Search Results for: Thom Yorke

While millions around the world spent Sunday watching the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, 7,000 fans lucky enough to score a ticket to Radiohead’s show at the Hollywood Bowl witnessed not only a band at the top of its game but also an act that at times seemed to be the best on the planet. Certainly that’s high praise, but during its two-hour set — the first of two sold-out nights at the Bowl — the quintet from Oxford, England, managed to cast a spell over the crowd without resorting to fist-pumping anthems like U2, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam… Read more »

Hail to the Thief suddenly has all kinds of new meaning. Radiohead has a burgeoning beef with Prince over the Purple One’s refusal to allow fan video recordings of his cover of the alt-rockers’ seminal 1992 hit, “Creep,” to be shown on YouTube. Radiohead’s frontman Thom Yorke tells the Associated Press that he has no problems with Prince’s label, NPG Records, taking down clips of the artist performing his own tunes because of copyright concerns. But when it comes to Prince’s version of “Creep,” Yorke says he and his mates are ticked not only because they didn’t get to see… Read more »

British rock band Radiohead scored its second No. 1 album on the U.S. pop charts on Wednesday with a release that was initially sold on the Internet under a revolutionary “name-your-own-price” system. “In Rainbows” also topped the charts in Britain, Canada, France, Japan and Ireland, a representative for the group said. The critically acclaimed album sold a relatively modest 122,000 copies during its first official week in U.S. stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ended January 6. It sold an additional 10,000 copies the week before, when some retailers put it on shelves ahead of its January… Read more »

Radiohead has hit out at the chief of its former label after a news report claimed the rock band rejected a 3 million pound ($5.95 million) advance for its new album and demanded the rights to some of its older albums. According to the report, published last Friday by The Times of London, Radiohead’s demands to EMI Group chairman Guy Hands totaled more than 10 million pounds ($19.8 million). In addition to the advance, the Times said the band also wanted a 3 million pound international marketing budget for the album, “In Rainbows,” while the reversion of the rights to… Read more »

2007 was a year of duality for music. While the industry continued to tank, it was quietly a very good year for rock ‘n’ roll and indie music. The Boss returned with his old band, the Police actually got along and even Led Zeppelin reunited. The most exciting music was busy breaking down barriers. Arcade Fire played in intimate churches; Web site TakeAwayShows.com and the film “Once” returned music to the streets; and a certain British band eliminated a very big middle man. “In Rainbows,” Radiohead: The much-ballyhooed online release of “In Rainbows” in some ways obscured what an excellent… Read more »

The British music Web site Gigwise is reporting that Radiohead has sold 1.2 million digital copies of its latest album, “In Rainbows,” since sales began on Tuesday. If true (and that might be a big “if”; see below), the number would be a blow-out, suggesting the wisdom of the band’s decision to sell its wares directly to fans without the aid of a record label. The figure dwarfs first-week sales of Radiohead’s recent studio albums. “Hail to the Thief,” released in 2003, racked up 300,000 sales in its first week; “Amnesiac” managed 231,000 copies in 2001; and “Kid A” hit… Read more »

Radiohead are more likely to release an EP, or even several EPs, before recording another full-length album. With the release of their sixth studio disc, Hail To The Thief, the band have fulfilled their contract with their record label, and now singer Thom Yorke says they’re looking forward to not having to make another album right away. He told Billboard.com, “It’s always been album, album, album…with things like iTunes and people splitting up tracks, I kind of think that’s good. I listen to music on random all the time.” Yorke stressed the need for Radiohead to “reinvent” their sound again… Read more »

Bono, the globe-trotting, conscience-tugging singer with Irish rock group U2, is the most powerful man in music, according to a poll of music industry figures. Bono, whose given name is Paul Hewson, tops a list compiled by music magazine Q. The top 10 names were released Thursday. U2, formed in Dublin more than 20 years ago, remains one of the world’s top-selling groups. Bono, 42, has also emerged as a powerful lobbyist for causes such as relieving the debt of the world’s poorest nations. Earlier this year, he traveled through Africa with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. Time magazine profiled… Read more »

Even after your favorite band has entered the studio, anxiously waiting for its next album is a lot like waiting for water to boil – the closer you watch, the longer it seems to take. But if you’re eagerly anticipating the next Radiohead disc, maybe you should hold your breath. In a May 11 Web chat on fan site ateaseweb.com, frontman Thom Yorke said the band is currently working on its next record, and making good progress. “It’ll be [ready] sooner than you think,” Yorke wrote. “We are working bloody hard on it. We are trying to be a bit… Read more »

Remember how psyched you were as a kid to build a little car or a castle out of Lego pieces? Bet you never fashioned a fully functioning punk-rock duo and a kaleidoscopic world where they could swim, ride bikes and whale on the drums, though, did you? Don’t feel bad. You probably never got that sophisticated, but pioneering director Michel Gondry did, thanks to the White Stripes. In the eye-popping video for “Fell in Love With a Girl,” a two-minute blast of O.P.P.-like fantasy, the candy-colored pair from Detroit strum, jump and sprint their way through a building-block realm that… Read more »