After seven years away from the touring spotlight, Radiohead is set to make a triumphant return to the stage this fall. The band’s long absence wasn’t just a creative hiatus but a deeply personal one, shaped by grief, burnout, and emotional reevaluation.
Frontman Thom Yorke opened up in a recent interview about the decision to step back following the band’s 2018 “A Moon Shaped Pool” tour. What seemed like a well-oiled live machine was, behind the scenes, running on empty. “The wheels came off,” Yorke admitted, explaining that despite the success of the shows, the band was teetering on the brink.
Part of that unraveling came from personal tragedy. Yorke’s wife, Dr. Rachel Owen, passed away in 2016, a loss he hadn’t properly grieved. As he put it, the unresolved grief began to bleed into every part of his life, including his music. “The music hurts,” he said, describing how even playing piano became a painful reminder rather than a comfort.
Guitarist Ed O’Brien didn’t hold back either, saying he was “effectively over Radiohead” by the end of that tour. Though he enjoyed performing, the overall experience had left him drained and disconnected. It wasn’t until hitting rock bottom in 2021 that he began to reconnect with his bandmates and rediscover what made the band meaningful to him in the first place.
Now, with a renewed sense of purpose and emotional clarity, Radiohead is returning to live performance with a 20-date run across Europe. The tour kicks off November 4 in Madrid and includes stops in Bologna, London, Copenhagen, and Berlin. Every show has already sold out.
Yet the comeback hasn’t silenced lingering controversies. The band addressed criticism surrounding their 2017 performance in Tel Aviv and other politically charged moments. Yorke described the scrutiny as a “low-level Arthur Miller witch-hunt,” while Greenwood offered a more measured view, expressing disagreement with blanket boycotts of Israeli artists.
Despite the turbulence, the return of Radiohead marks not just a revival of a beloved band but a reconciliation with the very forces that once pulled them apart. Their upcoming shows promise to be more than just concerts—they’re chapters in a long, complicated, and deeply human story.