Radiohead [ ˌ ɹ e ɪ < span title = "[d] in French" d "in" soft ", elsewhere with the language a little further back."> d i o ʊ h ɛ d ] is a gr British rock oupe, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Formed in 1985, it is composed of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar and piano), brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, various other instruments, arrangements) and Colin Greenwood (bass), Ed O'Brien (guitar and chorus), and Phil Selway (battery).
Trained in high school, the group signed with EMI in 1991, and released his first single, Creep, in 1992. This title became a worldwide success at the release of their first album, Pablo Honey (1993). The public and critical popularity of Radiohead increases significantly in the United Kingdom with their second album, The Bends (1995), to the rock sound marked by the three-guitar game. Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propels them towards international glory with new sounds, on the theme of social alienation in the modern consumerist world. OK Computer is considered as a major album of the 1990s, even of all time.
The diptych Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), recorded at the same time, marks a profound stylistic change influenced by experimental electronic music, classical music of the XX > Century, krautrock and jazz. Although having initially divided the audience, Kid A will be named best album of the decade by several critics. The sixth album, Hail to the Thief (2003) returns to a more rock sound, combined with electronic music, with lyrics inspired by the war on terror. This is the last album for the EMI label, and the band will auto-produce the following. Thus, for In Rainbows in 2007, Radiohead is the pioneer of the alternative distribution on the internet, surprising the public by proposing at first a free price. The album is acclaimed by critics, and reaches the top of charts on both sides of the Atlantic at its "physical" output. In 2011, released The King of Limbs, a rhythmic exploration using largely loops and sampling. Radiohead then added a second drummer, Clive Deamer, for his tours. The group's ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), is particularly marked by the orchestral arrangements of Jonny Greenwood.
Radiohead's influence on the world of music has been prevalent since the late 1990s. The band has sold nearly 40 million albums worldwide (not counting sales from its own alternative distribution), and its work enjoys a positive esteem both from the public and the critics. Six of their albums get the first place in the UK market. In 2009, readers of Rolling Stone magazine voted Radiohead second in its list of the best artists of the 2000s. The group is introduced to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its second year of eligibility, in March 2019.
