Radiohead
{{Short description|English rock band}}
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{{Use British English|date=May 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Radiohead
| image = RadioheadMid2010s.jpg
| caption = Radiohead in the mid-2010s. From left: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Philip Selway
| image_size =
| alt = A montage of the members' faces
| landscape = Yes
| origin = Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England
| genre = {{flatlist|
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| discography = {{flatlist|
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| years_active = 1985–present
| spinoffs = {{flatlist|
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| label = {{flatlist|
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| website = {{URL|radiohead.com}}
| current_members = * Colin Greenwood
}}
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 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), is acclaimed as a landmark record and one of the greatest 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 was followed by Amnesiac (2001), recorded in the same sessions. Radiohead's final album for EMI, Hail to the Thief (2003), blended rock and electronic music, with lyrics addressing the war on terror.
Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a download for which customers could set their own price, to critical and commercial success. Their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), an exploration of rhythm, 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.Jonathan, Emma. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2011/05_may/radiohead.shtml "BBC Worldwide takes exclusive Radiohead performance to the world"]. BBC. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2023. Their awards include six Grammy Awards and four Ivor Novello Awards, and they hold five Mercury Prize nominations, 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 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.
History
= 1985–1992: formation and first years =
File:Abingdon School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England-23April2011.jpg, where Radiohead formed]]
The members of Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, a private school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.{{cite news |last=McLean |first=Craig |title=Don't worry, be happy |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=14 July 2003 |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/dont-worry-be-happy-20030614-gdgxei.html|access-date=25 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001040219/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/dont-worry-be-happy-20030614-gdgxei.html|archive-date=1 October 2019|url-status=live}} The guitarist and singer Thom Yorke and the bassist Colin Greenwood were in the same year; the guitarist Ed O'Brien was one year above, and the drummer Philip Selway was in the year above O'Brien.{{Cite web |title=Radiohead |url=https://archives.abingdon.org.uk/content/uncategorized/radiohead |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240821213232/https://archives.abingdon.org.uk/content/uncategorized/radiohead |archive-date=21 August 2024 |access-date=21 August 2024 |website=Abingdon School Archives |language=en}} Colin's brother, the multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood, was three years below Colin and Yorke and the last to join.
In 1985, the group formed On a Friday, the name referring to their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room.{{cite journal |author=Randall |first=Mac |date=1 April 1998 |title=The Golden Age of Radiohead |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/radiohead-interview-golden-age-radiohead |journal=Guitar World |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903205835/http://www.guitarworld.com/radiohead-interview-golden-age-radiohead |archive-date=3 September 2017}} 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.{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Ross |date=20 August 2001 |title=The Searchers |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/08/20/the-searchers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214053947/http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/mahler_1.html |archive-date=14 February 2008 |access-date=16 March 2011 |newspaper=The New Yorker}}
File:Radiohead Curfew advert.jpg announcing On a Friday's change of name{{cite news |date=13 March 2016 |title=Radiohead, Foals and 25 years of discovering Oxford music |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-33176717|url-status=live|access-date=14 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314074533/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-33176717|archive-date=14 March 2016}}]]While each member contributed songs in the band's early period, Yorke emerged as the main songwriter.{{Cite web |last=Randall |first=Mac |date=9 June 2023 |title=Philip Selway: Tidal Backstory |url=https://tidal.com/magazine/article/philip-selway-backstory/1-91629 |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=Tidal}} 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."{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2001/0915/01091500133.html |title=Taking Music To Strange Places |last=Kelly |first=John |date=15 September 2001 |newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=16 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012072827/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2001/0915/01091500133.html|archive-date=12 October 2012|url-status=live}} They played few gigs, and focused on rehearsing in village halls.{{Cite web |last=Graham |first=Jane |date=20 October 2024 |title=Colin Greenwood: 'I never let Jonny forget it was me that got him into Radiohead' |url=https://www.bigissue.com/culture/music/colin-greenwood-interview-radiohead-jonny-music/ |access-date=20 October 2024 |website=The Big Issue |language=en-US}} Oxford had an active independent music scene in the late 1980s, but it centred on shoegazing bands such as Ride and Slowdive.{{cite journal |last=Kent |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Kent |date=1 June 2001 |title=Happy now? |journal=Mojo}} On a Friday played their first gig in 1986 at Oxford's Jericho Tavern.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Lucy |date=23 January 2014 |title=Colin Greenwood Q&A on Radiohead's first gig, independent venues and what the band's up to now |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/colin-greenwood-qa-on-radioheads-first-gig-independent-venues-what-the-bands-up-to-now-774340 |access-date=1 February 2025 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}
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.{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 – Desert Island Discs – Ten things we learned from Thom Yorke's Desert Island Discs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/b7zfNZjlKBK3r8s9t9ldhx/ten-things-we-learned-from-thom-yorkes-desert-island-discs |access-date=23 September 2019 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} They continued to rehearse on weekends and holidays, but did not perform for four years. At the University of Exeter, Yorke played with the band Headless Chickens, performing songs including future Radiohead material.{{cite web |last=Minsker |first=Evan |date=13 July 2015 |title=Rare footage surfaces of Thom Yorke performing 'High and Dry' with pre-Radiohead band |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/60375-rare-footage-surfaces-of-thom-yorke-performing-high-and-dry-with-pre-radiohead-band/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715025618/http://pitchfork.com/news/60375-rare-footage-surfaces-of-thom-yorke-performing-high-and-dry-with-pre-radiohead-band/|archive-date=15 July 2015|access-date=16 July 2015 |website=Pitchfork}} He also met Stanley Donwood, who later became Radiohead's cover artist.{{cite web |url=https://www.eyestorm.com/artists/profile/Stanley_Donwood.html |title=Stanley Donwood |publisher=Eyestorm|access-date=29 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516152202/http://www.eyestorm.com/artists/profile/Stanley_Donwood.html|archive-date=16 May 2007|url-status=dead}}
In 1991, the band regrouped in Oxford, sharing a house on the corner of Magdalen Road and Ridgefield Road.{{cite magazine |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |date=26 April 2012 |title=Radiohead reconnect |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-reconnect-20120426 |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317233858/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-reconnect-20120426 |archive-date=17 March 2016 |access-date=15 March 2016}} They recorded another demo, which attracted the attention of Chris Hufford, Slowdive's producer and the co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard Studios.{{Cite journal |last=Doyle |first=Tom |date=April 2008 |title=The complete Radiohead |journal=Q |publisher=Bauer Media Group |volume=261 |pages=65–69 |issn=0955-4955}} 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.{{Cite journal |last=Gilbert |first=Pat |date=November 1996 |title=Radiohead |journal=Record Collector}} 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 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 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."
= 1992–1994: "Creep", ''Pablo Honey'' and early success =
Radiohead recorded their debut EP, Drill, with Hufford and Edge at Courtyard Studios. Released in May 1992, its chart performance 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, Pablo Honey, recorded quickly in Oxford in 1992. With 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",{{cite news |title=Radiohead: The right frequency |date=22 February 2001 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1182725.stm |newspaper=BBC News|access-date=24 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728142710/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1182725.stm|archive-date=28 July 2011|url-status=live}} and "Creep" was blacklisted by BBC Radio 1 as "too depressing".{{cite news |title=Creepshow |newspaper=Melody Maker |date=19 December 1992}}
{{Listen
| filename = Radiohead - Creep (sample).ogg
| title="Creep"
| description="Creep", Radiohead's debut single, was released in 1993. This sample features Jonny Greenwood's guitar distortion before the chorus.
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Pablo Honey was released 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", a non-album single, also sold poorly. O'Brien later called it "a hideous mistake".{{cite book |author=Randall |first=Mac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GU9QmQEpLoYC&q=%22Pop+Is+Dead%22+radiohead&pg=PT112 |title=Exit Music – The Radiohead Story |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-695-5}} Some critics compared Radiohead to the wave of grunge music popular in the early 1990s, dubbing them "Nirvana-lite",{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Andrew |date=1 October 2000 |title=Sound and Fury |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/life/story/0,6903,375564,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031226112721/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/life/story/0%2C6903%2C375564%2C00.html |archive-date=26 December 2003 |access-date=17 March 2007 |newspaper=The Observer |location=London}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Joshua |date=26 February 2007 |title=Various artists: Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9911-jonny-greenwood-is-the-controller/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310040933/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9911-jonny-greenwood-is-the-controller/ |archive-date=10 March 2021 |access-date=23 June 2016 |website=Pitchfork}}
In early 1993, Radiohead began to attract listeners elsewhere. "Creep" had become a hit in Israel after it was played frequently by the influential DJ Yoav Kutner, and, in March, Radiohead were invited to Tel Aviv for their first show overseas.{{cite news |last=Rubinstein |first=Harry |title=The Radiohead — Israel connection |newspaper=israelity.com |url=http://israelity.com/2009/01/20/the-radiohead-israel-connection/ |date=20 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515111700/http://israelity.com/2009/01/20/the-radiohead-israel-connection/|archive-date=15 May 2009}} 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.{{cite news |last=Marzorati |first=Gerald |date=1 October 2000 |title=The post-rock band |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/01/magazine/the-post-rock-band.html |access-date=28 July 2008 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} It reached number two on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart,{{cite journal |last1=Irvin |first1=Jim|author-link=Jim Irvin |last2=Hoskyns |first2=Barney |date=July 1997 |title=We have lift-off! |journal=Mojo |issue=45}} and number seven on 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,{{Cite journal |last=Nichols |first=Natalie |date=Fall 1993 |title=Creeping into the Limelight |journal=Fender Frontline |publisher=The Phelps Group |volume=11}} followed by a European tour supporting James and Tears for Fears.
= 1994–1995: ''The Bends'', critical recognition and growing fanbase =
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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".{{cite journal |first=Johnny |last=Black |title=The Greatest Songs Ever! Fake Plastic Trees |date=1 June 2003 |journal=Blender |url=http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=824|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070409000921/http://blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=824|archive-date=9 April 2007|access-date=15 April 2007|url-status=dead}} To break a deadlock, Radiohead toured Asia, Australasia and Mexico and found greater confidence performing their new music live.{{cite book |last=Randall |first=Mac |title=Exit Music: The Radiohead Story |date=12 September 2000 |publisher=Delta |isbn=0-385-33393-5 |pages=127–134}} 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.{{cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |date=July 2001 |title=Walking on thin ice |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/radiohead-walking-on-thin-ice |url-access=subscription |access-date=10 March 2024 |work=The Wire}}
The My Iron Lung EP and single, released in 1994, was Radiohead's reaction, marking a transition towards the greater depth they aimed for on their second album.{{cite journal |last=Mallins |first=Steve |date=1 April 1995 |title=Scuba Do |journal=Vox}} It was Radiohead's first collaboration with their future producer, Nigel Godrich, then working under Leckie as an audio engineer,{{cite news |last=McKinnon |first=Matthew |date=24 July 2006 |title=Everything in its right place |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/everything-in-its-right-place-1.587693 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170935/http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/everything-in-its-right-place-1.587693 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |access-date=12 April 2016 |website=CBC Arts}} 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.{{cite book |last=Randall |first=Mac |title=Exit Music: The Radiohead Story |date=12 September 2000 |pages=98–99 |isbn=0-385-33393-5 |publisher=Delta}}
Having introduced more new songs on tour, Radiohead finished recording their second album, The Bends, by 1995, and released it that March. It 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 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 a band."{{cite journal |last=DiMartino |first=Dave |title=Give Radiohead to Your Computer |journal=LAUNCH |date=2 May 1997}} In later years, The Bends appeared in many publications' lists of the best albums of all time,{{citation |title=Beatles, Radiohead albums voted best ever |date=4 September 2000 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/04/britain.albums/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522120621/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/04/britain.albums/ |work=CNN.com|access-date=8 October 2008|archive-date=22 May 2008}}
{{cite journal |date=February 1998 |title=Q Readers All Time Top 100 Albums |journal=Q |issue=137}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.listsofbests.com/list/13644-q-readers-best-albums-ever-2006-readers-poll |title=Q Magazine's Q Readers Best Albums Ever (2006 Readers Poll) Archived by Lists of Bests |work=Q|access-date=15 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231034303/http://www.listsofbests.com/list/13644-q-readers-best-albums-ever-2006-readers-poll|archive-date=31 December 2013}} including Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" at No. 111.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/radiohead-the-bends-20120524 |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time |magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=18 July 2016 |date=31 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717125207/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/radiohead-the-bends-20120524|archive-date=17 July 2016|url-status=live}}
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.{{cite news |url=http://www.westnet.com/consumable/1995/May08.1995/revradio.html |title=Radiohead's Phil Selway |last=Harding |first=Nigel |newspaper=consumable.com|access-date=28 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810101504/http://www.westnet.com/consumable/1995/May08.1995/revradio.html|archive-date=10 August 2007|url-status=dead |year=1995}} Attention from famous fans such as 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.Randall, p. 127 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2015/02/23/radioheads-jonny-greenwood-reunited-guitar-stolen-in-denver-in-1995/ |title=Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood reunited with guitar stolen in Denver in 1995 |date=23 February 2015 |work=The Denver Post|access-date=11 January 2019 |language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923200713/https://www.denverpost.com/2015/02/23/radioheads-jonny-greenwood-reunited-guitar-stolen-in-denver-in-1995/|archive-date=23 September 2018|url-status=live}}{{refn|group=nb|Greenwood was reunited with one of the stolen guitars in 2015 after a fan recognised it as one they had purchased in Denver in the 1990s.}} Their first live video, Live at the Astoria, was released in 1995.{{Cite web |last=Skinner |first=Tom |date=27 May 2020 |title=Radiohead to stream classic Live at the Astoria show in full |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-to-stream-classic-live-at-the-astoria-show-in-full-2677066|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606082132/https://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-to-stream-classic-live-at-the-astoria-show-in-full-2677066|archive-date=6 June 2020|access-date=2 June 2020 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}
= 1995–1998: ''OK Computer'' and acclaim =
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,{{cite news |last=Courtney |first=Kevin |title=Radiohead calling |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=17 May 1997 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/1997/0517/97051700184.html|access-date=24 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726215059/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/1997/0517/97051700184.html|archive-date=26 July 2011|url-status=live}} 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, a converted apple shed in the countryside near Didcot, Oxfordshire.{{cite journal |first=Adrian |last=Glover |title=Radiohead — Getting More Respect |date=1 August 1997 |journal=Circus}} In August 1996, Radiohead toured as the opening act for Alanis Morissette.{{cite journal |last=Moran |first=Caitlin|author-link=Caitlin Moran |date=July 1997 |title=Everything was just fear. |journal=Select |page=84}} They resumed recording not at a studio but at St. Catherine's Court, a 15th-century mansion near Bath.{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/0,27693,OK_Computer,00.html |title=The All-Time 100 albums |magazine=Time |date=13 November 2006|access-date=11 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307093434/http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/0,27693,OK_Computer,00.html|archive-date=7 March 2007|url-status=dead}} 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.''
File:Radiohead Matters.ogg, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Phil Selway discussing OK Computer in 1997]]
Radiohead released their third album, OK Computer, in May 1997. It found 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".{{cite magazine |author=Mark Kemp |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/ok-computer-19970710 |title=OK Computer | Album Reviews |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=10 July 1997|access-date=26 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110117031912/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/ok-computer-19970710|archive-date=17 January 2011|url-status=live}} 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 the Moon,{{Harvnb|Reising|2005|pp=208–211}}
{{Harvnb|Griffiths|2004|p=109}}
{{Harvnb|Buckley|2003|p=843}} 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"{{cite journal |title=Subterranean Aliens |date=1 September 1997 |journal=Request Magazine}} 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 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."{{cite journal |title=Renaissance Men |journal=Select |date=December 1997}}
{{Listen
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|description="Paranoid Android" is a three-part song, mixing acoustic guitars, abrasive electric solos and layered choirs. The first single from OK Computer, it marks Radiohead's UK Singles Chart peak (number three).}}
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 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.amug.org/~scrnsrc/grammys_98.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981201040406/http://www.amug.org/~scrnsrc/grammys_98.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 December 1998 |title=Screen Source presents: The 40th Annual Grammy Awards|access-date=20 November 2007 |date=27 February 1998 |work=Screen Source |publisher=amug.com}} "Paranoid Android", "Karma Police" and "No Surprises" were released as singles, of which "Karma Police" was most successful internationally.{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName |artist=radiohead |chart=all}}|title=Radiohead: Artist Chart History|magazine=Billboard|access-date=9 November 2007}} OK Computer went on to become a staple of "best-of" British album lists.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HSuhm6DRGgC&pg=PA28 |title=Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album: How to Disappear Completely |last=Letts |first=Marianne Tatom |date=2010 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-00491-8 |page=28|access-date=14 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217094343/https://books.google.com/books?id=3HSuhm6DRGgC&pg=PA28|archive-date=17 February 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8219786/Radioheads-OK-Computer-named-best-album-of-the-past-25-years.html |title=Radiohead's OK Computer named best album of the past 25 years |date=22 December 2010 |work=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201214751/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/8219786/Radioheads-OK-Computer-named-best-album-of-the-past-25-years.html|archive-date=1 February 2018|url-status=live}} In 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.{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9890-internet-explorers-the-curious-case-of-radioheads-online-fandom/ |title=Internet Explorers: The Curious Case of Radiohead's Online Fandom |last=Jeremy |first=Gordon |date=12 May 2016 |website=Pitchfork|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512175336/http://pitchfork.com/features/article/9890-internet-explorers-the-curious-case-of-radioheads-online-fandom/|archive-date=12 May 2016|access-date=21 October 2019}}
OK Computer was followed by the year-long Against Demons world tour, including Radiohead's first headline Glastonbury Festival performance in 1997.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/20/radiohead-glastonbury-2017-festival-headliners-confirmed-pyramid-stage-worthy-farm |title=Radiohead are confirmed as first headliners for Glastonbury 2017 |last=Hann |first=Michael |date=20 October 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077|access-date=20 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021012906/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/20/radiohead-glastonbury-2017-festival-headliners-confirmed-pyramid-stage-worthy-farm|archive-date=21 October 2016|url-status=live}} Despite technical problems that almost caused Yorke to abandon the stage, the performance was acclaimed and cemented Radiohead as a major live act.{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/radioheads-glastonbury-1997-set-like-form-according-guitarist/ |title=Radiohead's Glastonbury 1997 set was 'like a form of hell', according to guitarist Ed O'Brien |last=White |first=Adam |date=23 June 2017 |work=The Telegraph|access-date=24 June 2017 |language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623230959/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/radioheads-glastonbury-1997-set-like-form-according-guitarist/|archive-date=23 June 2017|url-status=live}} Grant Gee, the director of the "No Surprises" video, filmed the band on tour for the 1999 documentary Meeting People Is Easy.{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/177943/Meeting-People-is-Easy/overview |title=Meeting People is Easy (1999)|access-date=20 November 2007 |last=Deming |first=Mark|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116202225/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/177943/Meeting-People-is-Easy/overview|archive-date=16 January 2008 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2008|url-status=dead}} 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 a landmark record of the 1990sErlewine, Stephen Thomas. "[https://www.allmusic.com/album/ok-computer-mw0000024289 OK Computer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121081725/https://www.allmusic.com/album/ok-computer-mw0000024289|date=21 November 2018}}" AllMusic. Retrieved 31 January 2012 and the Generation X era, and one of the greatest albums in recording history.{{Cite book |last=Rose |first=Phil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UCIDwAAQBAJ&q=radiohead+generation+x+ok+computer&pg=PR20 |title=Radiohead: Music for a Global Future |date=22 April 2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-7930-8 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Q Magazine: The 100 Greatest British Albums of All Time – How many do you own? (Either on CD, Vinyl, Tape or Download) |url=https://www.listchallenges.com/q-magazine-the-100-greatest-british-albums-of-all|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219052103/https://www.listchallenges.com/q-magazine-the-100-greatest-british-albums-of-all|archive-date=19 February 2020|access-date=19 February 2020 |work=List Challenges}}
In 1998, Radiohead performed at a Paris Amnesty International concert{{cite web |title=Art for Amnesty |url=http://www.artforamnesty.org/view_artist.php?id=32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030120709/http://www.artforamnesty.org/view_artist.php?id=32 |archive-date=30 October 2007 |access-date=22 December 2007}} and the Tibetan Freedom Concert.{{Cite magazine |last1=Greene |first1=Andy |date=17 March 2015 |title=Flashback: Michael Stipe Fronts Radiohead at Tibet Concert |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flashback-michael-stipe-fronts-radiohead-at-tibetan-freedom-concert-192978/ |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603100749/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flashback-michael-stipe-fronts-radiohead-at-tibetan-freedom-concert-192978/ |archive-date=3 June 2019 |access-date=3 June 2019}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Mejia |first=Paula |title=The Secret History of Radiohead's OK Computer |language=en |work=Vulture |url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/06/the-secret-history-of-radioheads-ok-computer.html |url-status=live |access-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214073547/http://www.vulture.com/2017/06/the-secret-history-of-radioheads-ok-computer.html |archive-date=14 February 2018}} Yorke described the period as a "real low point";{{Cite web |title=Radiohead's 'Man of War': Everything You Need to Know About the 'OK Computer' Bonus Tracks |url=http://diffuser.fm/radiohead-man-of-war/ |access-date=29 July 2017 |website=Diffuser.fm |date=3 May 2017 |language=en-US}} he and O'Brien developed depression,{{cite web |last=McLean |first=Craig |date=6 February 2020 |title=Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien steps up |url=https://theface.com/music/radiohead-guitarist-ed-obrien-album-shangri-la-interview-thom-yorke |access-date=8 February 2020 |website=The Face |language=en-gb}} and the band came close to splitting up.{{cite journal |last1=Cavanagh |first1=David |last2=Eccleston |first2=Danny |date=1 October 2000 |title=I Can See The Monsters |journal=Q |issue=169}}
= 1998–2001: ''Kid A'', ''Amnesiac'' and change in sound =
File:Jonny Greenwood Synth (Amsterdam).jpg, in live concerts and recordings.]]
File:Radiohead's Kid A Matters.ogg discussing Kid A in 2000]]
After the success of OK Computer, Radiohead bought a barn in Oxfordshire and converted it into a recording studio.{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Jude |author-link=Jude Rogers |date=29 September 2024 |title='It commemorates collective moments': Radiohead through the eyes of Colin Greenwood |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/29/radiohead-colin-greenwood-photography-how-to-disappear#comments |access-date=29 September 2024 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}} 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 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/517864/radiohead-guitarists-online-diary-gives-glimpse-of-new-lp/ |title=Radiohead Guitarist's Online Diary Gives Glimpse Of New LP |website=MTV News|access-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726215727/http://www.mtv.com/news/517864/radiohead-guitarists-online-diary-gives-glimpse-of-new-lp/|archive-date=26 July 2019|url-status=dead}} After nearly 18 months, recording was completed in April 2000.{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Chris |date=20 April 2000 |title=Radiohead complete recording for OK Computer follow-up |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/821233/radiohead-complete-recording-for-ok-computer-follow-up/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004102055/https://www.mtv.com/news/821233/radiohead-complete-recording-for-ok-computer-follow-up/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 October 2021 |access-date=4 October 2021 |website=MTV News |language=en}}
Radiohead's fourth album, Kid A, was released in October 2000. A departure from OK Computer, Kid A featured 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.{{cite news |date=14 June 2001 |title=US Success for Radiohead |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1389135.stm |url-status=live |access-date=22 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313150734/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1389135.stm |archive-date=13 March 2007}} 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.{{cite news |title=CD Soars After Net Release: Radiohead's 'Kid A' premieres in No. 1 slot |last=Evangelista |first=Benny|access-date=17 March 2007 |date=12 October 2000 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/10/12/BU108599.DTL&type=tech_article|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718100907/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/10/12/BU108599.DTL&type=tech_article|archive-date=18 July 2011|url-status=live}}
{{cite news |last=Menta |first=Richard |title=Did Napster Take Radiohead's New Album to Number 1? |newspaper=MP3 Newswire |date=28 October 2000}}
{{cite news |last=Oldham |first=James |title=Radiohead — Their Stupendous Return |newspaper=NME |date=24 June 2000}} 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.{{cite news |last=Zoric |first=Lauren |date=22 September 2000 |title=I think I'm meant to be dead |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,371289,00.html |access-date=3 April 2023}} Radiohead continued 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.
{{Listen
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}}
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 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.{{cite journal |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/radiohead/kida |title=Kid A by Radiohead|access-date=20 May 2007 |journal=Metacritic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609160948/http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/radiohead/kida|archive-date=9 June 2007|url-status=live}} 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 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;{{cite magazine |date=13 November 2006 |title=The all-time 100 albums |url=http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/index.html |url-status=dead |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424141858/http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/index.html |archive-date=24 April 2011 |access-date=3 March 2009}}{{Cite magazine |date=22 September 2020 |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |access-date=23 September 2020}} Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the Times named it the best album of the decade.{{cite magazine |date=18 July 2011 |title=100 Best Albums of the 2000s |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-2000s-153375/radiohead-kid-a-3-158987/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=13 May 2022}}{{Cite web |date=2 October 2009 |title=The top 200 albums of the 2000s: 20–1 – page 2 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/7710-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-20-1/?page=2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314045640/http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/7710-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-20-1/?page=2 |archive-date=14 March 2016 |access-date=2 September 2016 |website=Pitchfork}}{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-100-best-pop-albums-of-the-noughties-s7bmg6sr90g |title=The 100 best pop albums of the Noughties |date=21 November 2009 |newspaper=The Times|access-date=15 January 2025}}
Radiohead's fifth album, Amnesiac, was released in May 2001. It comprised additional tracks from the Kid A sessions, including "Life in a Glasshouse", featuring the Humphrey Lyttelton Band.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clue/interviews/humph_transcript2.shtml |title=The chairman – Humphrey Lyttelton |date=31 January 2001 |publisher=BBC|access-date=1 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414233610/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clue/interviews/humph_transcript2.shtml|archive-date=14 April 2009|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite interview |last1=Greenwood |first1=Colin|subject-link1=Colin Greenwood |last2=O'Brien |first2=Ed|subject-link2=Ed O'Brien |interviewer=Chris Douridas |title=Interview with Ed & Colin |work=Ground Zero |publisher=KCRW |date=25 January 2001}} 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.{{cite web |author=Kessler, Ted |date=12 September 2005 |title=Radiohead: Pyramid Song: This is our favourite Radiohead single in recent memory ... |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/5064 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017154745/http://www.nme.com/reviews/5064 |archive-date=17 October 2007 |access-date=22 April 2007 |website=NME}}{{cite news |last=Merryweather |first=David |date=24 July 2021 |title=Single Review: Radiohead – Knives Out |url=http://drownedinsound.com/releases/5182/reviews/1723- |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508033751/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/5182/reviews/1723- |archive-date=8 May 2019 |access-date=10 August 2018 |work=Drowned in Sound}} Radiohead began a North American tour, their first there in three years, in June 2001.{{Cite magazine |last=Pakvis |first=Peter |date=21 June 2001 |title=Radiohead take Amnesiac on tour |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-take-amnesiac-on-tour-20010621 |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517021226/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-take-amnesiac-on-tour-20010621 |archive-date=17 May 2014 |access-date=27 July 2014}} 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.{{Cite news |date=19 August 2001 |title=How Radiohead took America by stealth |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/aug/19/uk.theobserver |access-date=16 July 2023 |issn=0029-7712}} Recordings from the Kid A and Amnesiac tours were released on I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings in November 2001.{{cite web |last=LeMay |first=Matt |date=17 December 2001 |title=Radiohead: I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings EP |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6657-i-might-be-wrong-live-recordings-ep/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610001809/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6657-i-might-be-wrong-live-recordings-ep/|archive-date=10 June 2016|access-date=11 June 2016 |website=Pitchfork}}
= 2002–2006: ''Hail to the Thief'' and solo work =
{{Listen
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In July and August 2002, Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain, playing a number of new songs. For their next album, they sought to explore the tension between human and machine-generated music{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bitter-prophet-thom-yorke-on-hail-to-the-thief-20030626 |title=Bitter Prophet: Thom Yorke on 'Hail to the Thief' |last=Fricke |first=David |date=27 June 2003 |magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=15 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318111404/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bitter-prophet-thom-yorke-on-hail-to-the-thief-20030626|archive-date=18 March 2017|url-status=live}} and capture a more immediate, live sound.{{cite interview |title=Radiohead Hail to the Thief – Interview CD |year=2003}} Promotional interview CD sent to British music press.{{cite journal |date=5 October 2002 |title=Exclusive: Thom on new Radiohead album |journal=NME}} 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", a dance piece by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, which debuted in October 2003 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.{{Cite magazine |date= |title=Radiohead Dances With Sigur Ros |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/71349/radiohead-dances-with-sigur-ros |url-status=live |magazine=Billboard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015020048/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/71349/radiohead-dances-with-sigur-ros |archive-date=15 October 2018 |access-date=14 October 2018}}
Radiohead's sixth album, Hail to the Thief, was released in June 2003.{{cite journal |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/radiohead/hailtothethief?q=hail%20to%20the%20thief |title=Radiohead: Hail to the Thief (2003): Reviews|access-date=17 March 2007 |journal=Metacritic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926234534/http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/radiohead/hailtothethief?q=hail%20to%20the%20thief|archive-date=26 September 2007|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.xfm.co.uk/article.asp?id=3561 |title=Recording 'Hail to the Thief' in Los Angeles |newspaper=Radio X |publisher=Xfm London|access-date=22 February 2012}} The album was promoted with a website, radiohead.tv, where short films, music videos, and studio webcasts were streamed.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2977526.stm |title=Radiohead TV goes on air |date=10 June 2003 |work=BBC|access-date=6 November 2012}} 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 the engineer Darrell Thorp received the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album.{{cite journal |url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2004/grammys.htm |title=46th Annual Grammy Awards |access-date=14 September 2019 |date=8 February 2004 |journal=Rock on the Net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218081526/http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2004/grammys.htm |archive-date=18 February 2013 |url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Modell |first=Josh |date=27 December 2004 |title=Radiohead: The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth Of All Time |url=https://www.avclub.com/radiohead-the-most-gigantic-lying-mouth-of-all-time-1798200283 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420080129/https://music.avclub.com/radiohead-the-most-gigantic-lying-mouth-of-all-time-1798200283 |archive-date=20 April 2019 |access-date=20 April 2019 |website=AV Club |language=en-US}} A compilation of Hail to the Thief B-sides, remixes and live performances, Com Lag (2plus2isfive), was released in April 2004.{{Citation |title=Radiohead – Com Lag (2Plus2IsFive) |work=Allmusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/com-lag-2plus2isfive-mw0000582738 |access-date=3 April 2023 |language=en}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=2 July 2006 |title=With Radiohead, and Alone, the Sweet Malaise of Thom Yorke |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/arts/music/02pare.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017210558/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/arts/music/02pare.html |archive-date=17 October 2015 |access-date=16 October 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}
File:Radiohead Coachella 2004 cropped.jpg]]
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 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.{{cite web |last=Godrich |first=Nigel |date=29 November 2009 |title=Flashback: making Band Aid 20 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/nov/01/last-waltz-dylan-the-band |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035729/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/nov/01/last-waltz-dylan-the-band |archive-date=1 December 2017 |access-date=2 May 2015 |website=The Guardian}} Greenwood composed soundtracks for the films Bodysong (2004) and There Will Be Blood (2007); the latter was the first of several collaborations with the director Paul Thomas Anderson.{{cite news |last=Everett-Green |first=Robert |date=14 June 2006 |title=Radiohead retooled |website=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/radiohead-retooled/article711010/ |url-status=live |access-date=3 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103235729/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/radiohead-retooled/article711010/ |archive-date=3 January 2015}}{{cite web |url=https://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?a=65 |title=Here we go |last=O'Brien |first=Ed |date=21 August 2005 |work=Dead Air Space |publisher=Radiohead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051031112530/http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?a=65|archive-date=31 October 2005|url-status=dead|access-date=23 December 2007}} In July 2006, Yorke released his debut solo album, The Eraser, comprising mainly electronic music.{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jun-28-et-yorke28-story.html |title=Thom Yorke, free agent |last=Powers |first=Ann |date=28 June 2006 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=3 May 2015 |language=en |issn=0458-3035|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091319/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jun/28/entertainment/et-yorke28|archive-date=18 May 2015|url-status=live}} 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 the Radiohead consensus."{{cite news |last=Paytress |first=Mark |date=February 2008 |title=CHASING RAIN_BOWS |pages=75–85 |work=Mojo}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Alex |date=18 November 2010 |title=Break Yo' TV: Harry Potter's The Weird Sisters – 'Do The Hippogriff' |url=https://consequence.net/2010/11/break-yo-tv-harry-potters-the-weird-sisters-do-the-hippogriff/ |access-date=29 May 2023 |website=Consequence |language=en-US}}
= 2006–2009: departure from EMI, ''In Rainbows'', and "pay what you want" =
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.{{Cite magazine |last1=Vozick-Levinson |first1=Simon |date=27 April 2012 |title=The Making of Radiohead's In Rainbows |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-making-of-radioheads-in-rainbows-187534/ |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730031338/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-making-of-radioheads-in-rainbows-187534/ |archive-date=30 July 2019 |access-date=30 July 2019}} In September 2005, Radiohead contributed "I Want None of This", a piano dirge,{{Cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/2097-help-a-day-in-the-life/ |title=Various Artists: Help: A Day in the Life Album Review {{!}} Pitchfork|last=Plagenhoef|first=Scott|date=11 September 2005|website=Pitchfork|language=en|access-date=13 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109180938/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/2097-help-a-day-in-the-life/|archive-date=9 January 2018|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4238542.stm |title=Rush to download War Child album |date=12 September 2005|access-date=19 October 2007 |newspaper=BBC News}} 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.{{cite news |title=Radiohead: Exclusive Interview |last=Marshall |first=Julian |date=2 October 2007 |newspaper=NME}} Recording ended in June 2007 and the recordings were mastered the following month.{{cite news |date=16 July 2007 |title=Radiohead mastering seventh album in New York |newspaper=NME |url=https://www.nme.com//news/radiohead/29715 |url-status=live |access-date=19 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414123718/http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/29715 |archive-date=14 April 2016}}
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.{{cite news |author=McLean, Craig |date=9 December 2007 |title=Caught in the flash |work=The Observer |location=London |url=http://music.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,2222276,00.html|url-status=live|access-date=1 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220030505/http://music.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,2222276,00.html|archive-date=20 February 2008}} 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".{{Cite news |last=Rajan |first=Amol |date=29 December 2007 |title=EMI split blamed on Radiohead's £10m advance demands |language=en-GB |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/emi-split-blamed-on-radioheads-pound10m-advance-demands-767248.html |url-status=live |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616141638/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/emi-split-blamed-on-radioheads-pound10m-advance-demands-767248.html |archive-date=16 June 2018}} Radiohead's management and Yorke released statements denying that they had asked for a large advance, but had instead wanted control over their back catalogue.{{Cite magazine |title='Nude' Radiohead Video Hits Web, EMI Airs Dirty Laundry |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/nude-radiohead-video-hits-web-thom-yorke-responds-to-emis-airing-of-dirty-laundry-20080102|url-status=live|access-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616130306/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/nude-radiohead-video-hits-web-thom-yorke-responds-to-emis-airing-of-dirty-laundry-20080102|archive-date=16 June 2018}}
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/arts/music/09pare.html?ex=1354856400&en=ec2f1c29937292be&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all |title=Pay What You Want for This Article|access-date=30 December 2007 |author=Pareles, Jon|author-link=Jon Pareles |date=9 December 2007 |work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212152701/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/arts/music/09pare.html?ei=5090&en=ec2f1c29937292be&ex=1354856400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all|archive-date=12 December 2007|url-status=live}} Media reaction was positive, and Radiohead were praised for finding new ways to connect with fans.{{cite news |author=Paytress, Mark |title=Chasing Rainbows |date=1 January 2008 |work=Mojo}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html |title=Radiohead Says: Pay What You Want |author=Tyrangiel, Josh |date=1 October 2007 |magazine=Time|access-date=16 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827171043/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html|archive-date=27 August 2011|url-status=dead}} However, it drew criticism from musicians such as Lily Allen and Kim Gordon, who felt it undercut less successful acts.{{cite magazine |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=14 November 2007 |title=Lily Allen, Oasis, Gene Simmons Criticize Radiohead's 'Rainbows' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lily-allen-oasis-gene-simmons-backlash-against-radioheads-rainbows-20071114 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425211901/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lily-allen-oasis-gene-simmons-backlash-against-radioheads-rainbows-20071114 |archive-date=25 April 2014 |access-date=14 March 2014 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{Cite magazine |last=Thill |first=Scott |date=8 July 2009 |title=Sonic Youth Slams Radiohead's In Rainbows Model |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/06/sonic-youth-slams-radioheads-in-rainbows-model/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005152018/https://www.wired.com/2009/06/sonic-youth-slams-radioheads-in-rainbows-model/ |archive-date=5 October 2017 |access-date=4 June 2017 |magazine=Wired}}
In Rainbows was downloaded an estimated 1.2 million times on the day of release.{{cite magazine |last=Brandle |first=Lars |title=Radiohead Returning to the Road in 2008 |magazine=Billboard.com |date=18 October 2007 |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1047969/radiohead-returning-to-the-road-in-2008|access-date=21 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208234628/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1047969/radiohead-returning-to-the-road-in-2008|archive-date=8 February 2008}} 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 experience the music at the same time, and preventing leaks in advance of a physical release.Greenwood, Colin (13 September 2010), "[http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2010/09/radiohead-copyright-freespeech-music/ Set Yourself Free] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105045102/https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2010/09/radiohead-copyright-freespeech-music/|date=5 November 2015}}", Index on Censorship. Retrieved 31 October 2010 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.{{cite news |last=Grossberg |first=Josh |title=Fans Shortchanging Radiohead's Rainbows? |newspaper=E! Online |url=https://www.eonline.com/news/56660/fans-shortchanging-radiohead-s-rainbows |date=6 November 2007|access-date=23 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629211729/https://www.eonline.com/news/56660/fans-shortchanging-radiohead-s-rainbows|archive-date=29 June 2018|url-status=live}}
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 the UK and in the US.{{cite news |last=Griffiths |first=Peter |title=Radiohead top album chart |work=Reuters |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL063195120080106 |date=6 January 2008|access-date=7 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503032551/http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL063195120080106|archive-date=3 May 2009|url-status=dead}}
{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Jonathan |title=Radiohead Nudges Blige From Atop Album Chart |newspaper=Billboard |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1046867/radiohead-nudges-blige-from-atop-album-chart |date=9 January 2008|access-date=9 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212015339/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1046867/radiohead-nudges-blige-from-atop-album-chart|archive-date=12 February 2008}} 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.{{cite journal |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/radiohead/inrainbows |title=Radiohead: In Rainbows (2007): Reviews|access-date=6 November 2007 |journal=Metacritic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107114044/http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/radiohead/inrainbows|archive-date=7 November 2007|url-status=live}} The album received acclaim for its more accessible sound and personal lyrics.{{cite news |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |title=Radiohead Publishers Reveal "In Rainbows" Numbers |newspaper=Rolling Stone |date=15 October 2008 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/10/15/radiohead-publishers-reveal-in-rainbows-numbers/|access-date=7 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018150410/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/10/15/radiohead-publishers-reveal-in-rainbows-numbers/|archive-date=18 October 2008|url-status=dead}} It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize{{cite web |url=http://www.idiomag.com/peek/35718/radiohead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102090138/http://www.idiomag.com/peek/35718/radiohead |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 January 2009 |title=Radiohead News – 2008 Mercury Music Prize Nominees Announced|access-date=12 September 2008 |date=24 July 2008 |publisher=Idiomag.com}} and won the 2009 Grammy awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. It was nominated for five other Grammy awards, including Radiohead's third nomination for Album of the Year.{{cite news |title=Grammy Awards 2009: British artists dominate Los Angeles ceremony |first=Caroline |last=Hedley |date=9 February 2009|access-date=11 February 2009 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/4566240/Grammy-Awards-2009-British-artists-dominate-Los-Angeles-ceremony.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212102103/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/4566240/Grammy-Awards-2009-British-artists-dominate-Los-Angeles-ceremony.html|archive-date=12 February 2009|url-status=live}} Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed "15 Step" with the University of Southern California Marching Band at the televised award show.{{Cite news |last=Singh |first=Amrit |date=9 September 2009 |title=The 2009 Grammys: Just The Good Parts |work=Stereogum |url=https://www.stereogum.com/51301/the_2009_grammys_just_the_good_parts/video/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927050317/https://www.stereogum.com/51301/the_2009_grammys_just_the_good_parts/video/ |archive-date=27 September 2018}}
File:Radiohead France 2008.jpg
The first single from In Rainbows, "Jigsaw Falling into Place", was released in January 2008,{{cite news |title=Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' to be released on CD this year |date=8 November 2007 |newspaper=NME |url=https://www.nme.com//news/radiohead/32393|access-date=19 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121025651/http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/32393|archive-date=21 November 2007|url-status=live}} followed by "Nude" in March,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com//news/radiohead/35076 |title=Radiohead announce new single details |date=12 March 2008 |magazine=NME|access-date=12 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314012342/http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/35076|archive-date=14 March 2008|url-status=live}} which debuted at number 37 in 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".{{cite news |last=Dodson |first=Sean |date=17 July 2008 |title=Is Radiohead the latest band to go open source? |work=The Guardian |location=UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/jul/17/opensource.google|url-status=live|access-date=27 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209210809/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/jul/17/opensource.google|archive-date=9 February 2015}} Radiohead held remix competitions for "Nude" and "Reckoner", releasing the separated stems for fans to remix.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/09/radiohead-launc-2/ |title=Radiohead Launches Easier, Less Expensive Remix Contest |magazine=WIRED|access-date=20 October 2018 |language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020182052/https://www.wired.com/2008/09/radiohead-launc-2/|archive-date=20 October 2018|url-status=live}} In April 2008, Radiohead launched Waste Central, a social networking service for Radiohead fans.{{cite web |last=Hannaford |first=Katherine |date=7 April 2008 |title=Radiohead launches social networking site for gossip about Thom's hair, Waste-Central |url=http://www.techdigest.tv/2008/04/theyve_already.html |access-date=18 February 2015 |website=Tech Digest |publisher=}} In May, VH1 broadcast In Rainbows – From 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.{{Cite magazine |date=2 July 2008 |title=Radiohead Rake in Praise From Bono, Release 'From the Basement' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/06/24/radiohead-rake-in-praise-from-bono-release-from-the-basement/ |url-status=dead |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702173304/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/06/24/radiohead-rake-in-praise-from-bono-release-from-the-basement/ |archive-date=2 July 2008 |access-date=30 December 2016}} 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.{{cite web |date=30 March 2009 |title=Reading and Leeds 2009 line-up |url=https://www.nme.com//news/readingleeds-festival/43738 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209184737/http://www.nme.com/news/readingleeds-festival/43738 |archive-date=9 February 2015 |access-date=28 September 2014 |work=NME}}{{cite news |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1069354 |title=Radiohead, por primera vez en Buenos Aires |date=13 November 2008 |newspaper=La Nación|access-date=14 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309194147/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1069354|archive-date=9 March 2009|url-status=live}}
Days after Radiohead signed to XL, EMI announced 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/08/emi.musicindustry |title=EMI stab Radiohead in the back catalogue |last=Nestruck |first=Kelly |date=8 November 2007 |website=The Guardian |language=en|access-date=17 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117193325/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/08/emi.musicindustry|archive-date=17 November 2018|url-status=live}} In June 2008, EMI released a greatest hits album, Radiohead: The Best Of.{{cite web |title=Radiohead to release 'Best Of' compilation |url=https://www.nme.com//news/radiohead/35609 |work=NME |location=UK |date=3 April 2008|access-date=3 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404000759/http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/35609|archive-date=4 April 2008|url-status=live}} It was made without Radiohead's involvement and contains only songs recorded under their contract with EMI. Yorke was critical of the release, calling it a "wasted opportunity".{{cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |date=9 May 2008 |title=Yorke slams Radiohead Best Of LP |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a95605/yorke-slams-radiohead-best-of-lp.html?rss |access-date=27 September 2008 |work=Digital Spy}} 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 the typical formalities of record promotion, placing them on the same level as Beyoncé and Kanye West".
= 2009–2010: reissues, singles and side projects =
In 2009, EMI reissued the albums recorded while Radiohead was signed to them in a series of expanded "Collector's Editions", without Radiohead's involvement.{{citation |last=Dombal |first=Ryan |title=Radiohead's First Three Albums Reissued and Expanded |date=14 January 2009 |magazine=Pitchfork |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/34391-radioheads-first-three-albums-reissued-and-expanded/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317215443/http://pitchfork.com/news/34391-radioheads-first-three-albums-reissued-and-expanded/ |archive-date=17 March 2009 |url-status=live}} Press reaction expressed concern that EMI was exploiting Radiohead's back catalogue.{{citation |last=Fitzmaurice |first=Larry |title=Radiohead's First Three Albums Reissued with Extras |date=15 January 2009 |magazine=Spin |url=https://www.spin.com/2009/01/radioheads-first-three-albums-reissued-extras/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122214440/http://spin.com/articles/radioheads-first-three-albums-reissued-extras |archive-date=22 January 2009 |url-status=live}}{{citation |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |title=Radiohead's First Three Albums Reissued with Extras |date=15 January 2009 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radioheads-first-three-albums-return-as-reissues-march-24th-20090115 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803002824/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radioheads-first-three-albums-return-as-reissues-march-24th-20090115 |archive-date=3 August 2011 |url-status=live}} In May, Radiohead began new recording sessions with Godrich.{{cite web |author=Lindsay, Andrew |title=Radiohead begin recording new album |date=18 May 2009 |url=http://stereokill.net/2009/05/18/radiohead-begin-recording-new-album/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703112006/http://stereokill.net/2009/05/18/radiohead-begin-recording-new-album/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 July 2009 |publisher=Stereokill.net|access-date=18 May 2009}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/?a=495 |title=Harry Patch (In Memory Of) |publisher=Radiohead.com|access-date=5 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828044117/http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/?a=495|archive-date=28 August 2009|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/aug/06/radiohead-song-harry-patch |title=Radiohead's farewell to old first world war soldier in song |last=Harris |first=John |date=6 August 2009 |work=The Guardian |location=UK|access-date=6 August 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181116063022/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/aug/06/radiohead-song-harry-patch|archive-date=16 November 2018|url-status=live}} The song has no conventional rock instrumentation, and instead comprises Yorke's vocals and a string arrangement composed by Jonny Greenwood.{{cite news |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/lucyjones/100002153/radioheads-tribute-to-harry-patch-strikes-the-right-note/ |title=Radiohead's tribute to Harry Patch strikes the right note |last=Jones |first=Lucy |date=6 August 2009 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=18 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325015934/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/lucyjones/100002153/radioheads-tribute-to-harry-patch-strikes-the-right-note/|archive-date=25 March 2012|url-status=dead}} Later that month, another new song, "These Are My Twisted Words", featuring krautrock-like drumming and guitars,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/new-radiohead-song-these-are-my-twisted-words-leaks-20090813 |title=New Radiohead Song "These Are My Twisted Words" Leaks |author=Daniel Kreps |date=13 August 2009 |magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=21 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203012053/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/new-radiohead-song-these-are-my-twisted-words-leaks-20090813|archive-date=3 February 2013|url-status=live}} was leaked via torrent, possibly by Radiohead.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/aug/14/new-radiohead-song |title=Was the new Radiohead song leaked by the band? |author=Sean Michaels |date=14 August 2009 |newspaper=guardian.co.uk|access-date=21 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005073720/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/aug/14/new-radiohead-song|archive-date=5 October 2013|url-status=live}} It was released as a free download on the Radiohead website the following week.{{cite web |url=https://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?a=497 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819035635/http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?a=497 |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 August 2009 |title=These Are My Twisted Words |author=Jonny Greenwood |date=17 August 2009 |publisher=Dead Air Space (radiohead.com)|access-date=21 August 2009|author-link = Jonny Greenwood}} Commentators saw the releases as part of Radiohead's new unpredictable release strategy, without the need for traditional marketing.{{cite magazine |url=http://thequietus.com/articles/02447-radiohead-versus-the-release-schedule |title=Radiohead Versus The Release Schedule |last=Wallace |first=Wyndham |date=11 August 2009 |magazine=The Quietus|access-date=19 July 2011}}
In 2009, Yorke formed 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.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/q-a-thom-yorke-on-atoms-for-peaces-mechanistic-new-album-20121105 |title=Q&A: Thom Yorke on Atoms for Peace's 'Mechanistic' New Album |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=5 November 2012|access-date=18 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627192707/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/q-a-thom-yorke-on-atoms-for-peaces-mechanistic-new-album-20121105|archive-date=27 June 2014|url-status=dead}} 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.{{cite news |title=Musicians for Oxfam: Radiohead, will.i.am, and more |publisher=oxfamamerica.org |date=8 February 2010 |access-date=7 January 2011 |url=http://blogs.oxfamamerica.org/index.php/2010/02/08/musicians-for-oxfam-radiohead-will-i-am-and-more/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217100643/http://blogs.oxfamamerica.org/index.php/2010/02/08/musicians-for-oxfam-radiohead-will-i-am-and-more/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 February 2010 |last=Kramer |first=Anna}} That December, 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.{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/12/radiohead-for-haiti-full-video-from-fonda.html |title=Video: View the full Radiohead for Haiti benefit concert online, compiled from fan footage |last=Roberts |first=Randall |date=28 December 2010 |work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=7 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312081244/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/12/radiohead-for-haiti-full-video-from-fonda.html|archive-date=12 March 2011|url-status=live}} Radiohead also released the soundboard recording of their 2009 Prague performance for use in a fan-made concert video, Live in Praha.{{cite web |date=2 September 2010 |title=Radiohead-Approved, Fan-Shot Concert Movie Released |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/39935-radiohead-approved-fan-shot-concert-movie-released/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905001657/http://pitchfork.com/news/39935-radiohead-approved-fan-shot-concert-movie-released/ |archive-date=5 September 2010 |access-date=4 September 2010 |publisher=Pitchfork.com}} The videos were described as examples of Radiohead's openness to fans and positivity toward non-commercial internet distribution.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/sep/01/radiohead-fan-made-live-film |title=Radiohead lend their music to fan-made live DVD |last=Michaels |first=Sean |date=1 September 2010 |work=The Guardian|access-date=4 September 2010 |location=UK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508100726/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/sep/01/radiohead-fan-made-live-film|archive-date=8 May 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com//news/radiohead/52847 |title=Radiohead help fans 'bootleg' their own gig |date=3 September 2010 |work=NME |location=UK|access-date=4 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905052813/http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/52847|archive-date=5 September 2010|url-status=live}}
In June 2010, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed a surprise set at Glastonbury Festival, performing Eraser and Radiohead songs.{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/39283-thom-yorke-and-jonny-greenwood-play-surprise-glastonbury-set/ |title=Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood Play Surprise Glastonbury Set |date=25 June 2010|access-date=3 January 2015 |website=Pitchfork |last=Fitzmaurice |first=Larry|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103211724/http://pitchfork.com/news/39283-thom-yorke-and-jonny-greenwood-play-surprise-glastonbury-set/|archive-date=3 January 2015|url-status=live}} Selway released his debut solo album, Familial, in August.{{Cite news |last=Fox |first=Killian |date=28 August 2010 |title=Philip Selway: Familial |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/29/philip-selway-familial-album-review |url-status=live |access-date=28 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408203827/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/29/philip-selway-familial-album-review |archive-date=8 April 2016 |issn=0261-3077}} Pitchfork described it as a collection of "hushed" folk songs in the tradition of Nick Drake, with Selway on guitar and vocals.{{Cite web |last=Dombal |first=Ryan |date=26 July 2010 |title=Radiohead's Selway talks new solo LP, does not talk new Radiohead LP |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/39537-radioheads-selway-talks-new-solo-lp-does-not-talk-new-radiohead-lp/ |access-date=7 April 2022 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}
= 2011–2012: ''The King of Limbs'' =
File:CLIVE DEAMER pic Pete Judge.jpg, has joined Radiohead on tour since 2012. He also performed on the "Staircase / The Daily Mail" single and A Moon Shaped Pool.]]
Radiohead released their eighth album, The King of Limbs, on 18 February 2011 as a download from their website.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/feb/18/radiohead-king-of-limbs-live |title=Radiohead release The King of Limbs |last=Swash |first=Rosie |date=19 February 2011 |work=The Guardian|access-date=18 February 2011 |location=UK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508075607/http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/feb/18/radiohead-king-of-limbs-live|archive-date=8 May 2014|url-status=live}} Following 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/r2147056/review |title=The King of Limbs Review |website=Allmusic|access-date=21 August 2011}}{{cite news |author=Alexis Petridis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/24/radiohead-king-limbs-review |title=Radiohead: The King of Limbs review |work=The Guardian |date=25 February 2011|access-date=21 April 2011 |location=London|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181116223201/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/24/radiohead-king-limbs-review|archive-date=16 November 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/02/snap-judgment-radioheads-king-of-limbs.html |title=Snap Judgment: Radiohead's The King of Limbs |work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=20 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305085842/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/02/snap-judgment-radioheads-king-of-limbs.html|archive-date=5 March 2011|url-status=live}} It was followed by a retail release in March through XL, and a special "newspaper album" edition in May.Swash, Rosie (14 February 2011). [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/14/radiohead-new-album "Radiohead to release new album this Saturday"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225045140/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/14/radiohead-new-album |date=25 December 2013}}. The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
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 the US Billboard 200{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/472190/britney-spears-snares-sixth-no-1-on-billboard-200-with-femme-fatale |title=Britney Spears Snares Sixth No. 1 on Billboard 200 with 'Femme Fatale{{'-}}|date=6 April 2011|first=Keith|last=Caulfield|magazine=Billboard|location=Los Angeles|access-date=20 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508080130/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/472190/britney-spears-snares-sixth-no-1-on-billboard-200-with-femme-fatale|archive-date=8 May 2013|url-status=live}} and number seven on the UK Albums Chart.{{cite web |url=http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1044784&c=1 |first=Alan |last=Jones |date=3 April 2011 |title=Adele claims album record but loses to Lopez in singles |work=Music Week |publisher=United Business Media|access-date=20 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005092931/http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1044784&c=1|archive-date=5 October 2013|url-status=live}} It was nominated for five categories in the 54th Grammy Awards.{{cite web |title=Nominess and Winners |date=1 December 2011|access-date=1 December 2011 |publisher=Grammy.com |url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201120225/http://www.grammy.com/nominees|archive-date=1 February 2012}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.recordstoreday.co.uk/exclusive-product.aspx |title=Record Store Day – Exclusive Product|access-date=16 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731180429/http://www.recordstoreday.co.uk/exclusive-product.aspx|archive-date=31 July 2012|url-status=live}} A compilation of King of Limbs remixes by various artists, TKOL RMX 1234567, was released in September.{{cite news |url=https://www.avclub.com/radiohead-remix-album-set-for-release-in-september-1798226888 |title=Radiohead remix album set for release in September |last=Hyden |first=Steven |date=9 September 2011 |newspaper=The A.V. Club|access-date=10 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022005754/http://www.avclub.com/articles/radiohead-remix-album-set-for-release-in-september%2C60151/|archive-date=22 October 2011|url-status=live}}
To perform the rhythmically complex King of Limbs material live, Radiohead enlisted a second drummer, Clive Deamer, who had worked with Portishead and Get the Blessing.{{cite web |date=9 November 2014 |title=Phil Selway and the evolution of rock drumming in the digital age |url=http://monomusicmag.com/phil-selway-and-the-evolution-of-rock-drumming-in-the-digital-age/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110000743/http://monomusicmag.com/phil-selway-and-the-evolution-of-rock-drumming-in-the-digital-age/|archive-date=10 November 2014|access-date=9 November 2014 |website=Mono}} 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.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nme.com//news/radiohead/57549 |title=Radiohead play 'surprise' Glastonbury show with sixth member |date=24 June 2011|access-date=18 February 2015 |magazine=NME|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020231054/http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/57549|archive-date=20 October 2014|url-status=live}} With Deamer, Radiohead recorded The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement, released online in August 2011.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nme.com//news/music/radiohead-232-1270222 |title=Watch Radiohead's 'From The Basement' session in full on NME.COM – video – NME |date=18 August 2011 |newspaper=NME |language=en-US|access-date=30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230232835/http://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-232-1270222|archive-date=30 December 2016|url-status=live}} It was also broadcast by international BBC channels and released on DVD and Blu-ray in January 2012.{{Cite news |title=Radiohead's The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement to Be Released on DVD |newspaper=Paste |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/11/radioheads-the-king-of-limbs-live-from-the-basemen.html |url-status=dead |access-date=30 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230231742/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/11/radioheads-the-king-of-limbs-live-from-the-basemen.html |archive-date=30 December 2016}} The performance included two new songs, "The Daily Mail" and "Staircase", released as a double A-side download single in December 2011.{{cite news |url=http://metro.co.uk/2011/12/13/radiohead-to-release-new-singles-the-daily-mail-and-staircase-253852/ |title=Radiohead to release new singles The Daily Mail and Staircase |newspaper=Metro |date=13 December 2011|access-date=21 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518080914/http://metro.co.uk/2011/12/13/radiohead-to-release-new-singles-the-daily-mail-and-staircase-253852/|archive-date=18 May 2013|url-status=live}} In February 2012, Radiohead began their first extended North American tour in four years, including dates in the United States, Canada and Mexico.{{cite web |url=https://radiohead.com/deadairspace/111107/Touring-2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109035703/http://radiohead.com/deadairspace/111107/touring-2012 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 November 2011 |title=Touring 2012 – RADIOHEAD | Dead Air Space |publisher=Radiohead|access-date=12 November 2011}}
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18474835 |title=Radiohead stage collapse 'kills one' in Canada |newspaper=BBC News |date=17 June 2012|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606213736/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18474835|archive-date=6 June 2015|url-status=live}} After rescheduling the tour, Radiohead paid tribute to Johnson at their next concert, in Nîmes, France, in July.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-honor-late-drum-tech-at-first-show-since-stage-collapse-20120711 |title=Radiohead Honor Late Drum Tech at First Show Since Stage Collapse | Music News |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=11 July 2012|access-date=16 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714235624/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-honor-late-drum-tech-at-first-show-since-stage-collapse-20120711|archive-date=14 July 2012|url-status=live}} In June 2013, Live Nation Canada Inc, two other organisations and an engineer were charged with 13 charges under Ontario health and safety laws.{{Cite news |title='I feel so let down by Canada': Radiohead and drum tech's parents demand answers in his Toronto death |language=en |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/radiohead-drum-technician-death-1.4422702|url-status=live|access-date=30 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130023446/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/radiohead-drum-technician-death-1.4422702|archive-date=30 November 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/live-nation-engineer-charged-in-radiohead-stage-collapse-1.1387677 |title=Live Nation, engineer charged in Radiohead stage collapse |work=CBC News |date=7 June 2013|access-date=8 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608075820/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/06/07/toronto-live-nation-ontario-ministry-of-labour-optex.html|archive-date=8 June 2013|url-status=live}} In September 2017, after several delays, the case was dropped under the Jordan ruling, which sets strict time limits on trials. Radiohead released a statement condemning the decision.{{Cite web |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=8 September 2017 |title=Radiohead on stalled stage collapse case: "We are appalled" |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-on-stalled-stage-collapse-case-we-are-appalled/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908201541/https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-on-stalled-stage-collapse-case-we-are-appalled/|archive-date=8 September 2017|access-date=9 September 2017 |website=Pitchfork |language=en}} A 2019 inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.{{Cite web |last=Sodomsky |first=Sam |date=11 April 2012 |title=Radiohead share statement following stage collapse inquest |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-share-statement-following-stage-collapse-inquest/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412021902/https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-share-statement-following-stage-collapse-inquest/|archive-date=12 April 2019|access-date=14 April 2012 |website=Pitchfork}}
= 2013–2014: side projects and move to XL =
File:Radiohead New Jersey 2012.jpgIn February 2013, Yorke and Godrich's band, Atoms for Peace, released an album, Amok.{{cite news |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |author-link=Alexis Petridis |date=21 February 2013 |title=Atoms for Peace: Amok – review |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/21/atoms-for-peace-amok-review |url-status=live |access-date=1 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102194005/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/21/atoms-for-peace-amok-review |archive-date=2 January 2014}} The pair made headlines that year for their criticism of 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23313445 |title=Thom Yorke pulls albums from Spotify |date=15 July 2013 |newspaper=BBC News|access-date=5 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205105304/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23313445|archive-date=5 December 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/07/spotify-thom-yorke-dying-corpse |title=Thom Yorke calls Spotify 'the last desperate fart of a dying corpse' |date=7 October 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=7 October 2013 |author=Stuart Dredge|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007071008/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/07/spotify-thom-yorke-dying-corpse|archive-date=7 October 2013|url-status=live}}
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.{{cite web |author=Battan |first=Carrie |date=11 February 2014 |title=Radiohead release PolyFauna app |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/53922-radiohead-release-polyfauna-app/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214101507/http://pitchfork.com/news/53922-radiohead-release-polyfauna-app/ |archive-date=14 February 2014 |access-date=11 February 2014 |work=Pitchfork}} In May, Yorke contributed a soundtrack, Subterranea, to The Panic Office, an installation of Radiohead artwork in Sydney, Australia.{{cite web |date=22 May 2015 |title=Thom Yorke produces new music for Australian exhibition of Radiohead artwork |url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s4240562.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523035850/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s4240562.htm |archive-date=23 May 2015 |access-date=22 May 2015 |website=Triple J}} Yorke and Selway released their solo albums Tomorrow's Modern Boxes and Weatherhouse in late 2014.{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/56876-thom-yorke-announces-new-album-tomorrows-modern-boxes |title=Thom Yorke Announces New Album Tomorrow's Modern Boxes | News |last1=Gordon |first1=Jeremy |date=26 September 2014 |website=Pitchfork|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926232956/http://pitchfork.com/news/56876-thom-yorke-announces-new-album-tomorrows-modern-boxes/|archive-date=26 September 2014|access-date=26 September 2014}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com//news/radiohead/78101 |title=Radiohead drummer Philip Selway announces new album Weatherhouse |last=Stevens |first=Jenny |date=24 June 2014 |website=NME |language=en-GB|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120601/http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/78101|archive-date=4 March 2016|access-date=29 January 2016}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/07/radiohead-jonny-greenwood-supergrass-spooks-cover-inherent-vice-track |title=Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood hires Supergrass to cover Inherent Vice track |last=Michaels |first=Sean |date=7 October 2014 |website=The Guardian |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007221436/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/07/radiohead-jonny-greenwood-supergrass-spooks-cover-inherent-vice-track|archive-date=7 October 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=14 September 2018}} Junun, a collaboration between Greenwood, Godrich, the Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and Indian musicians, was released in November 2015,{{Cite web |last=Colter Walls |first=Seth |date=19 November 2015 |title=Shye Ben Tzur / Jonny Greenwood / The Rajasthan Express: Junun album review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21213-junun/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116074920/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21213-junun/ |archive-date=16 January 2017 |access-date=15 January 2017 |website=Pitchfork}} accompanied by a documentary directed by Anderson.{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/junun-film-review-1201613807/ |title=Film Review: 'Junun' |website=Variety |date=8 October 2015|access-date=9 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009191758/http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/junun-film-review-1201613807/|archive-date=9 October 2015|url-status=live}}
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.{{cite magazine |title=Radiohead's Early Catalog Moves From Warner Bros. to XL |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7318964/radioheads-early-catalog-warner-bros-xl |date=4 April 2016|access-date=5 April 2016 |magazine=Billboard |last=Christman |first=Ed}} XL reissued Radiohead's back catalogue on vinyl in May 2016.{{Cite web |last=Spice |first=Anton |date=6 May 2016 |title=Radiohead to reissue entire catalogue on vinyl |url=http://www.thevinylfactory.com/vinyl-factory-news/radiohead-reissue-entire-catalogue-vinyl/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826093045/http://www.thevinylfactory.com/vinyl-factory-news/radiohead-reissue-entire-catalogue-vinyl/ |archive-date=26 August 2016 |access-date=6 May 2017 |website=The Vinyl Factory}}
= 2015–2016: ''A Moon Shaped Pool'' =
Radiohead began work on their ninth studio album in September 2014.{{cite web |url=http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4148661-dis-meets-radioheads-philip-selway--if-it-means-something-to-some-people-then-that-is-success |title=DiS Meets Radiohead's Philip Selway: "If it means something to some people then that is success" |last=Langham |first=Matt |date=4 February 2015 |work=Drowned in Sound|access-date=4 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204143203/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4148661-dis-meets-radioheads-philip-selway--if-it-means-something-to-some-people-then-that-is-success|archive-date=4 February 2015|url-status=live}} In 2015, they resumed work in the La Fabrique studio near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France.{{Cite web |url=http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/just-playing-in-a-room-with-friends/ |title=In a room with Radiohead |last=Thorpe |first=Adam |date=18 May 2016 |website=The Times Literary Supplement|access-date=19 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521213231/http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/just-playing-in-a-room-with-friends/|archive-date=21 May 2016|url-status=live}} The sessions were marred by the death of Godrich's father{{Cite magazine |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=8 June 2017 |title=19 Things We Learned Hanging Out With Radiohead |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/19-things-we-learned-hanging-out-with-radiohead-w486278 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608150813/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/19-things-we-learned-hanging-out-with-radiohead-w486278 |archive-date=8 June 2017 |access-date=8 June 2017 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} and Yorke's separation from his wife, Rachel Owen, who died from cancer in 2016.{{Cite magazine |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=1 June 2017 |title=Radiohead's rhapsody in gloom: The story behind OK Computer |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/exclusive-thom-yorke-and-radiohead-on-ok-computer-w484570 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531145331/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/exclusive-thom-yorke-and-radiohead-on-ok-computer-w484570 |archive-date=31 May 2017 |access-date=1 June 2017 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} 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.{{cite web |date=25 December 2015 |title=Radiohead reveal rejected theme for James Bond film Spectre |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35178921|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225215044/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35178921|archive-date=25 December 2015|access-date=25 December 2015 |website=BBC News}}
Radiohead's ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool, was released digitally in May 2016, followed by retail versions in June via XL Recordings. It was promoted with music videos for the singles "Daydreaming" (directed by Anderson) and "Burn the Witch".{{Cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1133-decoding-the-politics-in-radioheads-burn-the-witch-video/ |title=Decoding the Politics in Radiohead's "Burn the Witch" Video |last=Hogan |first=Marc |date=3 May 2016 |website=Pitchfork|access-date=6 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506062235/http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1133-decoding-the-politics-in-radioheads-burn-the-witch-video/|archive-date=6 May 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/65297-radiohead-announce-new-album-release-date-share-daydreaming-video/ |title=Radiohead Announce New Album Release Date, Share "Daydreaming" Video |last=Philips |first=Amy |website=Pitchfork |date=6 May 2016|access-date=6 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508231728/http://pitchfork.com/news/65297-radiohead-announce-new-album-release-date-share-daydreaming-video/|archive-date=8 May 2016|url-status=live}} The album includes several songs written years earlier, including "True Love Waits",{{Cite web |url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/05/history-radiohead-true-love-waits.html |title=The 21-Year History of Radiohead's 'True Love Waits,' a Fan Favorite Two Decades in the Making |last=Reilly |first=Dan |date=10 May 2016 |website=Vulture|access-date=11 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907002120/http://www.vulture.com/2016/05/history-radiohead-true-love-waits.html|archive-date=7 September 2016|url-status=live}} and strings and choral vocals performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra.{{cite web |url=http://www.91x.com/uncategorized/hear-radioheads-new-albuma-moon-shaped-pool-at-11pm-tonight-on-the-ftw-new-music-show/ |title=Hear Radiohead's New Album "A Moon Shaped Pool" at 11pm tonight on the FTW New Music Show |date=8 May 2016 |website=91X FM|access-date=12 May 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160521171321/http://www.91x.com/uncategorized/hear-radioheads-new-albuma-moon-shaped-pool-at-11pm-tonight-on-the-ftw-new-music-show/|archive-date=21 May 2016|url-status=dead}} It became Radiohead's sixth UK number-one album{{Cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/radiohead-score-sixth-number-1-album-with-a-moon-shaped-pool__15040/ |title=Radiohead score sixth Number 1 album with A Moon Shaped Pool |publisher=officialcharts.com|access-date=13 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516231757/http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/radiohead-score-sixth-number-1-album-with-a-moon-shaped-pool__15040/|archive-date=16 May 2016|url-status=live}} and reached number three in the US.{{Cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7541143/billboard-200-chart-moves-radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool |title=Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Radiohead's 'A Moon Shaped Pool' Returns After Special Edition's Release |last=Caulfield |first=Keith |date=13 October 2016 |website=Billboard|access-date=15 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209180004/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7541143/billboard-200-chart-moves-radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool|archive-date=9 February 2020|url-status=live}} It was the fifth Radiohead album nominated for the Mercury Prize, making Radiohead the most shortlisted act in Mercury history,{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-bowie-radiohead-and-more-nominated-for-mercury-prize-w432686 |title=David Bowie, Radiohead and more nominated for Mercury Prize |last=Leight |first=Elias |date=4 August 2016 |magazine=Rolling Stone|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805213442/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-bowie-radiohead-and-more-nominated-for-mercury-prize-w432686|archive-date=5 August 2016|access-date=5 August 2016}} and was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song (for "Burn the Witch") at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.{{Cite news |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7597556/grammys-nominees-complete-list-2017 |title=Here Is the Complete List of Nominees for the 2017 Grammys |newspaper=Billboard|access-date=7 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206151125/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7597556/grammys-nominees-complete-list-2017|archive-date=6 December 2016|url-status=live}} It appeared on several publications' lists of the best albums of the year.{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/v-clubs-20-best-albums-2016-246644 |title=The A.V. Club's Top 50 Albums of 2016 |date=12 December 2016 |work=The A.V. Club|access-date=12 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212062316/http://www.avclub.com/article/v-clubs-20-best-albums-2016-246644|archive-date=12 December 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/30/the-best-albums-of-2016 |title=The best albums of 2016 |date=30 November 2016 |work=The Guardian|access-date=5 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315225333/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/30/the-best-albums-of-2016|archive-date=15 March 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9980-the-50-best-albums-of-2016/?page=5 |title=The 50 Best Albums of 2016 |date=13 December 2016 |work=Pitchfork|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213222904/http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9980-the-50-best-albums-of-2016/?page=5|archive-date=13 December 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2016-w451265/radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool-w451343 |title=50 Best Albums of 2016 |date=29 November 2016 |magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=29 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129210043/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2016-w451265/radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool-w451343|archive-date=29 November 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |url=http://time.com/4577061/top-10-best-albums-2016/ |title=The Top 10 Best Albums |date=22 November 2016 |magazine=Time|access-date=22 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128143048/http://time.com/4577061/top-10-best-albums-2016/|archive-date=28 November 2016|url-status=live}}
File:Radiohead second show at Le Zénith in Paris. May 24th 2016.jpg
In 2016, 2017 and 2018, Radiohead toured Europe, Japan, and North and South America,{{cite web |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=20 May 2016 |title=Radiohead in Amsterdam: a tour opener live blog |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/65603-radiohead-in-amsterdam-a-tour-opener-live-blog/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520221831/http://pitchfork.com/news/65603-radiohead-in-amsterdam-a-tour-opener-live-blog/ |archive-date=20 May 2016 |access-date=21 May 2016 |website=Pitchfork}}{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/63069-radiohead-announce-world-tour/ |title=Radiohead Announce World Tour |website=Pitchfork |date=14 March 2016|access-date=14 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315221524/http://pitchfork.com/news/63069-radiohead-announce-world-tour/|archive-date=15 March 2016|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-announce-north-american-tour/ |title=Radiohead Announce North American Tour {{!}} Pitchfork|last1=Wicks|first1=Amanda|last2=Monroe|first2=Jazz|date=20 February 2018|website=pitchfork.com|language=en|access-date=12 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228213102/https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-announce-north-american-tour/|archive-date=28 February 2018|url-status=live}} including headline shows at 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.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/roger-waters-criticizes-whining-thom-yorke-over-radioheads-israel-gig-197361/ |title=Roger Waters Criticizes 'Whining' Thom Yorke Over Radiohead's Israel Gig |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=16 July 2017 |magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=18 July 2018 |language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718084115/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/roger-waters-criticizes-whining-thom-yorke-over-radioheads-israel-gig-197361/|archive-date=18 July 2018|url-status=live}} In 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."{{Cite news |last=Beaumont-Thomas |first=Ben |date=12 July 2017 |title=Radiohead's Thom Yorke responds as Ken Loach criticises Israel gig |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/12/thom-yorke-radiohead-ken-loach-criticises-israel-gig |access-date=15 July 2017 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}
= 2017–2020: ''OKNOTOK'' and ''MiniDiscs [Hacked]'' =
In June 2017, Radiohead released a 20th-anniversary OK Computer reissue, OKNOTOK 1997 2017, comprising a remastered version of the album, B-sides, and previously unreleased material.{{Cite magazine |last=Althea |first=Legaspi |date=2 June 2017 |title=Hear Radiohead's Previously Unreleased Song 'I Promise' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-radioheads-previously-unreleased-song-i-promise-w485420 |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602060245/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-radioheads-previously-unreleased-song-i-promise-w485420 |archive-date=2 June 2017 |access-date=2 June 2017}} Radiohead promoted the reissue with music videos for the bonus tracks "I Promise", "Man of War" and "Lift".{{Cite web |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=2 June 2017 |title=Watch Radiohead's New "I Promise" Video {{!}} Pitchfork |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/73929-watch-radioheads-new-i-promise-video/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605081435/http://pitchfork.com/news/73929-watch-radioheads-new-i-promise-video/ |archive-date=5 June 2017 |access-date=2 June 2017 |website=Pitchfork}}{{Cite magazine |last=Leight |first=Elias |date=23 June 2017 |title=See Radiohead's Paranoia-Inducing 'Man of War' Video |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/see-radioheads-paranoia-inducing-man-of-war-video-w489190 |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623133539/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/see-radioheads-paranoia-inducing-man-of-war-video-w489190 |archive-date=23 June 2017 |access-date=23 June 2017}}{{Cite news |date=12 September 2017 |title=Video: Radiohead – "Lift" |work=Spin |url=https://www.spin.com/2017/09/radiohead-lift-video/ |url-status=live |access-date=12 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912192927/https://www.spin.com/2017/09/radiohead-lift-video/ |archive-date=12 September 2017}} OKNOTOK reached number two on the UK Album Chart,{{Cite web |title=Official Albums Chart Top 100 |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/20170630/7502/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909113733/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/20170630/7502/ |archive-date=9 September 2018 |access-date=9 September 2018 |website=Official Charts Company |language=en}} boosted by Radiohead's televised Glastonbury performance that week,{{Cite news |last=Beech |first=Mark |title=The Glastonbury Effect: Radiohead Back At Top Of U.K. Chart, Foo Fighters Follow |work=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/markbeech/2017/06/26/the-glastonbury-effect-radiohead-back-at-top-of-u-k-chart-foo-fighters-follow/#496824ad5506 |url-status=live |access-date=27 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627000813/https://www.forbes.com/sites/markbeech/2017/06/26/the-glastonbury-effect-radiohead-back-at-top-of-u-k-chart-foo-fighters-follow/#496824ad5506 |archive-date=27 June 2017}} and reached number 23 on the US Billboard 200.{{Cite magazine |title=Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Ed Sheeran's 'Divide' Tracks Surpass 1 Billion U.S. Streams |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7874021/ed-sheeran-divide-songs-1-billion-streams |url-status=live |magazine=Billboard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819121715/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7874021/ed-sheeran-divide-songs-1-billion-streams |archive-date=19 August 2018 |access-date=19 August 2018}} In August, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed a benefit concert in the Marche, Italy, to help restoration efforts following the August 2016 Central Italy earthquake.{{Cite web |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=20 June 2017 |title=Radiohead announce Italian earthquake benefit show |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-announce-italian-earthquake-benefit-show/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822182651/http://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-announce-italian-earthquake-benefit-show/ |archive-date=22 August 2017 |access-date=22 August 2017 |website=Pitchfork}} In September, the nature documentary series Blue Planet II premiered featuring a new version of the King of Limbs track "Bloom", created with the composer Hans Zimmer.{{Cite news |agency=Press Association |date=14 September 2017 |title=The ultimate chill out song? Radiohead record new music for David Attenborough's Blue Planet 2 |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/09/14/radiohead-record-new-song-sir-david-attenboroughs-blue-planet/ |url-status=live |access-date=14 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412222743/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/09/14/radiohead-record-new-song-sir-david-attenboroughs-blue-planet/ |archive-date=12 April 2018 |issn=0307-1235}}
File:RadioheadMontreal170718-80 (42696337945).jpg
Radiohead were nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, their first year of eligibility.{{Cite news |url=https://consequence.net/2017/10/rock-n-roll-hall-of-fame-2018-nominees-radiohead-rage-against-the-machine-kate-bush/?wasp=facebook-ads |title=Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 2018 nominees: Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Kate Bush |last=Young |first=Alex |date=5 October 2017 |work=Consequence of Sound|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006013148/https://consequence.net/2017/10/rock-n-roll-hall-of-fame-2018-nominees-radiohead-rage-against-the-machine-kate-bush/?wasp=facebook-ads|archive-date=6 October 2017|url-status=live}} They were nominated again in 2018 and inducted the following March. Though Jonny Greenwood and Yorke were uninterested in the event, Selway and O'Brien attended and made speeches.{{Cite magazine |last1=Greene |first1=Andy |last2=Wang |first2=Amy X. |date=30 March 2019 |title=Read the heartfelt rock and roll hall of fame speeches by (some of) Radiohead |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/read-the-heartfelt-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-speeches-by-some-of-radiohead-814701/ |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330030715/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/read-the-heartfelt-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-speeches-by-some-of-radiohead-814701/ |archive-date=30 March 2019 |access-date=30 March 2019}} The singer David Byrne, one of Radiohead's formative influences, gave a speech praising Radiohead's musical and release innovations, which he said had influenced the whole music industry.{{Cite magazine |last1=Blistein |first1=Jon |last2=Wang |first2=Amy X. |date=30 March 2019 |title=Read David Byrne's rock and roll hall of fame tribute to Radiohead |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/radiohead-david-byrne-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-induction-814063/ |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330195046/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/radiohead-david-byrne-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-induction-814063/ |archive-date=30 March 2019 |access-date=30 March 2019}}
In June 2019, several hours of recordings made by Radiohead during the OK Computer period leaked online. In response, Radiohead made them available to purchase online as MiniDiscs [Hacked], with all proceeds to the environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion.Ben Beaumont-Thomas, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jun/11/radiohead-release-hours-of-hacked-songs-to-benefit-extinction-rebellion 'Radiohead release hours of hacked MiniDiscs to benefit Extinction Rebellion'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611132323/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jun/11/radiohead-release-hours-of-hacked-songs-to-benefit-extinction-rebellion |date=11 June 2019}}, The Guardian 11 June 2019. In December, Radiohead made their discography available free on YouTube.{{Cite web |url=http://www.openculture.com/2019/12/radiohead-puts-every-official-album-on-youtube.html |title=Radiohead puts every official album on YouTube, making them all free to stream |date=21 December 2019 |website=Open Culture |language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222033527/http://www.openculture.com/2019/12/radiohead-puts-every-official-album-on-youtube.html|archive-date=22 December 2019|access-date=22 December 2019}} The following January, they launched the Radiohead Public Library, an online archive of their work, including music videos, live performances, artwork and the 1998 documentary Meeting People Is Easy.{{cite magazine |last1=Kaufman |first1=Gil |date=20 January 2020 |title=Radiohead open 'Public Library' with rarities, videos, hard-to-find merch & more |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8548451/radiohead-open-public-library-with-rarities |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120232340/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8548451/radiohead-open-public-library-with-rarities |archive-date=20 January 2020 |access-date=20 January 2020 |magazine=Billboard}} Radiohead suspended their online content for Blackout Tuesday on 2 June, protesting racism and police brutality.{{Cite news |last=Savage |first=Mark |date=2 June 2020 |title=TV, radio and music stars mark 'Blackout Tuesday' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-52889419|access-date=2 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602215533/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-52889419|archive-date=2 June 2020|url-status=live}}
In 2017, Selway released his third solo work, the soundtrack to the film Let Me Go.{{Cite news |last=Garratt |first=John |date=3 November 2017 |title=Philip Selway: Let Me Go Original Soundtrack |language=en |work=PopMatters |url=https://www.popmatters.com/philip-selway-let-me-go-2495378270.html |url-status=live |access-date=11 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613064059/https://www.popmatters.com/philip-selway-let-me-go-2495378270.html |archive-date=13 June 2018}} Jonny Greenwood was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for his fifth collaboration with Anderson, Phantom Thread (2017),{{Cite news |last=Young |first=Alex |date=23 January 2018 |title=Jonny Greenwood earns first-ever Oscar nomination |language=en-US |work=Consequence of Sound |url=https://consequence.net/2018/01/jonny-greenwood-earns-first-ever-oscar-nomination/ |access-date=21 February 2018}} and scored his second film by Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here (2018).{{cite web |last=Lyttelton |first=Oliver |date=2 May 2017 |title=Jonny Greenwood Scoring Lynne Ramsay's 'You Were Never Really Here' With Joaquin Phoenix |url=http://theplaylist.net/jonny-greenwood-scoring-lynne-ramsays-never-really-joaquin-phoenix-20170502/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205044631/https://theplaylist.net/jonny-greenwood-scoring-lynne-ramsays-never-really-joaquin-phoenix-20170502/ |archive-date=5 December 2018 |access-date=2 May 2017 |work=IndieWire}} Yorke released his first feature film soundtrack, Suspiria (2018),{{Cite news |last=Young |first=Alex |date=4 September 2018 |title=Thom Yorke details Suspiria soundtrack, shares "Suspirium": Stream |work=Consequence of Sound |url=https://consequence.net/2018/09/thom-yorke-suspiria-details/ |url-status=live |access-date=4 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904192034/https://consequence.net/2018/09/thom-yorke-suspiria-details/ |archive-date=4 September 2018}} and his third solo album, Anima (2019), backed by a short film directed by Anderson.{{cite web |last=Bloom |first=Madison |date=20 June 2019 |title=Thom Yorke announces new album Anima |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/thom-yorke-announces-new-album-anima/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620231529/https://pitchfork.com/news/thom-yorke-announces-new-album-anima/ |archive-date=20 June 2019 |access-date=21 June 2019 |website=Pitchfork}} In 2020, O'Brien released his debut solo album, Earth, under the moniker EOB.{{Cite web |last=Schatz |first=Lake |date=2 December 2019 |title=Radiohead's Ed O'Brien to release debut solo album in 2020, new single 'Brasil' coming this week |url=https://consequence.net/2019/12/radiohead-ed-obrien-debut-solo-album-release-date-2020/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203092736/https://consequence.net/2019/12/radiohead-ed-obrien-debut-solo-album-release-date-2020/ |archive-date=3 December 2019 |access-date=3 December 2019 |website=Consequence of Sound |language=en-US}} He had been writing songs for years, but found they did not fit Radiohead.{{Cite magazine |last=Olson |first=Cathy Applefeld |date=17 April 2020 |title=Radiohead's Ed O'Brien on his Brazil-inspired solo debut Earth |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/radiohead-ed-obrien-earth-9360518/ |access-date=28 April 2024 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Daniell |first=Mark |date=17 April 2020 |title=Radiohead's Ed O'Brien on going solo: 'Something was missing' |language=en-CA |newspaper=Toronto Sun |url=https://torontosun.com/entertainment/music/radioheads-ed-obrien-finds-own-voice-on-earth-something-was-missing |access-date=18 April 2020}} In April, to compensate for the lack of performances during the COVID-19 pandemic, Radiohead began streaming old concert films on YouTube on a weekly basis.{{Cite web |last=Graves |first=Wren |date=28 May 2020 |title=Radiohead streaming 1994 show Live at the Astoria on YouTube: Watch |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/05/radiohead-1994-show-live-at-the-astoria-youtube/ |access-date=2 June 2020 |website=Consequence of Sound |language=en-US}}
= 2021–present: ''Kid A Mnesia'', the Smile and side projects =
File:The Smile 30 January 2022 - 2.png as the Smile in January 2022]]
Radiohead abandoned plans to tour in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web |last=Richards |first=Will |date=26 April 2020 |title=Radiohead were planning to tour in 2021 before coronavirus outbreak |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-were-planning-to-tour-in-2021-before-coronavirus-outbreak-2654013|access-date=31 May 2021 |website=NME |language=en-GB}} In November, they released Kid A Mnesia, an anniversary reissue compiling Kid A, Amnesiac and previously unreleased material. It was promoted with download singles and videos for the previously unreleased tracks "If You Say the Word" and "Follow Me Around".{{Cite magazine |last=Martoccio |first=Angie |date=1 November 2021 |title=Radiohead's "Follow Me Around' is a holy grail for fans. 20 years later, it's here |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/radiohead-follow-me-around-video-guy-pearce-1251279/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US|access-date=1 November 2021}} Plans for an art installation based on the albums were cancelled due to logistical problems and the pandemic. Instead, Radiohead created a free digital experience, Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, for PlayStation 5, macOS and Windows.{{Cite news |last=Stanton |first=Rich |date=18 November 2021 |title=Radiohead's freaky-looking Kid A Mnesiac exhibition-game-thing is out (and free!) |language=en |work=PC Gamer |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/radioheads-freaky-looking-kid-a-mnesiac-exhibition-game-thing-is-out-and-free/|access-date=20 November 2021}}
In a livestream event held by Glastonbury Festival in May 2021, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile, with the drummer Tom Skinner.{{Cite web |date=22 May 2021 |title=Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood form new project, the Smile |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/22/radioheads-thom-yorke-and-jonny-greenwood-form-new-project-the-smile|access-date=22 May 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} Greenwood said the band was a way to work with Yorke during the COVID-19 lockdowns.{{Cite web |date=3 September 2021 |title=Jonny Greenwood on writing the soundtrack for new Princess Diana biopic Spencer |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/jonny-greenwood-spencer-soundtrack-interview-radiohead-new-album-the-smile-3036092|access-date=3 September 2021 |website=NME |language=en-GB}} In May 2022, they released their debut album, A Light for Attracting Attention, to acclaim.{{cite web |title=A Light for Attracting Attention |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/a-light-for-attracting-attention/the-smile |access-date=12 May 2022 |website=Metacritic}} The Pitchfork critic Ryan Dombal described it as "instantly, unmistakably" the best album from a Radiohead side project.{{Cite web |last=Dombal |first=Ryan |date=12 May 2022 |title=The Smile: A Light for Attracting Attention |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-smile-a-light-for-attracting-attention/ |access-date=12 May 2022 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} The Smile toured internationally between 2022 and 2024,{{Cite web |last=Richards |first=Will |date=18 May 2022 |title=The Smile debut new song 'Friend Of A Friend' as they kick off European tour |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-smile-debut-new-song-friend-of-a-friend-as-they-kick-off-european-tour-3228250 |access-date=18 May 2022 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Murrary |first=Robin |date=30 January 2023 |title=The Smile announce Europe: Live Recordings 2022 EP |url=https://www.clashmusic.com/news/the-smile-announce-europe-live-recordings-2022-ep/ |access-date=30 January 2023 |website=Clash |language=en-GB}} and released the albums Wall of Eyes and Cutouts, recorded simultaneously, in 2024.{{Cite web |last=Vito |first=Jo |date=28 August 2024 |title=The Smile announce new album Cutouts, release two songs |url=https://consequence.net/2024/08/the-smile-new-album-cutouts-zero-foreign-spies-zero-sumsum-stream/ |access-date=28 August 2024 |website=Consequence |language=en-US}} Critics interpreted the Smile as a liberating, lower-pressure project for Yorke and Greenwood,{{Cite web |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=25 January 2024 |title=The Smile: Wall of Eyes |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-smile-wall-of-eyes/ |access-date=25 January 2024 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Walton |first=Sam |date=2 October 2024 |title=The Smile — Cutouts |url=https://www.loudandquiet.com/reviews/the-smile-cutouts/ |access-date=4 October 2024 |website=Loud and Quiet |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=DeVille |first=Chris |date=26 September 2024 |title=Premature evaluation: the Smile Cutouts |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2279890/the-smile-cutouts-album-review-thom-yorke/reviews/premature-evaluation/ |access-date=26 September 2024 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Schonfeld |first=Zach |date=10 October 2024 |title=The Smile: Cutouts |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-smile-cutouts/ |access-date=17 October 2024 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} with more jazz, krautrock and progressive rock influences and a looser, wilder sound.{{Cite web |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |author-link=Alexis Petridis |date=23 May 2021 |title=Live at Worthy Farm review – beautiful music marred by technical meltdown |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/23/live-at-worthy-farm-review-glastonburys-dodgy-pyramid-scheme-has-stunning-music |access-date=23 May 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}
Colin Greenwood toured with Nick Cave in 2022, 2023 and 2024,{{Cite web |last=Valentish |first=Jenny |date=28 November 2022 |title=Nick Cave and Warren Ellis review – a transcendent night that veered on holy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/28/nick-cave-and-warren-ellis-review-a-transcendent-night-that-veered-on-holy |access-date=28 November 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Minsker |first=Evan |date=23 March 2023 |title=Nick Cave announces tour featuring Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/nick-cave-announces-tour-featuring-radiohead-bassist-colin-greenwood/ |access-date=23 March 2023 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Lynskey |first=Dorian |date=5 September 2024 |title=Radiohead's Colin Greenwood on playing with Nick Cave: 'Am I a Bad Seed now? No!' |url=https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/stories/colin-greenwood-nick-cave/ |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=Mojo |language=en}} and performed on his 2024 album Wild God.{{Cite magazine |last=Grow |first=Kory |date=6 March 2024 |title=Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Tease Wild God LP with bright title track: 'It seems we're happy' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nick-cave-wild-god-1234981528/ |access-date=6 March 2024 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}} He released a book of his photographs of Radiohead in October 2024.{{Cite web |last=Dean |first=Jonathan |date=2 October 2024 |title=The time Thom Yorke smiled — candid snaps by the Radiohead bassist |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/music/article/radiohead-new-book-colin-greenwood-hl9prb3vd |access-date=3 October 2024 |website=The Times |language=en}} Selway released his third solo album, Strange Dance, in February 2023.{{Cite web |last=Corcoran |first=Nina |date=26 October 2022 |title=Radiohead's Philip Selway announces new album, shares song |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-philip-selway-announces-new-album-shares-song-listen/ |access-date=1 November 2022 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} He also played drums and percussion on the fifth album by Lanterns on the Lake, Versions of Us (2023), and joined them on tour.{{Cite web |last=Geiger |first=Amy |date=27 February 2023 |title=Lanterns on the Lake recruit Radiohead drummer Philip Selway for new LP |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/lanterns-on-the-lake-recruit-radiohead-drummer-philip-selway-for-new-lp-stream-a-track/ |access-date=28 February 2023 |website=Brooklyn Vegan |language=en}} Jarak Qaribak, an album by Jonny Greenwood and the Israeli rock musician Dudu Tassa, was released in June.{{Cite web |last=Strauss |first=Matthew |date=13 April 2023 |title=Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood announces new album with Dudu Tassa, shares song |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-jonny-greenwood-announces-new-album-with-dudu-tassa-shares-song-listen/ |access-date=13 April 2023 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} Yorke released his second film soundtrack, Confidenza, in April 2024, and began a solo tour, Everything, in October.{{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Scoop |date=22 April 2024 |title=Thom Yorke previews Confidenza film score with two tracks |url=https://consequence.net/2024/04/thom-yorke-confidenza-score-knife-edge-prize-giving/ |access-date=22 April 2024 |website=Consequence |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Ragusa |first=Paolo |date=23 October 2024 |title=Thom Yorke debuts new song at solo tour kick-off: setlist |url=https://consequence.net/2024/10/thom-yorke-solo-tour-kickoff-new-zealand-video-setlist/ |access-date=23 October 2024 |website=Consequence |language=en-US}}
Selway said in 2023 that it was healthy for the Radiohead members to work with other musicians, that all the projects came under the Radiohead "umbrella", and that Radiohead "still very much exists".{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Ryan |date=6 January 2023 |title=Radiohead's Philip Selway on atmospheric solo LP, Radiohead's future |url=https://www.spin.com/2023/01/radiohead-philip-selway-interview/ |access-date=7 January 2023 |website=Spin |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=DeVille |first=Chris |date=8 March 2023 |title=We've Got A File On You: Radiohead's Philip Selway |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2216269/philip-selway-radiohead-strange-dance-career-spanning-interview/interviews/weve-got-a-file-on-you/ |access-date=31 August 2023 |website=Stereogum |language=en}} Radiohead rehearsed in 2024, but Jonny Greenwood said they were focused on individual projects.{{Cite web |last=Ahmed |first=Aneesa |date=21 October 2024 |title=Thom Yorke 'really doesn't give a fuck' if you want Radiohead to return |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/thom-yorke-really-doesnt-give-a-fuck-if-you-want-radiohead-to-return-3804946 |access-date=21 March 2025 |website=NME |language=en-GB}} Yorke said: "I think we've earned the right to do what makes sense to us without having to explain ourselves or be answerable to anyone else's historical idea of what we should be doing." Yorke reworked Hail to the Thief for a production of Hamlet by the Royal Shakespeare Company that opened at Aviva Studios, Manchester, in April 2025.{{Cite news |last=Wiegand |first=Chris |date=2024-09-25 |title=Hamlet Hail to the Thief: Thom Yorke revisits Radiohead album for Shakespeare show |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/sep/26/hamlet-hail-to-the-thief-thom-yorke-radiohead-shakespeare-manchester |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Tall Tales, an album by Yorke and the electronic musician Mark Pritchard, was released in May.{{cite news |last1=Corcoran |first1=Nina |date=11 March 2025 |title=Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke announce album, share video for new song |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/mark-pritchard-and-thom-yorke-announce-album-share-video-for-new-song-watch/ |access-date=11 March 2025 |work=Pitchfork}} This Is What You Get, an exhibition of Yorke and Donwood's Radiohead artwork, is due to open at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford in August.{{Cite web |date=21 November 2024 |title=Radiohead album covers to go on show at Oxford museum |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0k8y54442xo |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
Pressure for Radiohead to boycott Israel grew following the outbreak of the Gaza war in 2023.{{Cite news |last=Jefferson |first=Dee |date=31 October 2024 |title=Thom Yorke walks off stage after being heckled by pro-Palestine protester at Melbourne concert |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/31/thom-yorke-walks-off-stage-after-being-heckled-by-pro-palestine-heckler-at-melbourne-concert |access-date=31 October 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Jonny Greenwood was criticised for performing in Tel Aviv with Tassa in May 2024, and responded in a statement that Israeli artists should not be silenced.{{Cite web |last=Wilkes |first=Emma |date=2024-06-04 |title=Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood speaks out against "silencing Israeli artists for being born Jewish in Israel" while defending current project |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/radioheads-jonny-greenwood-speaks-out-against-silencing-israeli-artists-for-being-born-jewish-in-israel-while-defending-current-project-3762531 |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=NME |language=en-GB}} In October, Yorke temporarily left the stage after he was heckled by a pro-Palestine protester at a solo concert in Melbourne.{{Cite web |last=Ritchie |first=Hannah |date=31 October 2024 |title=Radiohead singer Thom Yorke walks off stage as fan shouts Gaza protests |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yrv2zyd22o |access-date=1 November 2024 |website= |publisher=BBC News |language=en-GB}} In May 2025, two UK concerts by Jonny Greenwood and Tassa were canceled following threats to the venues and staff.{{Cite news |last=Snapes |first=Laura |date=2025-05-06 |title=Jonny Greenwood and Israeli musician Dudu Tassa condemn 'silencing' after UK concerts pulled |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/06/jonny-greenwood-and-israeli-musician-dudu-tassa-condemn-silencing-after-uk-concerts-pulled |access-date=2025-05-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news |last=Snapes |first=Laura |date=2025-05-06 |title=Jonny Greenwood and Israeli musician Dudu Tassa condemn 'silencing' after UK concerts pulled |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/06/jonny-greenwood-and-israeli-musician-dudu-tassa-condemn-silencing-after-uk-concerts-pulled |access-date=2025-05-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Colin described the cancellation as "a curtailment of free speech and the possibilities of forging bonds between people with music and art".{{Cite web |last=Sanderson |first=David |date=2025-06-01 |title=Radiohead bassist: Concert cancellations 'curtail free speech' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/music/article/radiohead-jonny-greenwood-israeli-musician-censorship-9h732fdwk |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=The Times |language=en}} That month, Yorke released a statement condemning the war efforts of Israel and Hamas, and stated that pressuring artists to respond was not the solution.{{Cite web |last=Strauss |first=Matthew |date=2025-05-30 |title=Radiohead's Thom Yorke releases statement on Israel and Gaza |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-thom-yorke-releases-statement-on-israel-and-gaza/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}
Artistry
= Style =
Radiohead's musical style has been described as art rock,{{refn|name="art-rock"|{{cite magazine |title=Radiohead: Biography |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/radiohead/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162156/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/radiohead/biography|archive-date=12 June 2018|access-date=20 January 2009 |quote="...the biggest art-rock act since Pink Floyd..."}}{{cite encyclopedia |title=Radiohead – British rock group |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/Radiohead|access-date=10 August 2015 |quote="...arguably the most accomplished art-rock band of the early 21st century..."}}{{cite web |last1=Lahann |first1=Michael |title=All Surprises: Radiohead and the Art of Unconventional Album Releases |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/may/02/all-surprises-radiohead-and-art-of-unconventional-album-release |website=The Guardian |date=2 May 2016|access-date=8 May 2016}}}} alternative rock,{{refn|name="alt-rock"|{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/radiohead-mn0000326249/biography |title=Radiohead biography |publisher=AllMusic | access-date=20 February 2016 |author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas}}{{cite web |url=https://consequence.net/2016/01/radiohead-will-tour-in-2016/ |title=Radiohead will tour in 2016 |publisher=Consequence of Sound |date=21 January 2016 | access-date=20 February 2016 |author=Young, Alex}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/12/sam-smith-thom-yorke-spectre-radiohead |title=Sam Smith Hasn't Heard Radiohead's Spectre Theme |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=12 January 2016 | access-date=20 February 2016 |author=Robinson, Will}}}} electronica,{{refn|name="eletronica"|{{cite web |title=Ranked: Radiohead |url=http://www.undertheradarmag.com/lists/ranked_radiohead/ |website=Under the Radar|access-date=8 May 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/kid-a-mw0000620999 |title=Kid A – Radiohead |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=8 September 2011 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}}} experimental rock,{{refn|name="exp-rock"|{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/radiohead-tour-holly-herndon-shabazz-palaces/ |title=Why We're Happy Holly Herndon Is Touring with Radiohead |last1=Iadarola |first1=Alexander |website=Thump |date=11 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512131123/https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/radiohead-tour-holly-herndon-shabazz-palaces|archive-date=12 May 2016|url-status=live |access-date=11 May 2016}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/70598/true-love-waits-christopher-oriley-plays-radiohead |title=True Love Waits—Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead |magazine=Billboard |date=21 June 2003 | access-date=20 February 2016}}}} progressive rock, grunge, art pop,{{cite web |title=Exit Music: How Radiohead's OK Computer Destroyed the Art-Pop Album in Order to Save It |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/ok-computer-at-20/10038-exit-music-how-radioheads-ok-computer-destroyed-the-art-pop-album-in-order-to-save-it/ |access-date=20 March 2017 |website=Pitchfork |date=20 March 2017}} and electronic rock.{{cite web |date=23 April 2017 |title=Radiohead started a sonic revolution 25 years ago, and is still leading it |url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/music/radiohead-tour-still-freshest-thing-in-music-2017/ |access-date=24 November 2017}} Critics found elements of grunge in their first album, Pablo Honey.{{cite web |last=Jahasuriya |first=Mehan |date=15 March 2009 |title=Jigsaw Falling into Place: Revisiting Radiohead's '90s Output |url=https://www.popmatters.com/71398-jigsaw-falling-into-place-revisiting-radioheads-90s-output-2496047786.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107022818/http://www.popmatters.com/feature/71398-jigsaw-falling-into-place-revisiting-radioheads-90s-output/P0/ |archive-date=7 January 2016 |access-date=28 December 2015 |work=PopMatters}}{{Cite web |last=Kemp |first=Mark |date=26 March 2009 |title=Radiohead: Pablo Honey, the Bends, OK Computer (Reissues) |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/radiohead/radiohead-pablo-honey-the-bends-ok-computer-reissu/ |website=Paste}}{{cite web |last=Spicer |first=Al |date=2008 |title=Radiohead Pablo Honey Review |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/j5xm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421180834/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/j5xm |archive-date=21 April 2010 |access-date=5 July 2010 |publisher=BBC Music}} Their second album, The Bends, is sometimes described as Britpop, though Radiohead disliked Britpop, seeing it as a "backwards-looking" pastiche.{{cite magazine |last=Pappademas |first=Alex |date=23 June 2003 |title=The Spin Record Guide: Essential Britpop |url=http://www.spin.com/2003/06/spin-record-guide-essential-britpop/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614002823/http://www.spin.com/2003/06/spin-record-guide-essential-britpop/ |archive-date=14 June 2017 |access-date=19 January 2017 |magazine=Spin}}{{cite web |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=29 March 2017 |title=The 50 Best Britpop Albums |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10045-the-50-best-britpop-albums/ |access-date=4 October 2024 |website=Pitchfork}}
Radiohead songs often use pivot notes and pedal points, creating "looser, roomier" harmonies and a "bittersweet, doomy" feeling. Many use unusual or changing time signatures, such as "You", "Everything In Its Right Place", "Morning Bell" and "15 Step".{{Cite web |last=Witmer |first=Phil |date=22 February 2018 |title=The first song on Radiohead's debut album predicted their future greatness |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/radiohead-you-pablo-honey-25th-anniversary-music-theory-essay/ |access-date=12 June 2024 |website=Vice |language=en}} O'Brien said Radiohead were hesitant to create "epic" music, which they felt had negative associations of stadium rock. However, he conceded that "epic is also about beauty, like a majestic view", and cited "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" as an example of a song that was "obviously epic in scope".{{cite news |author=Paytress |first=Mark |date=1 January 2008 |title=Chasing Rainbows |work=Mojo}}
Jonny Greenwood said Radiohead strive to find a middle ground between their experimental influences and rock music, and were driven by a desire not to repeat themselves rather than to be "experimental".{{Cite journal |last=Pettigrew |first=Jason |date=September 2001 |title=How to reinvent completely |journal=Alternative Press |issue=158}} The drummer Clive Deamer, who has recorded and performed with Radiohead since 2011, said Radiohead do not see themselves as a rock band and that their methodology is closer to jazz: "They deliberately try to avoid cliché and standard forms for the sake of the song ... Rock bands don't do that. It's far more like a jazz mentality."{{cite news |date=11 April 2012 |title=How jazz secretly invaded pop music |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/how-jazz-secretly-invaded-pop-music-7630523.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718063833/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/how-jazz-secretly-invaded-pop-music-7630523.html |archive-date=18 July 2016 |access-date=25 July 2016 |language=en-GB}} Yorke dismissed accusations that Radiohead make "depressing" music, saying in 2004: "Depressing music to me is just shit music. It's like air freshener – just a nasty little poison in the air."{{Cite web |last=Draper |first=Brian |date=October 2004 |title=In-depth interview with Thom Yorke |url=https://highprofiles.info/interview/thom-yorke/ |access-date=21 January 2022 |website=High Profiles |language=en-GB}}
= Songwriting =
Though Yorke acts as Radiohead's director, all the members have a role in arrangement.{{Cite journal |last=Klosterman |first=Chuck |author-link=Chuck Klosterman |date=July 2003 |title=No more knives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0HASap-qBoC&dq=no%20more%20knives&pg=PA64 |journal=Spin}} In 2004, Yorke said that while his power was once "absolutely unbalanced" and he would "subvert everybody else's power at all costs", later albums had been more democratic.{{cite news |last=Dalton |first=Stephen |date=1 April 2004 |title=Are we having fun yet? |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/11/1081326991553.html?from=storyrhs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112192700/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/11/1081326991553.html?from=storyrhs |archive-date=12 January 2008 |access-date=26 March 2007 |newspaper=The Age |location=Melbourne}} He apologised to his bandmates for his earlier "control freak" behaviour.{{Cite news |last=Mohdin |first=Aamna |date=22 September 2019 |title=Thom Yorke opens up about pain of ex-partner's death |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/22/thom-yorke-ex-partners-death-desert-island-discs-rachel-owen |access-date=6 May 2023 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}} O'Brien said that no member was replaceable and each was comfortable with their position.
Radiohead songs usually begin as a sketch by Yorke, which is harmonically developed by Jonny Greenwood before the rest of the band develop their parts. Whereas Yorke does not read sheet music, Greenwood is trained in music theory. In Pitchfork, Ryan Dombal wrote that "the duo's left brain-right brain dynamic has proven to be one of the most adventurous in rock history". Yorke typically plays rhythm guitar, while Greenwood plays most lead guitar parts and O'Brien often creates ambient effects, making extensive use of effects units.{{Cite journal |last=Wylie |first=Harry |date=November 1997 |title=Radiohead |journal=Total Guitar |publisher=Future plc |issue=37}}{{Cite magazine |date=3 December 2010 |title=Ed O'Brien – 100 Greatest Guitarists: David Fricke's Picks |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-of-all-time-19691231/ed-obrien-20101202 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=24 August 2015}} On Pablo Honey, all three guitarists typically played similar parts, creating a "wall of sound", but created more complex arrangements on later albums. O'Brien said they quickly tired of songs "with distorted guitars all the way through", preferring separation and "riffs and melodies that interweave at different registers".{{Cite web |last=Amit |first=Sharma |date=9 June 2020 |title=Ed O'Brien: 'The guitar to me is like an oscillator on a synthesizer – it's the start of a sound rather than the sound in itself' |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/ed-obrien-the-guitar-to-me-is-like-an-oscillator-on-a-synthesizer-its-the-start-of-a-sound-rather-than-the-sound-in-itself |access-date=14 February 2022 |website=Guitar World |language=en}}
The Kid A and Amnesiac sessions brought a change in Radiohead's music and working methods.{{cite magazine |title=Radiohead: Biography |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/radiohead/biography |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926075633/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/radiohead/biography |archive-date=26 September 2011 |access-date=14 September 2011 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} Since their shift from conventional rock instrumentation, the members have gained flexibility and often switch instruments. On Kid A and Amnesiac, Yorke played keyboard and bass, Jonny Greenwood played ondes Martenot, Colin Greenwood worked on sampling, and O'Brien and Selway worked with drum machines and digital manipulation.
Jonny Greenwood said he saw Radiohead as "just a kind of an arrangement to form songs using whatever technology suits the song", be it a cello or a laptop. They often attempt several approaches to songs, and may develop them over years. For example, Radiohead first performed "True Love Waits" in 1995, and recorded several versions before releasing it on A Moon Shaped Pool in 2016.{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=8 May 2016 |title=Review: in Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool, patient perfectionism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/arts/music/radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool-review.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512202652/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/arts/music/radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool-review.html |archive-date=12 May 2016 |access-date=10 September 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Selway said Radiohead had a tendency to overanalyse their work: "You have it there and then you just try to pull it apart and then when you put it back together it doesn't look like a television set any more ... But it was there all along."{{cite interview |last=Selway |first=Philip |subject-link=Philip Selway |interviewer=John Kennedy |title=X-Posure with John Kennedy |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7itTi8B7P_4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/7itTi8B7P_4 |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live |work=Radio X |publisher= |location= |date=June 2017 |author-link= |others=}}{{cbignore}}
= Influences =
Among Radiohead's earliest influences were Queen,{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd8SBdqDd9k&t=1397s | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/Dd8SBdqDd9k| archive-date=28 October 2021 |title=WTF with Marc Maron [Thom Yorke audio interview] |publisher=youtube |date=25 May 2013 |access-date=1 October 2015 |quote=I love Queen, they are great when I was really small [...] and then as I hit as a teenager, the band that really changed my life was R.E.M. and Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division and Bob Dylan}}{{cbignore}}
{{cite web |first=Jeff |last=Klingman |url=https://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2013/07/22/10-bullet-points-from-the-thom-yorke-interview-on-wtf-with-marc-maron |title=10 Bullet Points from the Thom Yorke Interview on WTF with Marc Maron |publisher=TheLmagazine.com |date=22 July 2013|access-date=23 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726113959/http://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2013/07/22/10-bullet-points-from-the-thom-yorke-interview-on-wtf-with-marc-maron|archive-date=26 July 2013|url-status=dead}} Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Elvis Costello, post-punk acts such as Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/EOBBandOfficial/posts/767582517144200 |title=Ed O'Brien about John McGeoch |website=Ed O'Brien Official website |date=18 September 2020|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201211204513/https://www.facebook.com/EOBBandOfficial/posts/767582517144200|archive-date=11 December 2020|url-status=live}} and Magazine, and significantly 1980s alternative rock bands such as R.E.M., U2, the Pixies, the Smiths and Sonic Youth.{{refn|name="influence-sonic-youth"|}} Jonny Greenwood named the Magazine guitarist John McGeoch his biggest guitar influence.{{cite web |last=Greenwood |first=Jonny |date=11 February 2009 |title=I've been blown about for years |url=http://radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?a=455 |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=Dead Air Space |publisher=Radiohead.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321164928/http://radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?a=455 |archive-date=21 March 2009 |url-status=dead}} By the mid-1990s, Radiohead were adopting recording methods from hip hop, inspired by the sampling work of DJ Shadow, and became interested in using computers to generate sounds.{{cite news |last=Gillespie |first=Ian |date=17 August 1997 |title=It all got very surreal |newspaper=London Free Press |url=http://www.greenplastic.com/coldstorage/articles/londonfreepress.html |url-status=usurped |access-date=21 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927012229/http://www.greenplastic.com/coldstorage/articles/londonfreepress.html |archive-date=27 September 2007}} Radiohead cited 60s and 70s jazz artists such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and Alice Coltrane as influences.{{Cite web |last=Varga |first=George |date=25 April 2019 |title=Radiohead's Jazz Frequencies |url=https://jazztimes.com/archives/radioheads-jazz-frequencies/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826142100/https://jazztimes.com/archives/radioheads-jazz-frequencies/ |archive-date=26 August 2019 |access-date=13 May 2020 |website=Jazz Times |language=en-US}} According to Jonny Greenwood, "We bring in our favourite jazz albums, and say: we want to do this. And we enjoy the sound of our failing!" He likened their jazz influence to 1950s English bands imitating American blues records. Other influences include the soundtracks of Ennio Morricone, 1960s rock groups such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys, and Phil Spector's "wall of sound" production.
{{Listen
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The electronic music of Kid A was inspired by Yorke's admiration for artists signed to the record label Warp Records, such as Aphex Twin and Autechre. In 2013, Yorke named Aphex Twin as his biggest influence.{{Cite web |date=21 January 2013 |title=Uni of Yorke Class 1: FlyLo, the Gaslamp Killer & FaltyDL |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/15435/1/uni-of-yorke-class-1-flylo-the-gaslamp-killer-faltydl |access-date=11 June 2024 |website=Dazed |language=en}} Kid A also samples early computer music. 1970s krautrock bands such as Can and Neu! were other major influences during this period.{{cite journal |first=Lauren |last=Zoric |title=Fitter, Happier, More Productive |date=1 October 2000 |journal=Juice}} Jonny Greenwood's interest in 20th-century classical music also had a role, citing the influence of the composers Krzysztof Penderecki and Olivier Messiaen. Since the recording of Kid A, Greenwood has played the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument popularised by Messiaen. While recording In Rainbows, Radiohead mentioned rock, electronic, hip hop and experimental musicians as influences, including Björk, M.I.A, Liars, Modeselektor and Spank Rock.{{cite magazine |title=Radiohead's Secret Influences, from Fleetwood Mac to Thomas Pynchon |date=24 January 2008 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18060334/radioheads_secret_influences_from_fleetwood_mac_to_thomas_pynchon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612012329/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18060334/radioheads_secret_influences_from_fleetwood_mac_to_thomas_pynchon|archive-date=12 June 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=7 February 2008}}{{cite magazine |first=Nick |last=Kent |title=Ghost in the Machine |date=1 August 2006 |magazine=Mojo |pages=74–82}} In 2011, Yorke denied that Radiohead had set out to make "experimental music", saying they were "constantly absorbing music" and that a variety of musicians are always influencing them.{{cite web |date=6 October 2011 |title=Radiohead: Everything In Its Right Place |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/06/141093025/radiohead-everything-in-its-right-place |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108021946/http://www.npr.org/2011/10/06/141093025/radiohead-everything-in-its-right-place |archive-date=8 November 2011 |access-date=26 October 2011 |publisher=NPR}}
= Themes and lyrics =
{{Further|Thom Yorke#Lyrics}}
Yorke is Radiohead's lyricist. Though his early lyrics were personal, from Kid A on, he experimented with cutting up words and phrases and assembling them at random.{{cite web |last=Eccleston |first=Danny |date=October 2000 |title=(Radiohead article) |url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=89&PHPSESSID=c033bc19e81ba698894f33e264541fc4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311024424/http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=89&PHPSESSID=c033bc19e81ba698894f33e264541fc4 |archive-date=11 March 2007 |access-date=18 March 2007 |work=Q Magazine}} He does not write biographically, saying he instead writes "spasmodic" lyrics based on imagery and taken from external sources such as television.{{Cite news |last=Dean |first=Jonathan |date=7 July 2019 |title=Thom Yorke interview: the Radiohead frontman on his new solo album, Anima, why he struggles if he can't make music, and Billie Eilish |language=en |work=The Sunday Times |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thom-yorke-interview-radiohead-anima-billie-eilish-2wnwqmxdw |access-date=8 July 2019 |issn=0140-0460}}{{Cite news |last=Hunter-Tilney |first=Ludovic |date=30 August 2023 |title=A Thom Yorke painting: yours for a song |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/353d0eb7-db21-4741-9fef-0232efaa369a |access-date=1 September 2023}} He deliberately uses cliches, idioms and other common expressions,{{Cite magazine |last=Kearney |first=Ryan |date=31 May 2016 |title=The Radiohead Racket |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/133773/radiohead-racket |magazine=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583 |access-date=4 August 2021}} suggesting "a mind consumed by meaningless data".{{cite web |title=Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool album review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21907-a-moon-shaped-pool/ |access-date=11 May 2016 |website=Pitchfork}} The New Republic writer Ryan Kearney speculated that Yorke's use of common expressions, which he described as "Radioheadisms", was an attempt "to sap our common tongue of meaning and expose the vapidity of everyday discourse".
According to Yorke, many of his lyrics are motivated by anger, expressing his political and environmental concerns{{Cite episode |title='Everything In Its Right Place' interview outtake: "Another outtake from my @Radiohead interview on @npratc with Thom and Ed. What's The King of Limbs about?" |url=http://tvider.com/view/66328 |access-date=7 October 2011 |series=All Things Considered |network=NPR |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010004818/http://tvider.com/view/66328 |archive-date=10 October 2011}} and written as "a constant response to doublethink".{{cite web |last=Sweet |first=Jay |date=8 August 2006 |title=Thom Yorke, Dancing in the Dark |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2006/08/thom-yorke.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027181555/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2006/08/thom-yorke.html |archive-date=27 October 2017 |access-date=4 May 2015 |website=Paste}} The GQ critic Josiah Gogarty wrote of "the uncharitable caricature that's sometimes fixed to [Radiohead's] music – Thom Yorke warbling vaguely political sentiments over fiddly drum patterns and melodies", which he argued began with Hail to the Thief and its references to the war on terror.{{Cite web |last=Gogarty |first=Josiah |date=20 March 2025 |title=Every Radiohead album, ranked |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/radiohead-albums-ranked |access-date=28 March 2025 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB}} Pitchfork wrote that Yorke's lyrics on A Moon Shaped Pool were less cynical, conveying wonder and amazement.
Legacy and influence
Radiohead are cited as one of the foremost rock bands of the 21st century.{{Cite web |date=7 October 2014 |title=How Radiohead Became The Beatles Of The 21st Century |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/how-radiohead-became-the-beatles-of-the-21st-century-8751 |access-date=7 September 2020 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}{{Cite journal |last=Clément |first=Guillaume |date=15 June 2017 |title=Activism and Environmentalism in British Rock Music: the Case of Radiohead. |journal=Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique. French Journal of British Studies |language=en |volume=22 |issue=XXII-3 |doi=10.4000/rfcb.1499 |issn=0248-9015|doi-access=free}}{{Cite web |title=Radiohead {{!}} Members, Albums, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Radiohead|access-date=13 September 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Andrew Harrison |date=12 October 2016 |title=How Radiohead Changed Music Forever |url=http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/news/a11013/esquire-25-radiohead/|access-date=13 September 2020 |website=Esquire |language=en-GB|archive-date=28 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128182141/http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/news/a11013/esquire-25-radiohead/|url-status=dead}} By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums.{{Cite web |last=Jonathan |first=Emma |date=3 May 2011 |title=BBC Worldwide takes exclusive Radiohead performance to the world |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2011/05_may/radiohead.shtml |access-date=30 November 2023 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Their 90s albums The Bends and OK Computer influenced a generation of British acts,{{cite news |date=16 July 2006 |title=The 50 albums that changed music |newspaper=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/16/popandrock.shopping|url-status=live|access-date=15 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008194254/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/16/popandrock.shopping|archive-date=8 October 2014}} including Coldplay, Keane, James Blunt and Travis.{{cite web |date=29 March 2017 |title=The 50 Best Britpop Albums |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10045-the-50-best-britpop-albums/?page=5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602164010/http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10045-the-50-best-britpop-albums/?page=5 |archive-date=2 June 2017 |access-date=30 May 2017 |website=Pitchfork}} Specifically, critics have cited OK Computer''{{'}}s influence on Muse, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Keane, Travis, Doves, Badly Drawn Boy, Editors and Elbow. See:
- {{citation |last=Aza |first=Bharat |title=Ten years of OK Computer and what have we got? |date=15 June 2007 |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2007/jun/15/tenyearsofokcomputerandw |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/60jE5qiBg?url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2007/jun/15/tenyearsofokcomputerandw |archive-date=6 August 2011 |url-status=live}}
- {{citation |last=Eisenbeis |first=Hans |title=The Empire Strikes Back |date=July 2001 |magazine=Spin}}
- {{citation |last=Richards |first=Sam |title=Album review: Radiohead Reissues – Collectors Editions |date=8 April 2009 |newspaper=Uncut |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/radiohead-reissues-collectors-editions-6312/ |access-date=29 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206061947/http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/radiohead/reviews/13013 |archive-date=6 December 2010 |url-status=live}}'' Radiohead's experimental approach is credited with expanding alternative rock.{{Cite web |date=4 October 2021 |title=The 200 most important artists of the last 25 years |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/most-important-artists/ |access-date=16 March 2025 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}
According to the AllMusic journalist Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in the early 21st century, Radiohead became "a touchstone for everything that is fearless and adventurous in rock", succeeding David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Talking Heads.{{Cite web |title=Radiohead {{!}} Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/radiohead-mn0000326249/biography|access-date=11 July 2020|website=AllMusic|language=en-us}} In 2001, Johnny Marr, the guitarist for one of Radiohead's early influences, the Smiths, said that Radiohead was the act that had "come closest to the genuine influence of the Smiths".{{Cite web |last=Hoskyns |first=Barney |author-link=Barney Hoskyns |date=September 2001 |title=The Backpages Interview: Johnny Marr |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-backpages-interview-johnny-marr |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011013053327/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/features/smiths/hoskyns.html |archive-date=13 October 2001 |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=Rock's Backpages}}
In 2003, the Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote that Radiohead were "the only youngish band standing that combines critical consensus with the ability to fill a venue larger than the Hammerstein Ballroom".{{cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau |date=8 July 2003 |title=No Hope Radio |work=The Village Voice |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/radiohead-03.php|access-date=5 October 2021}} Gavin Haynes of NME described Radiohead in 2014 as "our generation's Beatles". In 2020, the academic Daphne Brooks described Radiohead as "the blackest white rock band to emerge over the past 30 years", citing their black jazz influences, influence on black artists, and their "introspective other worlds", which parallel the work of radical black artists.{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Daphne A.|author-link=Daphne Brooks |date=2 October 2020 |title=Why Radiohead are the Blackest white band of our times |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/oct/02/why-radiohead-are-the-blackest-white-band-of-our-times|access-date=2 October 2020}}
= Industry =
Kid A is credited for pioneering the use of the internet to stream and promote music.{{Cite web |last=Hyden |first=Steven |date=29 September 2015 |title=How Radiohead's 'Kid A' Kicked Off the Streaming Revolution |url=http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/how-radioheads-kid-a-kicked-off-the-streaming-revolution |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930220924/http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/how-radioheads-kid-a-kicked-off-the-streaming-revolution/ |archive-date=30 September 2015 |access-date=30 September 2015}}{{Cite web |last=DeSantis |first=Nick |title=Radiohead's Digital Album Sales, Visualized |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickdesantis/2016/05/10/radioheads-digital-album-sales-visualized/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190222204347/https://www.forbes.com/ |archive-date=22 February 2019 |access-date=27 April 2019 |website=Forbes |language=en}} The pay-what-you-want release for In Rainbows is credited as a major step for music distribution.{{cite news |author=Paytress, Mark |date=1 January 2008 |title=Chasing Rainbows |work=Mojo}} Forbes wrote that it "helped forge the template for unconventional album releases in the internet age", ahead of artists such as Beyoncé and Drake. Speaking at Radiohead's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, the Talking Heads singer David Byrne, an early influence on Radiohead, praised their musical and release innovations, which he said had influenced the entire music industry.
= Accolades =
{{See also|List of awards and nominations received by Radiohead}}
Radiohead's work places highly in both listener polls and critics' lists of the best music of the 1990s and 2000s.{{cite news |date=3 September 2000 |title=Radiohead gun for Beatles' Revolver |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/908638.stm |url-status=live |access-date=28 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084137/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/908638.stm |archive-date=6 October 2014}}
{{cite web |date=18 December 2007 |title=Radiohead — In Rainbows Is Overwhelming Critics Choice for Top Album |url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/in-rainbows-is-overwhelming-critics-choice-for-top-album_1053848 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606163227/http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/in-rainbows-is-overwhelming-critics-choice-for-top-album_1053848 |archive-date=6 June 2011 |access-date=3 October 2009 |publisher=Contact Music}} In a 2004 list composed by 55 musicians, writers and industry executives, Rolling Stone named Radiohead 73rd-greatest artist of all time.{{Cite magazine |last=Matthews |first=Dave |date=3 December 2010 |title=100 Greatest Artists |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-artists-147446/ |access-date=29 October 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}} They have been listed among the greatest bands of all time by Spin (15th){{Cite web |title=NPR : The All-Time Greatest Rock Bands |url=https://www.npr.org/programs/totn/features/2002/feb/020207.rockbands.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511105224/https://www.npr.org/programs/totn/features/2002/feb/020207.rockbands.html |archive-date=11 May 2019 |access-date=11 May 2019 |website=www.npr.org}} and among the greatest artists by VH1 (29th).{{Cite web |date=3 September 2010 |title=VH1 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time |url=https://www.stereogum.com/495331/vh1-100-greatest-artists-of-all-time/franchises/list/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412055609/https://www.stereogum.com/495331/vh1-100-greatest-artists-of-all-time/franchises/list/ |archive-date=12 April 2015 |access-date=11 May 2019 |website=Stereogum}} They were also named the third-best British band in history by Harry Fletcher of the Evening Standard.{{Cite web |date=7 November 2017 |title=The 20 greatest British rock bands of all time |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/music/the-20-greatest-british-rock-bands-of-all-time-a3655391.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331002750/https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/music/the-20-greatest-british-rock-bands-of-all-time-a3655391.html |archive-date=31 March 2019 |access-date=11 May 2019 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}
Radiohead are the most nominated act for the Mercury Prize, with five nominated albums. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2009, Rolling Stone readers voted Radiohead the second-best artist of the 2000s, behind Green Day.{{cite web |title=Green Day Named Top Artists Of The Decade By Rolling Stone Readers |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1627912/green-day-named-top-artists-decade-by-rolling-stone-readers.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928051312/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1627912/green-day-named-top-artists-decade-by-rolling-stone-readers.jhtml |archive-date=28 September 2013 |access-date=28 September 2014 |work=MTV News}} In 2021, Pitchfork readers voted OK Computer, Kid A and In Rainbows among the ten greatest albums of the preceding 25 years.{{Cite web |date=15 October 2021 |title=The 200 best albums of the last 25 years, according to Pitchfork readers |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/peoples-list-25th-anniversary/ |access-date=15 October 2021 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} Jonny Greenwood and O'Brien were both included in Rolling Stone{{'}}s lists of the best guitarists{{Cite magazine |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |date=3 December 2010 |title=100 Greatest Guitarists: David Fricke's Picks |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-guitarists-david-frickes-picks-146383/ |access-date=25 October 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine |last=Vozick-Levinson |first=Simon |date=13 October 2023 |title=The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-guitarists-1234814010/ |access-date=14 October 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}} and Yorke in its lists of the greatest singers.{{cite magazine |date=3 December 2010 |title=100 Greatest Singers of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/thom-yorke-20101202 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=21 February 2009}}{{Cite magazine |date=1 January 2023 |title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |access-date=4 January 2023}}
Collaborators
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Nigel Godrich first worked with Radiohead as an audio engineer on their second album, The Bends. He has produced all their studio albums since their third album, OK Computer. Godrich has been dubbed the band's "sixth member", an allusion to George Martin being called the "Fifth Beatle". In 2016, Godrich said: "I can only ever have one band like Radiohead who I've worked with for this many years. That's a very deep and profound relationship. The Beatles could only have ever had one George Martin; they couldn't have switched producers halfway through their career. All that work, trust, and knowledge of each other would have been thrown out of the window and they'd have to start again."{{cite web |last=Earle |first=Toby |date=6 July 2016 |title=Nigel Godrich interview: Radiohead and I have a profound relationship |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/music/nigel-godrich-interview-radiohead-and-i-have-a-very-deep-and-profound-relationship-a3283096.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726111030/https://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/music/nigel-godrich-interview-radiohead-and-i-have-a-very-deep-and-profound-relationship-a3283096.html |archive-date=26 July 2018 |access-date=9 July 2016 |website=The Evening Standard |language=en-GB}}
Godrich also plays Chieftain Mews, a long-running character who appears in Radiohead's promotional material.{{Cite web |last=Yoo |first=Noah |date=April 2021 |title=Radiohead Join TikTok, Reveal New Chieftain Mews Video |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-join-tiktok-reveal-new-chieftain-mews-video-watch/ |access-date=2 April 2021 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-us}} The journalist Mac Randall described Mews as "a 21st-century Max Headroom" who "intones non-sequiturs". Yorke credited the filmmaker Chris Bran for his creation on the DVD The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time.{{cite news |date=21 November 2003 |title=Yes I am entering Miss World |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/nov/21/popandrock.radiohead |accessdate=19 May 2009 |newspaper=The Guardian}}
The graphic artist Stanley Donwood met Yorke when they were art students. Together, they have produced all of Radiohead's album covers and visual artwork since 1994. Donwood works in the studio with the band as they record, allowing the music to influence the artwork.{{cite web |url=https://diymag.com/2016/03/22/radiohead-in-rainbows-new-album-lp9-stanley-donwood-interview |title=Inside the artwork: Radiohead art collaborator Stanley Donwood talks 'In Rainbows' and LP9 |website=DIY |date=22 March 2016 |access-date=23 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325003555/http://diymag.com/2016/03/22/radiohead-in-rainbows-new-album-lp9-stanley-donwood-interview|archive-date=25 March 2016|url-status=live}} He and Yorke won a Grammy in 2002 for the special edition of Amnesiac, packaged as a library book.
Since Radiohead's formation, Andi Watson has been Radiohead's lighting and stage director, designing the visuals of their live concerts.{{cite web |last=Fischer |first=Jonathan L. |date=14 March 2011 |title=Strobe Lights and Blown Speakers: Radiohead's Light Design |url=https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/strobe-lights-and-blown-speakers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808080547/http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/strobe-lights-and-blown-speakers/ |archive-date=8 August 2012 |access-date=16 August 2012 |work=The New York Times}} Peter "Plank" Clements has worked with Radiohead since before The Bends, overseeing the technical management of studio recordings and live performances. Jim Warren has been Radiohead's live sound engineer since their first tour in 1992, and recorded early tracks including "High and Dry" and "Pop Is Dead".{{Cite web |url=https://www.mixonline.com/live-sound/tour-profile-radiohead-368110 |title=Tour Profile: Radiohead |last=Emerick |first=Donny |website=Mixonline |date=October 2008 |language=en-us|access-date=14 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014163257/https://www.mixonline.com/live-sound/tour-profile-radiohead-368110|archive-date=14 October 2019|url-status=live}} Radiohead enlisted the drummer Clive Deamer to help perform the complex rhythms of The King of Limbs, and has performed and recorded with them since. Paul Thomas Anderson has directed several music videos for Yorke and Radiohead, and has collaborated with Jonny Greenwood on several film scores and the 2015 documentary Junun.{{Cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/paul-thomas-anderson-thom-yorke-tease-short-film-anima/ |title=Paul Thomas Anderson And Thom Yorke Tease Short Film Anima |last=White |first=James |date=20 June 2019 |website=Empire |language=en|access-date=21 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621034921/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/paul-thomas-anderson-thom-yorke-tease-short-film-anima/|archive-date=21 June 2019|url-status=live}}
Business and song catalogue
{{See also|In Rainbows#Dispute with EMI}}
Radiohead are managed by Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge of Courtyard Management, which also manages Faithless, Supergrass and Kate Nash.{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=John |date=1 May 2009 |title=Working in harmony |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/working-in-harmony-1.757419 |access-date=16 November 2023 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Marshall |first=Alex |date=15 April 2016 |title=Radiohead have not yet decided whether to stream new album, says man from their management firm |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/15/radiohead-new-album-spotify-brian-message-thom-yorke |access-date=15 March 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} They recorded their first six albums under contract with Parlophone, a subsidiary of EMI.{{cite magazine |author=Tyrangiel, Josh |first= |date=1 October 2007 |title=Radiohead Says: Pay What You Want |magazine=Time |url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html|url-status=live|access-date=16 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827171043/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html|archive-date=27 August 2011}} The contract ended with the release of Hail to the Thief in 2003. They did not renew the contract for their next album, In Rainbows (2007), as EMI would not give them control over their back catalogue and they did not trust the new owner, Guy Hands.{{Cite news |last=Forde |first=Eamonn |date=18 February 2019 |title=Chasing rainbows: inside the battle between Radiohead and EMI's Guy Hands |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/feb/18/chasing-rainbows-radiohead-emi-guy-hands-terra-firma |url-status=live |access-date=19 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219064558/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/feb/18/chasing-rainbows-radiohead-emi-guy-hands-terra-firma |archive-date=19 February 2019 |issn=0261-3077}} Radiohead have self-released their subsequent work, with retail editions released by XL Recordings.
In September 2012, EMI was bought by Universal Music. The European Commission approved the deal on the condition that Universal Music divest Parlophone, which controlled the Radiohead records.{{Cite news |last=Sweney |first=Mark |date=21 September 2012 |title=Universal's £1.2bn EMI takeover approved – with conditions |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/21/universal-emi-takeover-approved |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927140940/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/21/universal-emi-takeover-approved |archive-date=27 September 2013 |access-date=2 September 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} In February 2013, Parlophone was bought by Warner Music Group (WMG).{{Cite magazine |last=Knopper |first=Steve |date=8 February 2013 |title=Pink Floyd, Radiohead catalogs change label hands |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pink-floyd-radiohead-catalogs-change-label-hands-92432/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116084628/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pink-floyd-radiohead-catalogs-change-label-hands-92432/|archive-date=16 November 2018 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} As a condition of the purchase, WMG made an agreement with the Merlin Network and the trade group Impala to divest 30% of the Parlophone catalogues to independent labels, with artist approval. In April 2016, WMG transferred Radiohead's back catalogue to XL. The Best Of and the reissues released by EMI in 2008 without Radiohead's approval were removed from streaming services.{{Cite web |last=Trendell |first=Andrew |title=Here's why so many Radiohead songs disappeared from Spotify + streaming |url=http://www.gigwise.com/news/106313/radiohead-songs-&-albums-removed-from-spotify-ahead-of-new-album-tour|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920142613/http://www.gigwise.com/news/106313/radiohead-songs-%26-albums-removed-from-spotify-ahead-of-new-album-tour|archive-date=20 September 2017|access-date=20 September 2017 |website=Gigwise |language=en}} In October 2015, Radiohead sued Parlophone for deductions made from downloads of their back catalogue.{{cite web |title=Radiohead sue Parlophone, lawyers debate possible impact |url=http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/radiohead-sue-parlophone-lawyers-debate-possible-impact/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101010830/http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/radiohead-sue-parlophone-lawyers-debate-possible-impact/ |archive-date=1 November 2015 |access-date=4 November 2015 |website=Complete Music Update}}
In 1993, Radiohead created a limited company, Radiohead Ltd, to handle income from tours. It had a revenue of £735,765 after the release of The Bends (1995), £2.1m after OK Computer (1997) and almost £8m following Hail to the Thief (2003).{{Cite news |last=Marshall |first=Alex |date=29 April 2016 |title=Radiohead's corporate empire: inside the band's dollars and cents |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/29/radiohead-corporate-structure-firms |access-date=15 March 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} In May 1996, Radiohead established Waste Products Ltd to produce and sell merchandise. The band members also own half of Sandbag Limited, created in 2002 as a sister company of Waste, which handles direct-to-customer sales of albums, merchandise and other goods for Radiohead and other acts.{{Cite news |last=Shubber |first=Kadhim |date=12 January 2016 |title=Radiohead's business style: everything in its right place |url=https://www.ft.com/content/1258fc73-b961-3a67-adbd-b8b7d73e68e7 |access-date=15 March 2025 |work=Financial Times}} Starting with In Rainbows, Radiohead have created limited companies or limited liability partnerships for their releases, minimising risk in the event of commercial failure, lawsuits or touring accidents.
Band members
- Thom Yorke – vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards
- Colin Greenwood – bass guitar
- Ed O'Brien – guitar, effects, backing vocals
- Philip Selway – drums, percussion
- Jonny Greenwood – guitar, keyboards, ondes Martenot, orchestral arrangements
= Additional live members =
- Clive Deamer – drums, percussion (2011–present)
Discography
{{Main|Radiohead discography|List of songs recorded by Radiohead}}
Studio albums
- Pablo Honey (1993)
- The Bends (1995)
- OK Computer (1997)
- Kid A (2000)
- Amnesiac (2001)
- Hail to the Thief (2003)
- In Rainbows (2007)
- The King of Limbs (2011)
- A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
See also
{{Portal|Rock music}}
Notes
{{reflist|group=nb}}
References
{{reflist}}
= Sources =
{{refbegin}}
- {{citation |last=Buckley |first=Peter |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haEfq-nKqjgC |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2003 |isbn=1-84353-105-4}}
- Clarke, Martin. Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless. 2000. {{ISBN|0-85965-332-3}}
- {{citation |last=Griffiths |first=Dai |title=OK Computer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QuZF1PP0AKkC |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=2004 |isbn=0-8264-1663-2}}
- Randall, Mac. Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. 2000. {{ISBN|0-385-33393-5}}
- {{citation |last=Reising |first=Russell |title=Speak to Me |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x_0oXORl4dIC |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd |year=2005 |isbn=0-7546-4019-1}}
{{refend}}
Further reading
{{refbegin}}
- Doheny, James. Radiohead: Back to Save the Universe. 2002. {{ISBN|0-8264-1663-2}}
- Forbes, Brandon W. and Reisch, George A. (eds). Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive. 2009. {{ISBN|0-8126-9664-6}}
- Hale, Jonathan. Radiohead: From a Great Height. 1999. {{ISBN|1-55022-373-9}}
- Johnstone, Nick. Radiohead: An Illustrated Biography. 1997. {{ISBN|0-7119-6581-1}}
- Letts, Marianne Tatom. Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album. 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-253-22272-5}}
- Paytress, Mark. Radiohead: The Complete Guide to their Music. 2005. {{ISBN|1-84449-507-8}}
- Tate, Joseph (ed). The Music and Art of Radiohead. 2005. {{ISBN|0-7546-3979-7}}.
{{refend}}
External links
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
- {{Official website|https://www.radiohead.com}}
- {{discogs artist}}
- {{MusicBrainz artist|id=a74b1b7f-71a5-4011-9441-d0b5e4122711|name=Radiohead}}
- {{IMDb name|1955602}}
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b7jz0c BBC Interview with Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke about artistic collaboration for Radiohead]
{{Radiohead}}
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{{Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album}}
{{2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
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{{Authority control}}
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