Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (guitars, keyboards, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitars, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass, synthesisers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion).
Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992. The song was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead's popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international fame. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK Computer is often acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s.
Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in Radiohead's musical style, as the group incorporated experimental electronic music, Krautrock and jazz influences. Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of piano and guitar driven rock, electronics and lyrics inspired by war, was the band's final album for their major record label, EMI. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a digital download for which customers could set their own price, and later in physical form to critical and chart success. Radiohead's eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), was an exploration of rhythm and quieter textures, which the band released independently.
Radiohead have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide,and the band's work has been placed highly in both listener polls and critics' lists. In 2005, Radiohead were ranked number 73 in Rolling Stone's list of "The Greatest Artists of All Time", while Ed O'Brien and Jonny Greenwood were both included in Rolling Stone's list of greatest guitarists, and Thom Yorke in their list of greatest singers.While the band's earlier albums were most influential on British rock and pop music, musicians in a wide variety of genres have been influenced by their later work.
Style and songwriting
Among Radiohead members' earliest influences were Queen and Elvis Costello; post-punk acts such as Joy Division and Magazine; and significantly 1980s alternative rock bands such as R.E.M., Pixies, The Smiths and Sonic Youth. By the mid-1990s, Radiohead began to adopt some recording methods from hip hop, inspired by the sampling work of DJ Shadow.They also became interested in using computers to generate sounds.Other influences on the album were Miles Davis and Ennio Morricone, along with 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, and Phil Spector's "wall of sound" productions for girl groups. Jonny Greenwood also cited composer Krzysztof Penderecki as an inspiration on the sound of OK Computer.The electronic music of Kid A and Amnesiac was inspired by Thom Yorke's admiration for glitch, ambient techno and IDM as exemplified by Warp Records artists such as Autechre and Aphex Twin, and the album also sampled from early computer music. The jazz of Charles Mingus, Alice Coltrane, and Miles Davis, and 1970s Krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!, were other major influences during this period. Jonny Greenwood's interest in 20th century classical music also had a role, as the influence of both Penderecki and composer Olivier Messiaen was apparent; for several songs on Kid A and later albums, Greenwood has played the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument popularised by Messiaen. While working on Hail to the Thief, Radiohead put renewed emphasis on guitar rock.The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and particularly Neil Young were reported sources of inspiration to the band during this period. Since beginning to record In Rainbows, Radiohead members have mentioned a variety of rock, electronic, hip hop and experimental musicians as influences, including Björk, Liars, Modeselektor and Spank Rock. Since leaving their major label, the band members have been interviewed less frequently, more often posting "office charts" of their favorite songs of the moment on their blog Dead Air Space. In 2011, Thom Yorke denied Radiohead had ever set out deliberately to change musical styles or to make "experimental music", saying band members are "constantly absorbing music" and a variety of musicians are always influencing their work.
Since their formation Radiohead have, lyrically and musically, been spearheaded by Yorke. However, although Yorke is responsible for writing nearly all the lyrics, songwriting is a collaborative effort, and it has been noted in interviews that all the band members have roles in the process. As a result, all the band's songs are officially credited to "Radiohead". The Kid A/Amnesiac sessions brought about a change in Radiohead's musical style, and an even more radical change in the band's working method. Since the band's shift from standard rock music instrumentation toward an emphasis on electronic sound, band members have had greater flexibility and now regularly switch instruments depending on the particular song requirements. On Kid A and Amnesiac, Yorke played keyboard and bass, while Jonny Greenwood often played ondes Martenot rather than guitar, bassist Colin Greenwood worked on sampling, and O'Brien and Selway branched out to drum machines and digital manipulations, also finding ways to incorporate their primary instruments, guitar and percussion, respectively, into the new sound. The relaxed 2003 recording sessions for Hail to the Thief led to a different dynamic in Radiohead, with Yorke admitting in interviews that "[his] power within the band was absolutely unbalanced and [he] would subvert everybody else's power at all costs. But ... it's actually a lot more healthy now, democracy wise, than it used to be."
Band members
- Current members
- Colin Greenwood – bass, keyboards
- Jonny Greenwood – guitars, keyboards, Ondes Martenot, other instruments
- Ed O'Brien – guitars, backing vocals
- Phil Selway – drums, percussion
- Thom Yorke – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, piano
- Additional live members
- Clive Deamer – drums, percussion (2011)
Discography
- 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)
