Radiohead are an English rock band. Initially formed in Oxfordshire in 1986, the band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, piano, guitar), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, electronics), Ed O'Brien (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesisers) and Phil Selway (percussion).

Radiohead released their first single, "Creep", in 1992, followed by their debut album Pablo Honey (1993). Though it was initially unsuccessful, the song became a worldwide hit by the time it was re-issued a year later. Radiohead's popularity in the United Kingdom increased with their second album, The Bends (1995). The band's dense, textured guitar atmospheres and Thom Yorke's expressive falsetto singing were warmly received by critics and fans. Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater attention. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, it was acclaimed worldwide, often being named a landmark record of the 1990s.

The band's next recordings, Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), saw Radiohead reach their peak of global popularity even as their music divided fans and critics. The period marked a change in the band's style, with influences including experimental electronic music as well as Krautrock, jazz and modern classical music. Radiohead's shift away from standard rock songwriting also resulted in greater flexibility, with each member playing a wider range of instruments in the studio and at live concerts. The band's sixth album, Hail to the Thief (2003), was seen to blend styles from throughout their career, mixing guitar-driven rock, electronic influences and contemporaneous lyrics.

Radiohead recently released their seventh studio album In Rainbows through their own website as a digital download for which users may set their own price. The band plan both to issue In Rainbows as a standard CD in early 2008, and to embark on a world tour from spring to fall 2008.

The members of Radiohead all attended Abingdon School, a boys-only public school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Yorke and Colin Greenwood were in the same year, O'Brien and Selway were one year above and Jonny Greenwood two years below. In 1986, they formed the band "On a Friday", the name referring to the band's usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. On a Friday played their first gig at Oxford's Jericho Tavern in late 1986. Jonny Greenwood joined as a keyboard player but soon became the lead guitarist.

Although Phil Selway, Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, and Ed O'Brien had left Abingdon by 1987 to attend university, the band continued to rehearse often on weekends and holidays. In 1991, when all the members except Jonny had completed their university degrees, On a Friday regrouped, but briefly changed their name to "Shindig." The band recorded demos, including the Manic Hedgehog demo tape, performed live around Oxford and appeared on the cover of a local music magazine Curfew. Although Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley had an active indie scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it centred around shoegazing bands such as Ride and Slowdive. On a Friday were never seen as fitting this trend and later commented that they had missed it by the time they returned from university.

As On a Friday's number of live performances increased, record labels and producers became interested. Chris Hufford, the co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard Studios, attended an early On a Friday concert at the Jericho Tavern. Impressed by the band, he and his partner Bryce Edge produced a demo tape and became On a Friday's managers. Hufford and Edge remain Radiohead's managers to this day. The band signed a six-album recording contract with EMI in late 1991, following a chance meeting between Colin Greenwood and label representative Keith Wozencroft at the record shop where Greenwood worked. At the request of the label, the band changed their name to Radiohead, inspired by the title of a song on Talking Heads' True Stories album.

Drill, Radiohead's debut EP, was produced by Hufford and Edge at Courtyard Studios and released in March 1992. Its chart performance was poor, and consequently the band hired Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade, who had previously worked with the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr., to produce their debut album, Pablo Honey. The album was recorded in three weeks in an Oxford studio late in 1992.

With the release of the single "Creep" in late 1992, the band began to receive attention from the British music press, not all of it favourable. The NME described them as "a lily livered excuse for a rock band," and the song was not played on BBC Radio 1 because it was deemed "too depressing". Radiohead released another single, "Anyone Can Play Guitar" in February 1993, followed closely by Pablo Honey later that month. Neither did well commercially, especially Pablo Honey, which peaked at #32 in the UK and is considered by critics and the band to be their weakest album. A non-album single, "Pop is Dead", and the last single from Pablo Honey, "Stop Whispering" followed later that year; both of which also performed poorly commercially.

However, "Creep" unexpectedly built momentum in the United States, spreading from popularity in Israel to a San Francisco college radio station. By the time Radiohead began their first United States tour in early 1993, "Creep" was in heavy rotation on MTV. The song rose to #2 on the Billboard modern rock charts and to #7 in the UK singles chart when rereleased later that year. Radiohead nearly broke up due to the pressure of sudden success as the Pablo Honey supporting tour extended into its second year. The album continued to rise in popularity internationally, fuelled by "Creep", which remains Radiohead's largest worldwide hit. The band later said, however, that the tour had been a miserable experience because towards its end they were "still playing the same songs that we'd recorded two years previously...it was almost like being held in a time warp."

After the American tour, Radiohead began work on their second album, hiring veteran Abbey Road studios producer John Leckie. Tensions were high, as the band felt smothered both by "Creep"'s success and the mounting expectations for a superior follow-up. According to Leckie, "It was either going to be 'Sulk', 'The Bends', 'Nice Dream', or 'Just'. We had to give those absolute attention, make them amazing, instant smash hits, number 1 in America. Everyone was pulling their hair and saying, 'It's not good enough!' We were trying too hard".

The band sought a change of scenery, touring Australasia and the Far East in an attempt to reduce the pressure. However, confronted again by their new popularity, singer Thom Yorke felt discomfort at being "right at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell. The 1994 EP My Iron Lung, featuring the single of the same title, was the band's reaction, marking a transition to the greater depth they aimed for on their second album. The single was promoted through underground radio stations; it sold better than expected, starting a loyal fan base for the band. Having developed the other new songs on tour, Radiohead completed the album in the UK in late 1994, releasing The Bends in May 1995.

While the Britpop scene dominated the media's attention, Radiohead finally earned success in their home country with The Bends. The album was driven by dense riffs and ethereal atmospheres from the band's three guitarists, as well as greater use of keyboards than their debut. The singles "Fake Plastic Trees", "Just", and "High and Dry", featuring Yorke's expressive falsetto, achieved some chart success. Looking back in 1998, Jonny Greenwood said, "I think the turning point for us came about nine or 12 months after The Bends was released and 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, I think." Yet major success for the album did not come until the release of the final single "Street Spirit (Fade Out)", which hit #5 in the UK, the band's highest chart position to that point.

In mid-1995, Radiohead toured in support of R.E.M., one of their formative influences and at the time one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Introducing his opening act, Michael Stipe said, "Radiohead are so good, they scare me". The buzz generated by such famous fans, along with a series of distinctive music videos such as "Just" and "Street Spirit", helped to expand Radiohead's popularity outside the UK.

Drummer Phil Selway said, "When The Bends came out everyone went on about how uncommercial that was. Twelve months later it was being hailed as a pop classic. The record company were worried there wasn't a single on it- and we ended up with five top 30 hits from it!" However, while critically acclaimed, the album and its singles failed to match the worldwide commercial success of "Creep".

Yorke said that The Bends succeeded because Radiohead "had to put ourselves into an environment where we felt free to work. And that's why we [produced] the next [album] ourselves, because the times we most got off on making the last record were when we were just completely communicating with ourselves, and John Leckie wasn't really saying much, and it was just all happening".

One new song was already recorded: "Lucky", released as a single to promote the War Child charity's The Help Album. Radiohead also contributed two songs to Baz Luhrmann's 1996 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, "Talk Show Host" and "Exit Music (For a Film)". The former was a remix of one of the B-sides to "Street Spirit (Fade Out)", while the latter was a new song, eventually included on the band's next album.

With the assistance of audio engineer Nigel Godrich, their collaborator on "Lucky" and "Talk Show Host," Radiohead produced their next album themselves, beginning work in early 1996. By July they had recorded four songs with Godrich at their rehearsal studio, Canned Applause, a converted apple shed in the countryside near Didcot, Oxfordshire. Having learned from The Bends, they decided to perfect the songs live, touring as an opening act for Alanis Morissette, before completing the record. The rest of the album was recorded in actress Jane Seymour's 15th-century mansion, St. Catherine's Court, near Bath. The recording sessions were relaxed, with the band playing at all hours of the day, recording songs in different rooms, and listening to The Beatles, DJ Shadow, Ennio Morricone and Miles Davis for inspiration. The album was finished by the end of 1996, and by March 1997, it was mixed and mastered.

Radiohead released OK Computer in June 1997 to widespread critical acclaim. Largely composed of melodic rock songs, the new record also found Radiohead introducing more uncommon musical elements, experimenting with song structures, ambient noise and electronics. The band released "Paranoid Android", "Karma Police" and "No Surprises" as singles, while planned single "Let Down" had its release cancelled. OK Computer was the band's first #1 UK chart debut, eventually propelling Radiohead to commercial success in many markets around the world. In the U.S., the album received the band's first Grammy recognition, an award for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year.

Yorke admitted that he was "actually amazed it [OK Computer] 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."

The release of OK Computer was followed by the "Against Demons" world tour. Grant Gee, the director of the "No Surprises" video, accompanied and filmed the band on their tour. The resulting video was released as the 1998 "fly on the wall" documentary Meeting People Is Easy. The film portrays the band's disaffection with the music industry and press that feted them, showing their burnout as they progressed from their first concert dates in mid-1997 to mid-1998, nearly a year later. During this time the band released 7 Television Commercials, a compilation of music videos, and two EPs which compiled B-sides from OK Computer.

Exhausted by fame and on the verge of burning out following their 1997–1998 world tour, Radiohead were largely inactive during the rest of 1998. The band's only public performance was at an Amnesty International concert in Paris, while in 1999 only Yorke and Jonny made an appearance at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Amsterdam. Yorke later admitted that during that period the band came close to splitting up, and that he had developed severe depression: "New Year's Eve [1998] was one of the lowest points of my life... I felt like I was going fucking crazy. Every time I picked up a guitar I just got the horrors. I would start writing a song, stop after 16 bars, hide it away in a drawer, look at it again, tear it up, destroy it."

In early 1999, Radiohead began work on a follow-up to OK Computer. Although there was no longer any pressure or even a deadline from their record label, tension during this period was high. The members all had different visions for the band's future, and Yorke was still experiencing writer's block, influencing him toward a more abstract, fragmented form of songwriting. Eventually, all the members agreed on a new musical direction, redefining their instrumental roles in the band. For the first time the band recorded without considering live performance, secluding themselves with producer Nigel Godrich in a series of different studios from Paris to Copenhagen to Gloucester, to their newly completed studio in Oxford. In the process, they pared 40 newly recorded songs to the 30 which were ultimately released on their subsequent two albums and accompanying B-sides.

Rather than create a stylistic sequel to OK Computer, Radiohead's new tracks featured a minimalist and textured style with less overt guitar parts. The tracks also featured more diverse instrumentation, going beyond the traditional rock setup of guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards by including the ondes martenot, programmed electronic beats, strings and jazz horns. "The trick is to try and carry on doing things that interest you, but not turn into some art-rock nonsense just for its own sake", Colin Greenwood said of the recording sessions, which were completed in April 2000, after nearly 18 months.

Kid A, released on October 2, 2000, was the first of two albums created from these recording sessions. Synthesised, cryptic and claustrophobic, the album stunned the music industry and much of Radiohead's fan base with its departures from their past work and from pop conventions. Although the band did not release any singles from Kid A, promos of "Optimistic" and "Idioteque" received some radio play. Instead of singles, a series of "blips" or "antivideos" were created by directors Chris Bran and Shynola, together with the band's longtime artistic collaborator Stanley Donwood, and distributed free over the Internet. Yet Kid A achieved Radiohead's highest worldwide chart placement to date, debuting at number 1 in many countries, including the United States. Its debut atop the Billboard chart, where OK Computer had peaked at #21, marked a first for the band, though the album fell off the chart soon after. Radiohead's sudden commercial success has been variously attributed to hype; to the availability of the entire album on the Internet file-sharing network Napster a few months before its release; and to anticipation after OK Computer.

In early 2001, Kid A received a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year. Many critics branded Radiohead one of the world's most "important" bands, and the record gained the band plaudits for courage and innovation. However, Kid A did not inspire universal praise. Jonny Greenwood said, "I think a lot of writers [critics] expected us to come back with a combination of OK Computer and The Bends. The fact that we didn't do that means people who got their guitars out have had to put them back into the wardrobe." Others criticised Radiohead for appropriating underground styles of music and unfairly receiving credit. The band's fans were similarly divided; along with those who were appalled or mystified, there were many who saw Kid A as the band's best work.

On previous tours, Radiohead had performed in large, corporate-sponsored venues, but had expressed their distaste for them. However, while promoting Kid A, the band was inspired by Naomi Klein's anti-globalization book No Logo to mount a tour of Europe in a custom-built tent free of advertising; the band also performed a mere three concerts in North America, their first performances there in over two years, selling out smaller theatres. Along with songs from Kid A, the band used the tour to perform unreleased songs that had been recorded at the same time as Kid A. Having rejected the possibility of a double album before Kid A, Radiohead settled on the release of another album to contain the remaining material. Amnesiac, released in June 2001, comprised those additional tracks. Conceived by the band as a complement to Kid A but also a distinct sequence of songs, Amnesiac saw Radiohead's sound coalesce into a similar hybrid of electronic music and art rock, though in contrast to Kid A it featured more direct jazz influence. The piano ballad "Pyramid Song" was released as Radiohead's first single since 1997, hitting the UK top 5, and the guitar single "Knives Out" followed. Although criticised for a lack of cohesion and for being self-indulgent, Amnesiac was critically acclaimed and a commercial success.

After Amnesiac's release, the band embarked on a world tour, visiting North America, Europe and Japan. They staged a summer mini-festival in Oxford's South Park—their first hometown concert in years—featuring Beck, Sigur Rós, Supergrass, and Humphrey Lyttelton, who played trumpet on the last track of Amnesiac, "Life in a Glasshouse". "I Might Be Wrong," initially planned as a third single, expanded into the band's first and thus far only live record. Released in late 2001, I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings featured performances of Kid A and Amnesiac songs from various international concerts, and an acoustic performance of the previously unreleased "True Love Waits".

Several months after the Amnesiac tour, Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain during July and August 2002, using this opportunity to play new songs before an audience of their fans. The band then completed the album in two weeks in a Los Angeles studio with Nigel Godrich, with a few additional recordings done later in Oxford. Band members described the recording process as relaxed, in contrast to the tense Kid A/Amnesiac sessions.

Radiohead released their sixth album, Hail to the Thief, in June 2003. Upon its release, Hail to the Thief was noted for having a mix of influences from throughout Radiohead's career, combining guitar rock with an electronic sound and topical lyrics. Although the album received many positive reviews, some critics felt that the band was treading water creatively rather than continuing the "genre-redefining" trend that OK Computer had begun. Regardless, Hail to the Thief sold more copies in its first week than its predecessors, Kid A and Amnesiac, though its overall sales to date have not matched those of Kid A.

Hail to the Thief had more moderate commercial success in the U.S., debuting at #3 on the Billboard chart with the band's highest first week sales to date, but falling off soon after. The album's lead single, "There There", peaked at #4 in the British charts, while subsequent singles "Go to Sleep" and "2+2=5" charted at #12 and #15 respectively. "There There", however, was a #1 hit in Canada, and returned the band to U.S. modern rock radio favour, after several years without a song on playlists. At the Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best Alternative Album, Radiohead's fifth straight nomination in that category. Producer Godrich received the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album.

Although Hail to the Thief's title was assumed to be a comment on the controversial 2000 American presidential election, Yorke has denied this, explaining that he first heard the phrase during a Radio 4 discussion of John Quincy Adams, "who stole the election and who was known as 'The Thief' throughout his presidency". Yorke explained that the album was influenced by world events of late 2001 and early 2002, but he also said, "It struck me as the most amazing, powerful phrase...[but] I feel really strongly that we didn't write an [exclusively] protest record, we didn't write a political record."

After the release of Hail to the Thief, Radiohead embarked on an international tour, which began with a June 2003 headlining performance at the Glastonbury Festival, and finished in mid-2004 with a performance at the Coachella Festival. In 2004, the band released their latest EP COM LAG (2plus2isfive) which compiled most of the b-sides from Hail to the Thief, fulfilling their contractual obligations to EMI. Following the tour, the band began writing and rehearsing in their Oxford studio, but soon went on hiatus, as both O'Brien and Colin Greenwood were expecting sons, and needed some time with their respective families. Free of any contractual obligations, Radiohead spent the remainder of 2004 resting and working on solo projects. The band released a DVD version of their webcast television show The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time in December 2004.

Radiohead began work on their seventh album in February 2005. In September 2005, the band recorded a piano-based song, "I Want None of This", for the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life. The album was sold online, with "I Want None of This" being the most downloaded track, although it was not released as a single. In mid-2006, Radiohead toured Europe and North America, debuting thirteen songs they had been working on. Although the band began recording with Mark "Spike" Stent, since late 2006 they recorded with producer Nigel Godrich in several rural locations in England. The album was completed in June 2007 and was mastered the following month. The band are currently without a record contract, having fulfilled their six-album contract with EMI in 2004. In interviews in 2006, they admitted that "for the first time, we have no contract or release deadline to fulfill — it's both liberating and terrifying". But shortly before the band began writing new songs for the album, Yorke told Time, "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'Fuck you' to this decaying business model."

Starting in late September 2007, visitors to the band's website were redirected to a new website set up to take orders for the album, which was released in two formats. One form was a digital download for which the customer was able to name their own price, the other a "discbox" which included the In Rainbows CD, a bonus CD from the recording sessions, a vinyl edition of In Rainbows contained in two vinyl records, and a hardcover book. This discbox was available for purchase from the "In Rainbows" website for £40 (US$82), and will be shipped to customers in early December. Radiohead initially released their seventh album, In Rainbows, solely as a digital download, in October 2007. It was reported that on the day of its release, 1.2 million copies of In Rainbows had been sold as digital downloads. Radiohead, however, have not released any official sales figures for In Rainbows.

Explaining the reasons behind the album's unusual delivery, Jonny Greenwood said, "partly just to get it out quickly, so everyone would hear it at the same time, and partly because it was an experiment that felt worth trying, really." As for letting people name the price they pay for the album, he said "It's fun to make people stop for a few seconds and think about what music is worth, that's just an interesting question to ask people."

The musical style of In Rainbows was characterised by the band as "minimal," "sparse with lots of bass," and "lush". Yorke described the lyrical concept of In Rainbows as, "It's about that anonymous fear thing...thinking, 'I'm sure I'm supposed to be doing something else'... it's similar to OK Computer in a way. It's much more terrifying. But OK Computer was terrifying too — some of the lyrics were."

Radiohead's managers, Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge, have said the band is in talks with several labels and that the band plan to sign a record deal during October 2007 for the traditional label release of In Rainbows, which is planned for early 2008. The band are to embark on a world tour beginning in spring 2008. This tour will differ from regular Radiohead tours in that the band, according to Edge, will perform in "larger-scale venues" than those played during their 2006 tour.

Among Radiohead members' earliest influences were Queen and Elvis Costello; post-punk acts such as Joy Division and Magazine; and 1980s alternative rock bands such as R.E.M., Pixies, The Smiths, and Sonic Youth. 1980s dance act Soul II Soul was another early inspiration, with several early demos, such as that for High and Dry, layered with dance beats. But by the mid-1990s, Radiohead began to mention an interest in electronic music, especially that of trip-hop act Massive Attack and the instrumental hip hop of DJ Shadow, which Radiohead claimed as major influences on the sound of OK Computer. Other influences on the album were Miles Davis (especially Bitches Brew) and Ennio Morricone, along with 1960s pop groups such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Jonny Greenwood also cited composer Krzysztof Penderecki as an inspiration on the sound of OK Computer. During this era, critics noted musical similarities between OK Computer and progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd, however, the band have denied that their musical style is directly influenced by progressive rock.

The more electronic sound of Radiohead's next two albums, Kid A and Amnesiac, was the result of Yorke's admiration for the glitch, ambient techno and IDM styles exemplified by the Warp Records label and acts such as Autechre, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Squarepusher. Jazz, such as that of Charles Mingus and Alice Coltrane, and 1970s Krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!, were other major influences on the band during this period. Greenwood's interest in 20th century classical music continued to play a role, as the influence of Penderecki and especially Olivier Messiaen was increasingly apparent; for several tracks on Kid A and subsequent albums, Greenwood has played the Ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument popularised by the composer.

With Hail to the Thief, Radiohead continued their electronic influences of their previous two albums, although with renewed emphasis on guitar rock. Accordingly, the band said they had tried to achieve the same "swagger" in their live performances as The Rolling Stones. Though The Beatles and Neil Young were sources of musical inspiration during this period, the band also continued to cite their influence by classical musicians and Can.

Since 2005, while working on In Rainbows, the band have continued to mention experimental rock, electronic, and hip hop musicians as influences; such as Liars, glitch act Modeselektor, and Spank Rock. Band members have also emphasized their interest in reggae and dub music, as shown by the 2007 Trojan Records release Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller, a compilation of songs Greenwood selected by his favourite dub artists.

Radiohead's evolving musical style has been seen as a consequence of band members' varied tastes and accomplishments. Lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood is the only classically-trained member of the band and served as the BBC's Composer in Residence. Greenwood is a multi-instrumentalist; aside from guitar and keyboard, he plays the Ondes Martenot, banjo, viola and harmonica. He also in recent years has done electronic and digital manipulation. However, not all of these instruments have appeared on record. Greenwood has also arranged string orchestrations for Radiohead songs, including "Climbing Up the Walls", "How to Disappear Completely" and "Pyramid Song". Yorke plays guitar and piano and, at Exeter University, was once a DJ and part of a techno group, "Flickernoise". In recent years he has focused on the digital manipulation of sound, claiming in 2003 that if forced to choose, he would rather make music only on computer than only on guitar.

Since their formation, Radiohead have, lyrically and musically, been dominated by Yorke. In a 2000 interview, referring to the working of the band, Yorke said, "We operate like the UN, and I'm America." An exception to this dynamic is songwriting. Although Yorke is responsible for writing nearly all the lyrics, songwriting is actually a collaborative effort, as interviews have revealed that all members have had an integral songwriting role. 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. Ed O'Brien described the situation in 2000: "If you're going to make a different-sounding record, you have to change the methodology... everyone feels insecure. I'm a guitarist and suddenly it's like, well, there are no guitars on this track, or no drums. Jonny, me, Coz, and Phil had to get our heads round that." 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 sometimes 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 not as bad as that any more. It's actually a lot more healthy now, democracy wise, than it used to be."

The band maintains a close relationship with their producers and engineers, in particular Nigel Godrich, as well as with graphic artist Stanley Donwood. Godrich made his name with Radiohead, working with the band ever since The Bends, and as coproducer ever since OK Computer. He has sometimes been dubbed the "sixth member" of the band in an allusion to George Martin's work with the Beatles. Donwood, another longtime associate of the band, has produced all of Radiohead's album covers and visual artwork since 1994. He often works directly with Yorke, whom he met at art school; Yorke is credited in these collaborations under the pseudonyms "Tchock" or "The White Chocolate Farm". Donwood's graphics work with the band has encompassed oil paintings, computer-generated imagery, collage and antique posters, as well as work on the band's official web site. In interviews, he has said that he works near where the band is recording so as to find a visual equivalent for their sound. Together with Yorke, Donwood won a Grammy in 2002 for a special edition of Amnesiac packaged as a library book.

Other collaborators include Graeme Stewart, Dilly Gent, and Plank. Stewart has been Radiohead's sound engineer since their Kid A/Amnesiac sessions. He has also engineered Jonny Greenwood's and Yorke's respective solo albums Bodysong and The Eraser. Gent has been responsible for commissioning all Radiohead music videos since OK Computer, working closely with the band to find a director suitable for each project. The band's live technician, Peter Clemens, or "Plank", has worked with the band since The Bends, setting up their instruments for both studio recordings and live performances.

Despite the increasing profile and popularity that Kid A and Amnesiac brought to the band, the continued popularity of The Bends and OK Computer ensured the influence of Radiohead's earlier style on British rock music. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many critics compared the sound of contemporary bands to that of Radiohead at some time during their recording output, and in some cases, these bands used the band's own producers Nigel Godrich or John Leckie. When asked in 2001 by MTV, "How do you guys feel about the fact that bands like Travis, Coldplay and Muse are making a career sounding exactly like your records did in 1997?", Yorke replied, "Good luck with Kid A." However, other bands such as Bloc Party claimed to be influenced by Radiohead's later albums, and acts in various genres including The Roots, Hanson, Ace of Base, The Flaming Lips, and John Mayer, as well as jazz and classical musicians, have covered Radiohead songs from their Kid A and Amnesiac period. In 2005, Radiohead was ranked #73 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the greatest artists in history.

All Radiohead members have been involved in music projects outside the band. In 1998, Thom Yorke collaborated with Drugstore on the single "El President", and contributed vocals to the UNKLE track "Rabbit in Your Headlights", a collaboration with DJ Shadow. He participated in the 1998 Velvet Goldmine soundtrack, singing Roxy Music cover songs as part of the fictional band "Venus in Furs". In 1999, Jonny Greenwood played harmonica and guitar on Pavement's Terror Twilight and Ed O'Brien contributed to the soundtrack for British television miniseries Eureka Street. In 2000, Yorke sang duets with Björk and PJ Harvey on their respective albums Selmasongs and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. Later that year, O'Brien and Selway toured with Neil Finn, Johnny Marr and others for "7 Worlds Collide". O'Brien played guitar on Asian Dub Foundation's 2002 album Enemy of the Enemy.

In 2003, Jonny Greenwood released Bodysong, an instrumental soundtrack for the documentary of the same name. Colin Greenwood contributed bass and programming to the soundtrack. In May 2004, Jonny Greenwood was hired as a resident composer by the BBC, and has written classical pieces including "Smear", "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" and "Piano for Children". Later that year, he and Thom Yorke contributed to the Band Aid 20 project. In 2005, Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway appeared with Pulp's Jarvis Cocker as members of a fictional band in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. They recorded several songs for the soundtrack. Selway performed live with Nigel Powell's band Dive Dive. In 2006, Yorke's solo album, The Eraser, was released on XL Recordings, debuting at #2 in the US. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize and a Grammy. In the same year, Jonny Greenwood was voted Composer of the Year by BBC Radio 3 listeners in the British Composer Awards, for "Popcorn Superhet Receiver". Greenwood also scored the music for Paul Thomas Anderson's upcoming 2007 film There Will Be Blood.

* Thom Yorke – vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, electronics * Jonny Greenwood – lead guitar, string arrangements, electronics, sound effects * Ed O'Brien – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, percussion, effects * Colin Greenwood – bass, synthesizers, electronics * Phil Selway – drums, percussion, live backing vocals

# Pablo Honey - February 22, 1993 - #22 (UK) Platinum , #32 (U.S.) Platinum # The Bends - March 13, 1995 - #4 (UK) 3x Platinum , #88 (U.S.) Platinum # OK Computer - June 16, 1997 - #1 (UK) 3x Platinum , #22 (U.S.) 2x Platinum # Kid A - October 2, 2000 - #1 (UK) Platinum, #1 (U.S.) Platinum # Amnesiac - June 4, 2001 - #1 (UK), #2 (U.S.) Gold # Hail to the Thief - June 9, 2003 - #1 (UK) Platinum, #3 (U.S.) Gold # In Rainbows - October 10, 2007

*Draper, Brian. Interview with Thom Yorke. Third Way Magazine, December 2004. Vol. 27, No. 10. *McLean, Craig. "All messed up." The Observer, June 18, 2006. *Ross, Alex. "The Searchers: Radiohead's unquiet revolution." The New Yorker, August 20 and 27, 2001. *Smith, Andrew. "Sound and Fury." The Observer, October 1, 2000. *White, Curtis. "Kid Adorno." Context. Issue No. 6. *Follow Me Around: Radiohead Press Cuttings

*Radiohead: An Illustrated Biography by Nick Johnstone (1997, ISBN 0-7119-6581-1) *Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless by Martin Clarke (2000, ISBN 0-85965-332-3) *Exit Music: The Radiohead Story by Mac Randall, (2000, ISBN 0-385-33393-5) *Radiohead: Back to Save the Universe by James Doheny (2002, ISBN 0-82641-663-2) *Radiohead's OK Computer by Dai Griffiths (2004, ISBN 1-56025-398-3 *The Music and Art of Radiohead edited by Joseph Tate (2005, ISBN 0-7546-3980-0) *Radiohead: The Complete Guide to their Music by Mark Paytress (2005, ISBN 1-8444-95078) *Welcome to the Machine: OK Computer and the Death of the Classic Album by Tim Footman (2007, ISBN 1-8424-03885)

*"Authenticity in Rock Culture (Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Radiohead)" by Mark Mazullo (1999, University of Minnesota) *“Contextually Defined Musical Transformations” by Jonathan Kochavi (2002, State University of New York at Buffalo) *"'How to Disappear Completely': Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album" by Marianne Tatom Letts (2005, University of Texas at Austin)

* Radiohead.com, official site * Radiohead At Ease, popular unofficial site *



nb:Radiohead