Radiohead

Radiohead (formed 1986 as 'On a Friday')

Radiohead are an English rock band that rose to fame in the 1990s, with the release of their debut album Pablo Honey.

Radiohead: Formation

The members of Radiohead all met whilst attending Abingdon School, an all-male public school in Oxfordshire. The eldest of the group are Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway; Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood were in the year below and Jonny Greenwood was two years younger. They formed the band On A Friday in 1986, in reference to their Friday rehearsal slot in the school's music room.

On A Friday played their first gig at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford late in 1986. Although some of the band left the area to attend university, they kept the band going by rehearsing at weekends and in school holidays. By 1991, they had regrouped, with only Greenwood left to complete his university course. They began to record a number of demo tapes and were managed by Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge, the owners of Courtyard Studios in Oxford.

The band signed a six-album record deal with EMI in 1991 when EMI's Keith Wozencroft went into the record shop in which Colin Greenwood worked. They changed the name of the band to Radiohead on EMI's request.

Radiohead's debut EP was entitled 'Drill'. Produced by Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade, who had previously produced work by The Pixies and Dinosaur Jr, the EP was released in March 1992. This was followed by 'Creep', which brought much media attention to the band, although Radio One deemed the track 'too depressing' to give it substantial airplay.

Radiohead: Discography (Albums)

Pablo Honey (1993), The Bends (1995), OK Computer (1997), Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003), In Rainbows (2007), Radiohead: The Best Of (2008)

Radiohead: Hitting the Headlines

The success of 'Creep' and the Pablo Honey album nearly destroyed the band. Following the Pablo Honey tour, the band entered the studio with legendary producer John Leckie to record tracks for the second album.

Radiohead reached the Top 5 for the first time with the release of 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)'.

In 1996, Radiohead's 'Exit Music (For A Film)' was included in the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's Rome and Juliet.

Radiohead's first number one chart debut was with OK Computer, in 1997. The album received the Grammy Award for 'Best Alternative Music Album' as well as a nomination for 'Album of the Year'.

In 1999, Radiohead released the Grant Gee-directed Meeting People Is Easy documentary, as well as a compilation of their promotional videos, entitled 7 Television Commercials.

Kid A was Radiohead's first album to debut at the top of the US charts. The album earned the band another Grammy Award for 'Best Alternative Album' and another nomination for 'Album of the Year'.

Amnesiac was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and songs from the album were featured in the live record, entitled I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings.

In 2003, Nigel Godrich and Darrell Thorp won the Grammy award for 'Best Engineered Album' for their work on Hail to the Thief. The album was also nominated for 'Best Alternative Album'.

In 2007, Radiohead broke boundaries in the music industry by offering their seventh album In Rainbows for a download system in which the buyer decides how much they want to pay for the album. The digital release was later followed by a vinyl edition, which featured a bonus CD of the recording sessions as well as a book of artwork.

In 2008, Jonny Greenwood composed the score for the soundtrack to the blockbuster film There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day Lewis.