63 Facts About Radiohead

Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985.

Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows, as a download for which customers could set their own price, to critical and chart success.

Five Radiohead albums have been included in Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time lists, and the band are the most nominated act in Mercury Prize history, with five nominations.

Radiohead met artist Stanley Donwood, who later created artwork for Radiohead.

At EMI's request, the band changed their name; "Radiohead" was taken from the song "Radio Head" on the Talking Heads album True Stories.

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Radiohead recorded their debut EP, Drill, with Hufford and Edge at Courtyard Studios.

Radiohead released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in February 1993.

Radiohead began work on their second album in 1994 with the veteran Abbey Road Studios producer John Leckie.

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.

Radiohead decided to self-produce their next album with Godrich, and began work in early 1996.

Radiohead released their third album, OK Computer, in May 1997.

Radiohead denied being part of the progressive rock genre, but critics began to compare their work to Pink Floyd, whose early 1970s work influenced Jonny Greenwood's guitar parts at the time.

In 1998, Radiohead performed at a Paris Amnesty International concert and the Tibetan Freedom Concert.

Radiohead secluded themselves with Godrich in studios in Paris, Copenhagen, and Gloucester, and in their new studio in Oxford.

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.

Radiohead embarked on a world tour, visiting North America, Europe and Japan.

In July and August 2002, Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain, playing a number of new songs.

Radiohead 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.

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.

In May 2003, Radiohead embarked on a world tour and headlined Glastonbury Festival for the second time.

Radiohead stressed it was made with the band's blessing, and that Radiohead were not breaking up.

Radiohead began work on their seventh album in February 2005.

In September 2005, Radiohead contributed "I Want None of This", a piano dirge, for the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life.

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.

Radiohead were critical of the new management, and no new deal was agreed.

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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.

Media reaction was positive, and Radiohead were praised for finding new ways to connect with fans.

Radiohead held remix competitions for "Nude" and "Reckoner", releasing the separated stems for fans to remix.

From mid-2008 to early 2009, Radiohead toured North America, Europe, Japan and South America to promote In Rainbows, and headlined the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2009.

Days after Radiohead signed to XL, EMI announced a box set of Radiohead material recorded before In Rainbows, released in the same week as the In Rainbows special edition.

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 Beyonce and Kanye West".

In January 2010, Radiohead played their only full concert of the year in the Los Angeles Henry Fonda Theater as a benefit for Oxfam.

In September 2010, Radiohead released the soundboard recording of their 2009 Prague performance for use in a fan-made concert video, Live in Praha.

Radiohead released their eighth album, The King of Limbs, on 18 February 2011 as a download from their website.

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.

In February 2012, Radiohead began their first extended North American tour in four years, including dates in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In February 2014, Radiohead released the Polyfauna app for smartphones, a collaboration with the British digital arts studio Universal Everything using music and imagery from The King of Limbs.

Radiohead began work on their ninth studio album in September 2014.

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.

In 2016,2017, and 2018, Radiohead toured Europe, Japan, and North and South America, including headline shows at the Coachella and Glastonbury festivals.

The performance was criticised by artists including Roger Waters and Ken Loach, and a petition urging Radiohead to cancel it was signed by more than 50 prominent figures.

In 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.

OKNOTOK debuted at number two on the UK Album Chart, boosted by Radiohead's televised Glastonbury performance that week, and reached number 23 on the US Billboard 200.

Radiohead were nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, their first year of eligibility.

In December 2019, Radiohead made their discography available free to stream on YouTube.

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Radiohead had been writing songs for years, but felt they had a "distinct energy" that would be lost with Radiohead.

In November 2021, Radiohead released Kid A Mnesia, an anniversary reissue compiling Kid A, Amnesiac and previously unreleased material from the sessions.

Plans for an art installation based on the albums were canceled due to logistical problems and the COVID-19 pandemic; instead, Radiohead created a free digital experience, Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, for PlayStation 5, macOS and Windows.

Radiohead have cited 60s and 70s jazz artists such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and Alice Coltrane as influences.

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.

The band often try several approaches to songs, and may develop them over years; for example, Radiohead first performed "True Love Waits" in 1995 before releasing it in a different arrangement on A Moon Shaped Pool in 2016.

Radiohead deliberately uses cliches, idioms and other common expressions, suggesting "a mind consumed by meaningless data".

Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide by 2011.

Five Radiohead albums have been nominated for the Mercury Prize, making Radiohead the most nominated act in the prize's history.

Radiohead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Radiohead are cited as one of the foremost rock bands of the 21st century.

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".

Radiohead has produced all their studio albums since their third album, OK Computer.

Radiohead plays Chieftain Mews, a long-running character appearing in Radiohead's promotional material.

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.

Radiohead are managed by Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge of Courtyard Management.

Radiohead recorded their first six albums under contract with Parlophone, a subsidiary of EMI.

In October 2015, Radiohead sued Parlophone for deductions made from downloads of their back catalogue.