , in 1985. They comprise Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass); Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals); and Philip Selway (drums, percussion). They have worked with
13114-444: The UK and in the US. The success was Radiohead's highest chart placement in the US since Kid A . It became their fifth UK number-one album and sold more than three million copies in one year. The album received acclaim for its more accessible sound and personal lyrics. It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and won the 2009 Grammy awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. It
13280-532: The US Billboard 200 and number seven on the UK Albums Chart . It was nominated for five categories in the 54th Grammy Awards . Two tracks not included on The King of Limbs , " Supercollider" and "The Butcher ", were released as a double A-side single for Record Store Day in April. A compilation of King of Limbs remixes by various artists, TKOL RMX 1234567 , was released in September. To perform
13446-640: The US. It was the fifth Radiohead album nominated for the Mercury Prize , making Radiohead the most shortlisted act in Mercury history, and was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song (for "Burn the Witch") at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards . It appeared on several publications' lists of the best albums of the year. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, Radiohead toured Europe, Japan, and North and South America, including headline shows at
13612-412: The accompanying video and live performances of the song until 1992 with a Fender Telecaster . The first official copy of the Red Special was made by British luthier John Birch and was used as a back-up for live performances until it was accidentally destroyed by May during a concert in August 1982. The Birch was used in place of the Red Special in the music videos for "We Will Rock You" (however, it
13778-426: 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 released no singles from Kid A , promos of " Optimistic " and " Idioteque " received radio play, and a series of "blips", short videos set to portions of tracks, were played on music channels and released free online. Radiohead continued
13944-648: The ambient sections of Tomorrow's Modern Boxes , with some digitally spoken sections similar to "Fitter Happier" from OK Computer . The music was not released. In July 2015, Yorke joined the band Portishead at the Latitude Festival to perform their song " The Rip ". Yorke composed music for a 2015 production of Harold Pinter 's 1971 play Old Times by the Roundabout Theater Company in New York City. The director described
14110-406: The band experimenting with song structures and incorporating ambient , avant-garde and electronic 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 began to compare their work to Pink Floyd . Some compared OK Computer thematically to the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of
14276-480: The band's early period, Yorke emerged as the main songwriter. According to Colin, the band members picked their instruments because they wanted to play together, rather than through any particular interest: "It was more of a collective angle, and if you could contribute by having someone else play your instrument, then that was really cool." They played few gigs, and focused on rehearsing in village halls in Oxfordshire. The area had an active independent music scene in
14442-538: The case was dropped under the Jordan ruling , which sets strict time limits on trials. Radiohead released a statement condemning the decision. A 2019 inquest returned a verdict of accidental death . After the King of Limbs tour, the band members worked on further side projects. In February 2013, Yorke and Godrich's band, Atoms for Peace, released an album, Amok . The pair made headlines that year for their criticism of
14608-416: The circuit was removed. The switch hole is now covered by a mother-of-pearl star inlay, but was originally covered by insulation tape. May still uses the original but he has used replicas in some performances. Notably, the original guitar was not used in the videos " We Will Rock You ", and " Spread Your Wings ", instead using his John-Birch-made Red Special copy (see Replicas section below) which differs from
14774-886: The cliffs, writing and drawing. He restricted his songwriting to piano; the first song he wrote was " Everything in Its Right Place ". During this period, Yorke listened almost exclusively to the electronic music of artists such as Aphex Twin and Autechre , saying: "It was refreshing because the music was all structures and had no human voices in it. But I felt just as emotional about it as I'd ever felt about guitar music." Yorke gradually relaxed and came to enjoy his work again. Radiohead took Yorke's electronic influences to their next albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), processing vocals, obscuring lyrics, and using electronic instruments such as synthesisers, drum machines and samplers. The albums divided listeners, but were commercially successful and later attracted acclaim. Kid A
14940-532: The co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard Studios. Hufford and his business partner, Bryce Edge, attended a concert at the Jericho Tavern; impressed, they became On a Friday's managers. According to Hufford, at this point the band had "all of the elements of Radiohead", but with a rougher, punkier sound and faster tempos. At Courtyard Studios, On a Friday recorded the Manic Hedgehog demo tape, named after an Oxford record shop. In late 1991, Colin happened to meet
15106-399: The director Paul Thomas Anderson . In July 2006, Yorke released his debut solo album, The Eraser , comprising mainly electronic music. He stressed it was made with the band's blessing, and that Radiohead were not breaking up. Jonny Greenwood said: "He had to get this stuff out, and everyone was happy [for Yorke to make it] ... He'd go mad if every time he wrote a song it had to go through
15272-530: The engineer Darrell Thorp received the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album . In May 2003, Radiohead launched radiohead.tv, where they streamed short films, music videos and live webcasts from their studio. The material was released on the 2004 DVD The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time . A compilation of Hail to the Thief B-sides, remixes and live performances, Com Lag (2plus2isfive) ,
15438-484: The free music streaming service Spotify . Yorke accused Spotify of only benefiting major labels with large back catalogues, and encouraged artists to build their own "direct connections" with audiences instead. In February 2014, Radiohead released an app, Polyfauna , a collaboration with the British digital arts studio Universal Everything, with music and imagery from The King of Limbs . In May, Yorke contributed
15604-578: The greater depth they aimed for on their second album. It was Radiohead's first collaboration with their future producer, Nigel Godrich , then working under Leckie as an audio engineer , and the artist Stanley Donwood . Both have worked on every Radiohead album since. Though sales of My Iron Lung were low, it boosted Radiohead's credibility in alternative circles, creating commercial opportunity for their next album. Having introduced more new songs on tour, Radiohead finished recording their second album, The Bends , by 1995, and released it that March. It
15770-438: The guitar in August 1963, with the project being finished in October 1964. The neck was constructed from wood from a "hundred-year-old-ish" fireplace mantel that a friend of the family was about to throw away. The neck was hand-shaped into the desired form, a job that was made more difficult by the age and quality of the wood. May revealed there are worm holes in the neck of the guitar that he filled in with matchsticks. The neck
15936-462: The implications for the music industry. Yorke described it as a statement of Radiohead's belief in the value of music and a "contract of faith" between musicians and audiences. In the same year, Yorke sang on the Modeselektor track "The White Flash" from the album Happy Birthday! . Pitchfork likened it to The Eraser and wrote that Yorke's vocals "work so perfectly that it feels like this
16102-625: The influential DJ Yoav Kutner , and in March, after the song became a hit there, Radiohead were invited to Tel Aviv for their first show overseas. Around the same time, "Creep" became a hit in America, a " slacker anthem" in the vein of " Smells Like Teen Spirit " by Nirvana and " Loser " by Beck . It reached number two on the Billboard Modern Rock chart , number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number seven on
16268-580: The instrument's 50th anniversary, a book about its construction and history, Brian May’s Red Special: The Story of the Home-Made Guitar that Rocked Queen and the World , was written by Brian May with Simon Bradley. Unlike the main instruments of most musicians, the Red Special was built by its player, May, along with his father. The inspiration struck when May realized he could not afford a Fender , Gibson or Höfner guitar. They began to work on
16434-482: The jazz musician Wynton Marsalis to rearrange the song as a ballad reminiscent of 1950s Miles Davis . It was shortlisted for Best Original Song at the 92nd Academy Awards . Yorke's first classical composition, "Don't Fear the Light", written for the piano duo Katia and Marielle Labeque , debuted in April 2019. In April 2020, Yorke performed a new song from his home, "Plasticine Figures", for The Tonight Show . In
16600-426: The late 1980s, but it centred on shoegazing bands such as Ride and Slowdive . On a Friday played their first gig in 1987, at Oxford's Jericho Tavern . On the strength of an early demo, On a Friday were offered a record deal by Island Records , but they decided they were not ready and wanted to go to university first. They continued to rehearse on weekends and holidays, but did not perform for four years. At
16766-515: The leading rock acts of the 1990s. Yorke struggled with the attention the success brought him, and the stress of the OK Computer tour. Colin Greenwood described the "hundred-yard stare" in Yorke's eyes when performing, and said "he absolutely did not want to be there... You hate having to put your friend through that experience." Yorke said later: When I was a kid, I always assumed that [fame]
16932-451: The line, we just seemed to piss off a lot of people ... What we're doing isn't that radical." The album was ranked one of the best of all time by publications including Time and Rolling Stone; Rolling Stone , Pitchfork and the Times named it the best album of the decade. Radiohead's fifth album, Amnesiac , was released in May 2001. It comprised additional tracks from
17098-452: The members were in school, said he was curious to try working alone. He stressed that Radiohead were not splitting up and that the album was made "with their blessing". According to Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead were happy for Yorke to make the album: "He'd go mad if every time he wrote a song it had to go through the Radiohead consensus." Godrich said that working with Yorke on The Eraser was easier than working with Radiohead, as "when we were in
17264-470: The most of any act. Seven Radiohead singles have reached the top 10 on the UK singles chart : "Creep" (1992), " Street Spirit (Fade Out) " (1996), " Paranoid Android " (1997), " Karma Police " (1997), " No Surprises " (1998), " Pyramid Song " (2001), and " There There " (2003). "Creep" and " Nude " (2008) reached the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 . Rolling Stone named Radiohead one of
17430-896: The most well known being the Top of the Pops performance for " Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy ". CQuadro Guitar Works (now Carpinteri Guitars) in Italy makes Red Special replicas (the Bohemian and the Extreme ). Dansan Guitars makes Red Special replicas hand built in France. Dillion Guitars (prior to 2014 were built in Korea) making "Tribute Guitars" in two models. Dillion Guitars are manufactured in Vietnam by Inyen Vina CO. LTD of Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. RS Custom Guitars run by Everett Wood makes
17596-474: The music as "primeval, unusual ... The sort of neurosis within [Yorke's] music certainly has elucidated elements of the compulsive repetition of the play." That year, Yorke performed with Godrich and the audiovisual artist Tarik Barri at the Latitude Festival in the UK and Summer Sonic in Japan. Radiohead released their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool , on 8 May 2016. Yorke contributed vocals and appeared in
17762-451: The original in its all-maple construction and natural maple color, since he did not want to expose the Red Special to snow. The Birch was also used live as a back-up for the Red Special until it was destroyed by May in a fit of rage due to the tuning stability issues. Similarly, he opted not to use the Red Special for the " Play the Game " video, instead using a budget Satellite-badged replica of
17928-483: The period as a "real low point"; he and O'Brien developed depression, and the band came close to splitting up. After the success of OK Computer , Radiohead bought a barn in Oxfordshire and converted it into a recording studio. They began work on their next album with Godrich in early 1999, working in studios in Paris, Copenhagen, and Gloucester before their new studio was completed. Although their success meant there
18094-440: The producer Nigel Godrich and the cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. Radiohead's experimental approach is credited with advancing the sound of alternative rock . Radiohead signed to EMI in 1991 and released their debut album, Pablo Honey , in 1993. Their debut single, " Creep ", was a worldwide hit, and their popularity and critical standing rose with The Bends in 1995. Their third album, OK Computer (1997),
18260-423: The producer Nigel Godrich and the cover artist Stanley Donwood . Yorke's solo work comprises mainly electronic music. His debut solo album, The Eraser , was released in 2006. To perform it live, he formed a new band, Atoms for Peace , with musicians including Godrich and the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea . They released an album, Amok , in 2013. Yorke's second solo album, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes ,
18426-438: The protracted recording and more conventional rock instrumentation of In Rainbows , Radiohead developed The King of Limbs by sampling and looping their recordings with turntables . It was followed by a retail release in March through XL, and a special "newspaper album" edition in May. The King of Limbs sold an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 copies through Radiohead's website. The retail edition debuted at number six on
18592-537: The rapper MF Doom . In May, Yorke debuted a new band, the Smile , with Jonny Greenwood and the jazz drummer Tom Skinner , produced by Godrich. Greenwood said the project was a way for him and Yorke to work together during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The Smile made their surprise debut in a performance streamed by Glastonbury Festival on May 22, with Yorke singing and playing guitar, bass, Moog synthesiser and Rhodes piano . The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis said
18758-521: The recordings were mastered the following month. In 2007, EMI was acquired by the private equity firm Terra Firma . Radiohead were critical of the new management, and no new deal was agreed. The Independent reported that EMI had offered Radiohead a £3 million advance, but had refused to relinquish rights to the band's back catalogue. An EMI spokesman stated that Radiohead had demanded "an extraordinary amount of money". Radiohead's management and Yorke released statements denying that they had asked for
18924-674: The recordings. 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 the drum technician Scott Johnson and injuring three other members of Radiohead's road crew . After rescheduling the tour, Radiohead paid tribute to Johnson at their next concert, in Nîmes, France, in July. In June 2013, Live Nation Canada Inc, two other organisations and an engineer were charged with 13 charges under Ontario health and safety laws. In September 2017, after several delays,
19090-528: The release of their debut single, " Creep ", that September, 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 as "too depressing". Radiohead released their debut album, Pablo Honey , in February 1993. It reached number 22 in the UK charts. "Creep" and its follow-up singles "Anyone Can Play Guitar" and " Stop Whispering " failed to become hits, and " Pop Is Dead ",
19256-544: The revised Super model taken up in the Czech Republic for Brian May Guitars. The Brian May Guitars version differs from the Burns original in several ways; for example, the tremolo was a two-point synchronised tremolo with rear access plate. These models also feature a half-moon scratch plate behind the bridge to emulate the original. The switches were also changed from black to white to match May's guitar. They still use
19422-552: The rhythmically complex King of Limbs material live, Radiohead enlisted a second drummer, Clive Deamer , who had worked with Portishead and Get the Blessing . In June, Radiohead played a surprise performance on the Park stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival, performing songs from The King of Limbs for the first time. With Deamer, Radiohead recorded The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement , released online in August 2011. It
19588-416: The same year, Radiohead became one of the first bands in the world to have a website, and developed a devoted online following; within a few years, there were dozens of fansites devoted to them. OK Computer was followed by the year-long Against Demons world tour, including Radiohead's first headline Glastonbury Festival performance in 1997. Despite technical problems that almost caused Yorke to abandon
19754-596: The same year, Yorke collaborated with the electronic artists Burial and Four Tet on "Ego" and "Mirror", and collaborated with Greenwood and the American rapper MF Doom on "Retarded Fren". In 2012, Yorke provided vocals for "Electric Candyman" on the Flying Lotus album Until the Quiet Comes . He also remixed the single " Hold On " by the electronic musician Sbtrkt , under the name Sisi BakBak. His identity
19920-569: The same year, he collaborated with Four Tet and Burial again on "Her Revolution" and "His Rope", and remixed "Isolation Theme" by the electronic musician Clark . Yorke said his remix mirrored the COVID-19 lockdowns , "entering a new type of silence". In March 2021, Yorke contributed music to shows by the Japanese fashion designer Jun Takahashi , including a remixed version of "Creep". That August, he contributed two remixes of " Gazzillion Ear " by
20086-587: The same year; the guitarist Ed O'Brien was one year above, and the drummer Philip Selway was in the year above O'Brien. In 1985, they formed On a Friday, the name referring to their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. The band disliked the school's strict atmosphere—the headmaster once charged them for using a rehearsal room on a Sunday—and found solace in the music department. They credited their music teacher for introducing them to jazz , film scores , postwar avant-garde music , and 20th-century classical music . While each member contributed songs in
20252-404: The stage, the performance was acclaimed and cemented Radiohead as a major live act. Grant Gee , the director of the "No Surprises" video, filmed the band on tour for the 1999 documentary Meeting People Is Easy . The film portrays the band's disaffection with the music industry and press, showing their burnout over the course of the tour. Since its release, OK Computer is often acclaimed as
20418-401: The steering wheel and I was white-knuckled, and I didn't care who I hurt or what I said." He later apologised to his bandmates for his behaviour. Paul Q Kolderie , the co-producer of Pablo Honey, observed that Yorke's songwriting improved dramatically after Pablo Honey. O'Brien later said: "After all that touring on Pablo Honey ... the songs that Thom was writing were so much better. Over
20584-425: The support of Gilmore-James and the head of the art department for his success. Yorke had classical guitar lessons with his future bandmate Colin Greenwood . In sixth form at Abingdon, Yorke played with a punk band, TNT, but left when he was dissatisfied with their progress. He began playing with Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway , joined later by Colin's younger brother, Jonny. In 1985, they formed
20750-402: The three individual pickup switches, as well as having a 25 inch scale rather than 24 inches. In 2006, Brian May Guitars introduced a "Mini May" guitar, based on a 3/4 sized Red Special body shape with a 24 fret, 19” scale (but with no zero fret) featuring a single pick-up, no switches and a maple neck. In 2017, the "Mini May" was upsized with a 22 3/4" scale neck. An acoustic guitar, featuring
20916-506: The time of the 1998 restoration) and making a larger opening for a new, modern 1/4" jack socket. Despite all of this work, the original frets (other than the zero fret) have never been replaced. Andrew Guyton of Guyton Guitars, carried out a limited restoration in April 2016. This work involved making good all the cracks in the Rustins Plastic Coating lacquer finish, repairing damage to the end and edge, and touching in of
21082-412: The top were repaired. Fryer re-finished the neck and body in the original Rustin's Plastic Coating used in the creation over the existing finish, and fretboard wear was repaired and dot-markers replaced. The original electrics were also re-wired and overhauled, and cosmetic work was done, such as filling in holes and worn areas on access panels, pick-up covers (worn by May's use of a sixpence as opposed to
21248-579: The track "Hearing Damage" to the Twilight Saga: New Moon film soundtrack . That year, Yorke formed a new band, Atoms for Peace , to perform songs from The Eraser . Alongside Yorke, the band comprises Godrich on keyboards and guitar, the bassist Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers , the drummer Joey Waronker and the percussionist Mauro Refosco of Forro in the Dark . Yorke said: "God love 'em but I've been playing with [Radiohead] since I
21414-595: The typical formalities of record promotion, placing them on the same level as Beyoncé and Kanye West ". In May 2009, Radiohead began new recording sessions with Godrich. In August, they released " Harry Patch (In Memory Of) ", a tribute song to Harry Patch , the last surviving British soldier to have fought in World War I , with proceeds donated to the British Legion . The song has no conventional rock instrumentation, and instead comprises Yorke's vocals and
21580-434: The unique bridge) from Schaller. The "Special" model featured a stop-tailpiece rather than a vibrato, the middle pick-up was moved back next to the bridge pick-up for a humbucking look, and the back of the guitar had no binding. The "Standard" model featured a more common Strat-style 5-way pick-up selector switch, a longer scale neck, and a deeper headstock angle. Andrew Guyton made May a double-neck version, which has never been
21746-410: The video for "Beautiful People" from Mark Pritchard 's 2016 album Under the Sun . Yorke's first feature film soundtrack, Suspiria , composed for the 2018 horror film , was released on 26 October 2018 by XL. It was Yorke's first project since The Bends not to feature production from his longtime collaborator Nigel Godrich; instead, it was produced by Yorke and Sam Petts-Davies. Suspiria features
21912-624: The weak link", with understated vocals that did not resemble the Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry . Following the OK Computer tour, Yorke suffered a mental breakdown and found it impossible to write new music. He experienced imposter syndrome , and became self-critical and over-analytical. He was approached to score the 1999 film Fight Club , but declined as he was recovering from stress. Around this period, acts influenced by Radiohead emerged, such as Travis and Coldplay . Yorke resented them, feeling they had copied him. He said in 2006: "I
22078-565: The work". In December 2014, Yorke released the album on the online music platform Bandcamp along with a new track, "Youwouldn'tlikemewhenI'mangry". In 2015, Yorke contributed a soundtrack, Subterranea , to an installation of Radiohead artwork, The Panic Office , in Sydney, Australia. The soundtrack was composed of field recordings made in the English countryside and played on speakers at different heights with different frequency ranges. The radio station Triple J described it as similar to
22244-517: The world could experience the music at the same time, and preventing leaks in advance of a physical release. A special "discbox" edition of In Rainbows , containing the record on vinyl, a book of artwork, and a CD of extra songs, was also sold from Radiohead's website. The retail version of In Rainbows was released in the UK in late December 2007 on XL Recordings and in North America in January 2008 on TBD Records , reaching number one in
22410-405: 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 Radiohead's first number-one UK chart debut, and brought them commercial success around the world. Despite peaking at number 21 in
22576-557: Was 16, and to do this was quite a trip ... It felt like we'd knocked a hole in a wall, and we should just fucking go through it." Atoms for Peace performed eight North American shows in 2010. They went unnamed for early performances, billed as "Thom Yorke" or "??????". In February, Yorke performed a benefit concert at the Cambridge Corn Exchange for the British Green Party . In June, he performed
22742-602: Was a badge of pride, and still do." The family moved frequently. Shortly after Yorke's birth, his father, a nuclear physicist and later a chemical equipment salesman, was hired by a firm in Scotland. The family lived in Lundin Links until Yorke was seven, and he moved from school to school. The family settled in Oxfordshire in 1978, where Yorke attended primary school in Standlake . Yorke said he knew he would become
22908-582: Was a teenager in the early 1960s. The Red Special is sometimes referred to as the Fireplace or the Old Lady by May and by others. The name Red Special came from the reddish-brown colour the guitar attained after being stained and painted with numerous layers of Rustins Plastic Coating . The name Fireplace is a reference to the fact that the wood used to make the neck came from a fireplace mantel . A guitar that would define May's signature style, it
23074-738: Was accompanied by a short film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson , which was nominated for the Grammy for Best Music Film . In August, Yorke released Not the News Rmx EP , comprising an extended version of the Anima track "Not the News" plus remixes by various artists. A solo tour set to begin in March 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . For the 2019 film Motherless Brooklyn , Yorke wrote "Daily Battles", with horns by his Atoms for Peace bandmate Flea . The director, Edward Norton , enlisted
23240-597: Was also broadcast by international BBC channels and released on DVD and Blu-ray in January 2012. The performance included two new songs, " The Daily Mail" and "Staircase ", released as a double A-side download single in December 2011. In February 2012, Radiohead began their first extended North American tour in four years, including dates in the United States, Canada and Mexico. On tour, they recorded material at Jack White 's studio Third Man Records , but discarded
23406-510: Was also involved in a serious car accident that influenced the lyrics of later songs, including the Bends B-side "Killer Cars" (1995) and "Airbag" from OK Computer (1997). In the late 1980s, Yorke made a solo album, Dearest , which O'Brien described as similar to the Jesus and Mary Chain , with delay and reverb effects. On the strength of their first demo, On a Friday were offered
23572-577: Was awarded "Best Electric Guitar of the Year 2001" by Guitarist Magazine . Currently, only Brian May Guitars (taking over manufacture from Burns) manufacture authorised replicas, the Special at a budget price point and the Super Mk2 at a higher price point aimed at enthusiasts. KZ Guitar Works manufactured the original Red Special Super model which was hand-made in Japan by master luthier Kazutaka Ijuin. This model has been discontinued and production of
23738-415: Was covered with mahogany marquetry veneer on the top, bottom and side to give it the appearance of a solid-body guitar. It was originally intended that the guitar would have f-holes but this was never done. White plastic shelf edging was then applied to the top and bottom edges to protect them from damage. The guitar features three single-coil pick-ups and a custom-made aluminium bridge . May purchased
23904-415: Was critical of the release, calling it a "wasted opportunity". In 2009, EMI reissued Radiohead's back catalogue in expanded editions. As social media expanded around the turn of the decade, Radiohead gradually withdrew their public presence, with no promotional interviews or tours to promote new releases. Pitchfork wrote that around this time Radiohead's "popularity became increasingly untethered from
24070-482: Was developed using extensive looping and sampling . A Moon Shaped Pool (2016) prominently featured Jonny Greenwood's orchestral arrangements. Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Selway and O'Brien have released solo albums. In 2021, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile . By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their awards include six Grammy Awards and four Ivor Novello Awards , and they hold five Mercury Prize nominations,
24236-494: Was driven by dense riffs and ethereal atmospheres, with greater use of keyboards. It received stronger reviews for its songwriting and performances. While Radiohead were seen as outsiders to the Britpop scene that dominated music media at the time, they were finally successful in the UK, as the singles " Fake Plastic Trees ", " High and Dry ", " Just ", and " Street Spirit (Fade Out) " became chart successes. "High and Dry" became
24402-418: Was engineered by Nigel Godrich , who became one of Yorke's longest-running collaborators. The Bends received critical acclaim and brought Radiohead wider international attention. It influenced a generation of British and Irish alternative rock acts; The Observer wrote that it popularised an "angst-laden falsetto" which "eventually coalesced into an entire decade of sound". The American rock band R.E.M. ,
24568-415: Was finished with a 24- fret oak fingerboard . Each of the position inlays was hand shaped from a mother-of-pearl button. May decided to position them in a personal way: two dots at the 7th and 19th fret and three at the 12th and 24th. The body was made from blockboard (strips of softwood sandwiched between two plywood skins) with oak inserts in the top and bottom layers sourced from an old table. It
24734-471: Was followed by Amnesiac (2001), recorded in the same sessions. Hail to the Thief (2003), with lyrics addressing the war on terror , blended the band's rock and electronic sides, and was Radiohead's final album for EMI. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a download for which customers could set their own price , to critical and chart success. Their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), an exploration of rhythm,
24900-512: Was going to answer something – fill a gap. And it does the absolute opposite. It happens with everybody. I was so driven for so long, like a fucking animal, and then I woke up one day and someone had given me a little gold plate for OK Computer and I couldn't deal with it for ages. In 1997, Yorke provided backing vocals for a cover of the 1975 Pink Floyd song " Wish You Were Here " with Sparklehorse . The following year, he duetted on "El President" with Isabel Monteiro of Drugstore , and sang on
25066-412: Was intentionally designed to feed back after he saw Jeff Beck playing live and making different sounds just by moving the guitar in front of the amplifier . He wanted an instrument that would be alive and interact with him and the air around him. May has used the Red Special almost exclusively, including on Queen albums and in live performances, throughout the band's entire career. In celebration of
25232-417: Was like 'This is going to happen... Failure is not an option.' ... He wasn't some ranting diva or a megalomaniac, but he was so focused on what he wanted to do." In 1991, when Yorke was 22, On a Friday signed to EMI and changed their name to Radiohead . They gained notice with their debut single, " Creep ", which appeared on their 1993 debut album, Pablo Honey . Yorke grew tired of "Creep" after it became
25398-614: Was named the best album of the decade by Rolling Stone and Pitchfork . In 2000, Yorke contributed vocals to three tracks on the PJ Harvey album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea , and duetted with Björk on her song " I've Seen It All " from her soundtrack album Selmasongs . Radiohead released their sixth album, Hail to the Thief , a blend of rock and electronic music, in 2003. Yorke wrote many of its lyrics in response to
25564-462: Was no longer pressure from their record label, tensions were high. The members had different visions for Radiohead's future, and Yorke suffered from writer's block , influencing him toward more abstract, fragmented songwriting. O'Brien kept an online diary of their progress. After nearly 18 months, recording was completed in April 2000. Radiohead's fourth album, Kid A , was released in October 2000. A departure from OK Computer , Kid A featured
25730-408: Was nominated for five other Grammy awards, including Radiohead's third nomination for Album of the Year . Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed " 15 Step " with the University of Southern California Marching Band at the televised award show. The first single from In Rainbows , " Jigsaw Falling into Place ", was released in January 2008, followed by " Nude " in March, which debuted at number 37 in
25896-434: Was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize and the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album . It was followed by a B-sides compilation, Spitting Feathers , and a remix album by various artists, The Eraser Rmxs . In 2007, Radiohead independently released their seventh album, In Rainbows , as a pay-what-you-want download, the first for a major act. The release made headlines worldwide and sparked debate about
26062-420: Was not confirmed until September 2014. In February 2013, Atoms for Peace released an album, Amok , followed by a tour of Europe, the US and Japan. Amok received generally positive reviews, though some critics felt it was too similar to Yorke's solo work. That year, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood contributed music to The UK Gold , a documentary about tax avoidance . The soundtrack, described by Rolling Stone as
26228-479: Was not used to record the song), and "Spread Your Wings". The guitar differs from the original in its all-maple construction and natural finish except for the back which is gold finished. After its destruction May sent the guitar to American luthier John Page, who kept the remains for over 20 years before sending them back to May. May then had the guitar glued back together by Andrew Guyton and still owns it, however it hardly functions anymore. Other official replicas of
26394-483: Was poor. As it was difficult for major labels such as EMI to promote bands in the UK, where independent labels dominated the indie charts , Radiohead's managers planned to have Radiohead use American producers and tour aggressively in America, then return to build a following in the UK. Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade , who had worked with the US bands Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. , were enlisted to produce Radiohead's debut album, recorded quickly in Oxford in 1992. With
26560-459: Was positive, and Radiohead were praised for finding new ways to connect with fans. However, it drew criticism from musicians such as Lily Allen and Kim Gordon , who felt it undercut less successful acts. In Rainbows was downloaded an estimated 1.2 million times on the day of release. Colin Greenwood explained the internet release as a way of avoiding the "regulated playlists" and "straitened formats" of radio and TV, ensuring fans around
26726-496: Was really, really upset about it, and I tried my absolute best not to be, but yeah, it was kind of like— that sort of thing of missing the point completely." Godrich felt Yorke was oversensitive and told him he did not invent "guys singing in falsetto with an acoustic guitar". He saw Yorke's resentment as "a byproduct of being so focused on what he wanted to do that he figures he's the only person that's ever had that idea". To recuperate, Yorke moved to Cornwall and spent time walking
26892-457: Was rejected by his classmates and "went AWOL for three months". Yorke credited his art school education for preparing him creatively for his later work. On a Friday resumed activity in 1991 as most of the members were finishing their degrees. Ronan Munro, the editor of the Oxford music magazine Curfew , gave the band their first interview while they were sharing a house in Oxford. He recalled: "Thom wasn't like anyone I'd interviewed before ... He
27058-464: Was released digitally in May 2016, followed by retail versions in June via XL Recordings. It was promoted with music videos for the singles " Burn the Witch " and " Daydreaming ", the latter directed by Anderson. The album includes several songs written years earlier, including " True Love Waits ", and strings and choral vocals performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra . It became Radiohead's sixth UK number-one album and reached number three in
27224-428: Was released in 2014, followed by Anima in 2019. In 2021, Yorke debuted a new band, the Smile , with the Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and the drummer Tom Skinner ; they have released three albums. Yorke has collaborated with artists including PJ Harvey , Björk , Flying Lotus and Modeselektor , and has composed for film and theatre, including the films Suspiria (2018) and Confidenza (2024). Yorke
27390-526: Was released in April 2004. In May 2003, Radiohead embarked on a world tour and headlined Glastonbury Festival for the second time. The tour finished in May 2004 with a performance at the Coachella Festival in California. Hail to the Thief was Radiohead's final album with EMI; in 2006, The New York Times described Radiohead as "by far the world's most popular unsigned band". Following
27556-503: Was released on 27 June 2019. It became Yorke's first number-one album on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart. At the 2020 Grammy Awards , it was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package . Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork wrote that it was Yorke's most ambitious and assured solo album and the first that felt complete without Radiohead. The album
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