ACL Artist Spotlight: Radiohead

For most of us, Radiohead has been redefining the music industry since before we were born. Rightly so, considering their debut single is one of the most well known songs of all time. This year, they will headline at ACL, becoming one of the most anticipated acts of the entire festival. 

The Abingdon-native band first got together in 1985, as school friends who enjoyed spending time in the basement music room.The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals), John Greenwood (lead guitar), Ed O’Brien (guitar) ,Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums).

Their first name was On A Friday, a reference to their original rehearsal schedule, and they played some gigs throughout their school until it was time to graduate and go to college, when they all went their separate ways to get their degrees and only played together during holiday breaks. It wasn’t until 1993 that we were graced with the revolutionary tracks of “Pablo Honey.”

After the initial shock that was the release of “Creep” and the other songs off the album, such as “Anyone Can Play Guitar” and “Pop Is Dead”, Radiohead began to really create a scene in the 1980’s punk movement of the United States. Despite feeling uneasy with the fame that came from “Creep”, they toured extensively and worked to release a new EP “My Iron Lung” that they felt showed the in-depth feeling they were trying to create.

In March of 1995 their second album debuted, “The Bends”, which followed by a small reaction until later, when the album started appearing on lists and polls of the best album of the year. Following a tour with Alanis Morrisette, they began to record their third album, except this one was recorded in an old home the band lived in. “OK Computer” came out in 1997 and was their first shift unto a more rock sound, comparing them to Pink Floyd and making them some of the new bands unto the progressive rock scene.

“OK Computer” garnered them worldwide acclaim and gave them a nomination for Album of the Year at that year’s Grammy’s. Following a tour, however, the band went into a hiatus that lasted for two years until 2000. This was mostly in part because of the new direction they wanted to take, one that was shown with their fourth studio album “Kid A”. The album won Best Alternative Album at the Grammy’s and was again nominated for Album of The Year. Immediately after they began work on their 2001 album “Amnesiac”, which topped the UK Album chart and reached number two in the U.S.

Their sixth studio album, “Hail To The Chief”,  was released in 2003 and was certified Platinum in both the U.K. and the U.S. After the release of the album, the band finished their contract with EMI and became one of the most successful unsigned bands. This was followed by another hiatus where all of the members focused either on solo projects or their families, which eventually ended to create one of their biggest successes to date: the release of “In Rainbows”. The album was released through the band’s website was the first of the pay-what-you-want releases. This sparked a debate and conversations around the world over what this meant for the music industry, as the album sold more than three million albums in one year. At the end of 2012, as their tour was under way, a stage collapse in Toronto caused one of Radiohead’s drum technician to die, and it injured several other people; This effectively made them go on another hiatus after the end of their tour.

For more than four years, not a lot was heard from Radiohead, as they  focused on solo projects, such as Yorke’s Atoms For Peace.It wasn’t until March 2016 that we have gotten their nine studio album, “A Moon Shaped Pool”. This has again debuted in the U.K. at number one and is part of the reason why they will rock the main stage at Austin City Limits this weekend and next weekend. They will take the stage for two hours on Friday night, Sept. 30, and next Friday night, October 7. They are listed first on the lineup poster, showing how their influence has been one of the most impactful of the music industry to date while showing, once again, how great they can really be.

If you want to buy tickets for ACL link here : http://www.aclfestival.com/tickets/

By Irina Alejandro