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Radiohead music biography continued...

who formed Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, a boys-only public school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. The band, which originally performed by the name On A Friday consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, electronics), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesisers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion) Following a chance meeting between Colin Greenwood and an EMI representative at the record shop where Greenwood worked, the band signed a six-album recording contract with the label in late 1991. At the request of EMI, the band changed their name to Radiohead, inspired by the title of a song on Talking Heads' True Stories album. Their 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, suggested their potential, as one of its songs, "Creep," became an unexpected international hit and an alternative rock anthem. Skeptics called Radiohead a one-hit wonder, but the group's second album, The Bends, was released to terrific reviews in the band's native Britain in early 1995, helping build a more solid fan base.



Radiohead's popularity peaked with OK Computer (1997), Kid (2000) and Amnesiac (2001). The latter two releases marked a change in Radiohead's musical style as they adopted a more electronic and jazz-oriented sound. Hail to the Thief (2003), Radiohead's sixth album, blended styles from throughout the band's career, mixing guitar-driven rock, electronic influences and contemporary lyrics. Radiohead subsequently left their record label, EMI, and released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), through their own website as a digital download, giving customers the option to choose what they wanted to pay for it. Explaining the reasons behind the album's delivery and pricing program, Jonny Greenwood said, "It was an experiment that felt worth trying...[and] it's fun to make people stop for a few seconds and think about what music is worth." Yorke described the album as Radiohead's attempt to "describe...as coherently and conclusively as possible, what moves us." Clearly, it moved Radiohead's fans as well.