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Birth date.
Singer/Songwriter and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke is born. Born with a paralyzed left eye, he underwent five eye operations by age six, with the last surgery being botched leading to yorke's drooping eyelid. -
Yorke gets his first guitar.
An Important first step in his musical development, as guitar is Yorke's main instrument. -
Yorke and his family settle in oxfordshire.
This eventually leads to Yorke attending the boys' public school Abingdon where he meets the rest of radiohead. -
On a Friday forms
Yorke recruited a few friends to form the band "On a Friday", which would later become Radiohead. -
Period: to
On a Friday Period
during this time period what would become Radiohead was known as "On a Friday", named after the day they were aloud to practice; they performed at various parties around the oxford area. after graduating high school they all went to collage, forcing the band to go on a hiatus,only practicing during breaks; they would return after collage. In 1991 On a Friday got signed to parlophone (now known as EMI) with a 6 album deal and changed their name to "Radiohead"; referring to a talking heads song. -
Yorke graduates school/car crash
At this time Yorke graduated the English equivalent of high school with his fellow band members following. After graduation Yorke took a gap year, holding several jobs and getting in a car accident, which would prove to be a very influential in both his life and his song lyrics. after the gap year yorke would go on to study english and fine arts at the university of exeter. -
Yorke meets future wife
while in the Exeter Yorke spent time playing with the band headless chickens, performing future Radiohead material. It is here that he met Rachel Owen, his future wife. He also met Stanley Donwood, Radiohead's artist, responsible for all album art past their first album. Donwood is considered to be a 6th band member. -
Period: to
Radiohead alt rock period.
During the early days of the band, Radiohead's discography was their own take on the alt rick genre; a heavy emphasis was put on the guitar, altho, there was a hint of the electronic aspects of their music that would show later. most songs in this era focused on anti corporation issues. -
Pablo honey
Radiohead's first album, the alternative rock hit "Pablo Honey" had a positive reception from critics and fans alike. The album contained the popular single "creep", which the band would grow to hate due to their inability to step out from under it's shadow for some time; they were known as "the band that did creep". Pablo honey was popular, but was only a shadow of what the band's sound would develop into later, and it did not say much politically. -
The bends
Radiohead's second album, the bends showed a more developed sound featuring acoustic elements, more layered and advanced instrumentation and overall slower songs. while the instrumentation of the band evolved so did the lyricism; with a focus on retrospection and topics including anti corporatism (what would become a recurring theme for the band). -
ok computer
One of Radiohead's most important albums, ok computer further evolved the band's sound by mixing rock elements and electronic elements in a way that hadn't been done before. The lyrics were harshly critical of global capitalism, bringing the listener into a dystopian future of corporate dominance, robotic work, and paranoia. tho this album broke the band away from their hated creep stigma that had followed them since the release of pablo honey, it also gave yorke new anxieties about fame. -
Period: to
Radiohead electronic period
during this 7 year period Radiohead's music guitars frequently took a back seat in favor of more electronic elements. while the lyrics were largely introspective, there was also soem criticism of an overbearing media and corperations present. -
kid a
A massive departure from radiohead's typical alt rock ventures, this album was a big risk that ended up paying off big time. where as ok computer was rock mixed with electronic aspects this album had a much bigger focus on the elctronic part, and on experimentation. songs like idioteque that feature a ton of sampling, looping and distortion were like nothing heard before. Some jazz sounds were even used in certain parts of the album. While the lyrics main politcal focus was on global warming -
Amnesiac
Amnesiac was largely a continuation of kid a, as it was taken from the same recording session. meaning it features many of the same staples and lyrics. tho this album also made commentary on the negative aspects of media in the life of celebrities. Altho this album is kid a leftovers, it does differentiate itself in it's pacing and atmosphere. -
Yorke and Owens marry
in 2003, Thom Yorke and Rachel Owens would get married in a private ceremony. Tho because of the private ceremony, not much is known about the marriage, but it would obviously have an effect on yorke's lyrics. the 2 would go on to have 2 children before their eventual separation. -
Period: to
Yorke and owens marriage
during this time the couple was in marriage. this would undoubtedly have an effect on Yorke's lyricism. -
hail to the thief
This album marked the end of radiohead's electronic period as well as the end of their contract with EMI, after this they were free to do as they like. The album wasn't quite as electronically based as kid a or amnesiac, featuring more bends like guitars than those, but it could definitely still be called electronic. This was very explicit in it's political ventures, a rare thing for Radiohead; the album was explicitly anti bush. -
The Eraser/launch of solo career
Thom Yorke's first solo album and the beginning of Yorke's solo career, the Eraser features a heavy emphasis on electronic elements such as looping. Lyrically, the album focuses on themes of global warming, military suspicion, and especially censorship and the hiding of information or flaws (hence the title). unlike with much of Radiohea's discography, this album is very direct about it's political statements, it's much more of a look at just yorke's thoughts. -
Period: to
Radiohead current period
Continuing on previous trends, this period saw more evolution and change in radiohead's sound and lyricism. The songs on these albums are largely very "soft" with yorke leaning hard into his falsetto as well as frequently layering vocals. softer instruments like strings and piano's are frequently used and sometimes there is even an orchestral element. The lyrics of this period have seen a trend of being very personal for yorke, altho some political commentary is still offered in certain songs -
In rainbows
This was their first album off of EMI's contract. with this new freedom, they tried something new, the album was released in a pay what you want format on their website as a way to test that distribution methods viability. This payment method was chosen because of the bands dislike of big streaming platforms like spotify, because spotify's payment model short changes smaller artists. This test was very successful with Radiohead still good money, showing smaller artists this format can work. -
The king of limbs
This album is an outlier among radiohead's discography; it is comparable in sound to a Yorke solo album, and lyrics take a back seat for the electronic rythems of the album. despite this the album still did well with critics and fans. -
Yorke and Owens divorce.
after 23 years as a couple, the 2 went their separate ways. -
A moon shaped pool
Radiohead's most recent album, a moon shaped pool featured grand dramatic orchestras and choirs, as well as a lot of strings and piano. the album retained the electronic elements of previous albums, but in more subtle ways. while the lyrics would largely focus on Yorke's the separated partner rachel owen's battle with cancer and eventual death, there were also some clear critiques on modern culture found in songs like "burn the witch". -
The death of rachel owens
On the 18th of December, 2016 Yorke's partner of 23 years would lose her battle with cancer. Despite Yorke and Owens having separated, this would show to greatly effect Yorke, and influence much of his lyrics. The 2016 album "A moon shaped pool" was focused on her battle wit cancer and eventual death, and the 2017 remaster of "ok computer" was dedicated to her life.
