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Radiohead

Signed to label: XL Recordings
From: Oxford, Oxfordshire

Radiohead are:

  • Thom Yorke - vocals, guitar, keyboards
  • Ed O'Brien - guitar
  • Jonny Greenwood - guitar, keyboards
  • Colin Greenwood - bass
  • Phil Selway - drums

Radiohead were one of the finest indie bands of the 90s. Forming in 1986, the five-piece's first single proper, 'Creep', attracted international attention, and their debut album Pablo Honey (1993) was a commercial success. Its straightforward indie-rock formula would be twisted and matured for the follow-up, though - The Bends (1995) is widely regarded as a masterpiece.

Even that album - which spawned singles including 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)', 'High & Dry'/'Planet Telex' and 'Just' - was later surpassed in critical acclaim by OK Computer (1997). Radiohead's third album was their first to go to number one in the UK, and was voted the best album of all time by Q magazine in 2006. It was shortlisted for the 1997 Mercury Music Prize, named the number one album of the 1990s by US zine Pitchfork, and recognised as one of the greatest LPs of all time by TIME in 2006.

OK Computer's influence can be heard in a number of other acts, from Coldplay through to TV On The Radio. Cover albums featuring OK Computer songs performed in wholly different styles, such as reggae, have been released.

Since Ok Computer, all of Radiohead's long-players have reached number one in the UK album chart, even if they've not always been as universally lauded as the band's third album. Their album releases since 1997 are as follows:

Kid A (2000)
Amnesiac (2001)
Hail To The Thief (2003)
In Rainbows (2007)

The band parted company with original label Parlophone before the release of In Rainbows, which the group famously self-released as a pay-what-you-want digital download and deluxe 'discbox' package, available from their own website. They later signed with XL to release In Rainbows through traditional channels. It reached number one in the UK album chart on its first week of 'proper' release, in January 2008.

To date, Radiohead have sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Well done them.

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