Radiohead

Who Are They?

Radiohead are an English band formed in Oxfordshire in 1985: Thom Yorke, brothers Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Philip Selway. The same five people have been the band the whole way through, which is rare and part of the point.

Two things make them singular. First, the restlessness: almost alone among huge rock bands, they refuse to repeat themselves. Each album deliberately dismantles the last, moving from guitar anthems to fractured electronics to orchestral gloom. Second, the mood: more than any band of their era, they found a sound for the anxiety of modern life, alienation, technology, surveillance, exhaustion, and made it strangely beautiful.

They broke through in 1993 with "Creep," a song they spent years trying to escape, then spent the next two decades proving they were the opposite of a one-hit wonder. OK Computer (1997) and Kid A (2000) regularly top "best album" lists, and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

The Story

Their history is a series of hard left turns, each one taken at the exact moment a lesser band would have played it safe.

1. 1985

   Five schoolfriends form "On a Friday"

   They met at Abingdon School, a boys' school near Oxford, and named the band after the only day they could all rehearse. Thom Yorke, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, and Philip Selway were joined by Colin's younger brother Jonny, who talked his way in on harmonica and quickly became the band's not-so-secret weapon on guitar.

2. 1991

   Signed, and renamed Radiohead

   After university the five regrouped and signed to EMI's Parlophone. The label asked them to change the name; they took "Radiohead" from a song on Talking Heads' True Stories. Same five members, new name, and they never changed either again.

3. 1993

   "Creep" and Pablo Honey

   Their debut single "Creep" flopped at home, then caught fire on US radio and MTV, making them an unlikely alt-rock sensation. The debut album Pablo Honey followed. The band grew to resent being defined by one self-loathing anthem, and set out to bury the label of one-hit wonder.

4. 1995

   The Bends

   The answer to the doubters. A leap in songwriting and guitar textures ("Fake Plastic Trees," "Street Spirit," "High and Dry") that turned them from a novelty into one of Britain's most respected bands almost overnight.

5. 1997

   OK Computer

   The landmark. A widescreen, paranoid record about technology, consumerism, and modern alienation, built from "Paranoid Android," "Karma Police," and "No Surprises." Routinely named one of the greatest albums ever made, it rewrote the ceiling for what a rock band was allowed to attempt.

6. 2000

   Kid A blows up the blueprint

   At the peak of their fame they abandoned guitars for synths, drum machines, jazz horns, and processed voices. No singles, no videos. Fans and critics were split down the middle at first; Kid A is now regarded as one of the defining albums of the century. Its sister record Amnesiac followed in 2001.

7. 2003

   Hail to the Thief

   A tense, politically charged record that fused the guitars of their early work with the electronics of Kid A, closing out their EMI contract and their first era.

8. 2007

   In Rainbows changes the rules

   Free of their label, they released In Rainbows as a surprise download and let fans pay whatever they wanted, including nothing. It made headlines worldwide as a challenge to the music industry, and, warmer and more human than anything before it, became many listeners' favourite Radiohead record.

9. 2011 & 2016

   The King of Limbs and A Moon Shaped Pool

   Two late-period masterworks: the rhythmic, looped The King of Limbs (2011), and the lush, string-laden A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), arranged by Jonny Greenwood and haunted by the ballad "True Love Waits," a song fans had waited two decades to hear recorded.

10. 2019 onward

    Hall of Fame, and a hundred side doors

    Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Since then the members have scattered into acclaimed side projects, most notably The Smile (Yorke and Jonny Greenwood with drummer Tom Skinner) and Jonny's film scores, keeping the mothership dormant but never quite closed.

Start Here

Radiohead made some of the most iconic music videos of the era, and they double as the fastest way in. Watch these four in order and you've traced the arc from accidental hit to art-rock landmark.

The Albums

There is no filler era. Each record is its own world; the blue-topped cards are the safest first steps, and the green-topped ones mark the great swerve into electronics.

The Playlists

Two YouTube Music playlists: a First Listen that leans on the melodic, guitar-driven songs to bring you in, and a Deep Cuts set for the electronic, exploratory Radiohead once you're ready. Hit the button on either card to play it.

The Band

The same five musicians since school, each an essential part of the machine. The lineup has never changed, which is a large part of why they sound like nobody else.

• Thom YorkeVocals / GuitarThe falsetto and the anxiety; also piano and the band's restless creative engine
• Jonny GreenwoodLead GuitarThe not-so-secret weapon: guitar, keyboards, orchestral arrangements, and acclaimed film scores
• Ed O'BrienGuitar / VoxTexture and atmosphere over solos; the shimmering wash behind the songs
• Colin GreenwoodBassJonny's older brother; the melodic, unflashy anchor holding it all down
• Philip SelwayDrumsFrom delicate to machine-precise; the human pulse under the electronics

Influences

Radiohead built their world from guitar rock, art-punk, jazz, and electronic music. These are the records that pointed the way.

Interviews

Radiohead give famously guarded, thoughtful interviews, which makes the good ones worth seeking out. Two that show different sides of the band.

Going Deeper

The band has been dormant since 2016, but the universe around it is vast, and the members have never stopped working.

• The Smile — Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood with drummer Tom Skinner. Two-plus albums of restless, angular music that is the closest thing to active Radiohead right now.
• Thom Yorke solo — The Eraser, Anima, and the band Atoms for Peace; his electronic, paranoid, dance-adjacent side.
• Jonny Greenwood's scores — a major film composer in his own right (There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, The Power of the Dog). Start here to hear where the orchestral side of Radiohead comes from.
• The Radiohead Public Library — the band's own free online archive of videos, artwork, and rarities at radiohead.com. A rabbit hole with no bottom.