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Thomas Edward Yorke (born October 7, 1968 in
Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England) is the
lead singer and songwriter of the United
Kingdom|UK band Radiohead. He plays guitar and
piano. He currently lives in Oxford with his
long-term partner, Rachel, and their two children,
Noah (to whom Amnesiac was dedicated) and Agnes.

==Biography==
Born with a paralyzed left eye, Yorke spent most
of his first five years undergoing operations
which left him with impaired vision and his
trademark lazy eye. Classmates often taunted him
with the nickname "Salamander." After seeing Queen
(band)|Queen guitarist Brian May perform on
television, Yorke was inspired to become a
musician. He received his first guitar at the age
of 7 and joined his first band by the age of 10
while attending the private Abingdon School for
boys, at which he was to meet his future Radiohead
bandmates in 1987 (Ed O'Brien and Colin
Greenwood). The line-up was completed when drummer
Phil Selway joined along with Colin's younger
brother Jonny Greenwood|Jonny. They were initially
named "On A Friday", Friday being the only day on
which they were able to play. The band continued
to practice and write new material while
bandmembers attended college and worked in various
jobs.  Yorke attended the University of Exeter and
worked as an orderly in a mental hospital. In 1990
they regrouped. The name On a Friday changed to
Radiohead at the suggestion of the bands A & R
agent after signing to EMI and was taken from the
Talking Heads album 'True Stories.'  


===Radiohead work===
While the early success of hit-single 'Creep' led
to the band being written off as a one-hit wonder,
a succession of increasingly complex albums has
led to Radiohead becoming one of the world's most
respected bands. Themes of urban-existentialism,
illness, and love dominate his lyrics. Thom uses
the pseudonym Tchock (a.k.a. Tchocky, Dr. Tchock)
when doing band artwork with Stanley Donwood.

He and R.E.M. (band)|R.E.M.'s singer Michael Stipe
are close friends, and frequently attend each
other's concerts; both are fans of each other's
music. Yorke has said that Stipe inspires many of
his songs and helped him to get out of a period of
depression after touring for OK Computer (1997)
and before releasing Kid A (2000). The song "How
to Disappear Completely" from the latter album,
was inspired by the words of Stipe, who advised
Yorke when depressed to tell to himself, "I'm not
here and this isn't happening" (this mantra
becoming the song's chorus). Stipe has in turn
noted that many Radiohead songs, such as "A Wolf
at the Door" and "There There", have inspired him
in his own songwriting.

Yorke's distinctive vocals and enigmatic persona
have made him a cult figure; he has also been
outspoken on various contemporary political and
social issues, though, in his own words, he is
"careful not to preach". Some of his songs have
political undertones, but only on 'Hail to the
Thief' - a reference that hints at the skewering
of post-9/11 politics that ensues - do the songs
become based on contemporary issues. He is
considered by many to be one of the finest
lyricists in popular music. Yorke's music is very
important to him, as evidenced by this quote: "the
track-listing is always the hardest part for me;
it is so difficult and almost painful. I can only
use the old metaphor about songs being like
children. My songs are my kids. Some of them stay
with me, some others I have to send out, out to
the war. It might sound stupid and it might even
sound naive, but that’s just the way it is. I
talked to Bjork about it and she agrees, she says
she feels exactly the same way about her songs."

===Other work===
Yorke has also garnered attention as a political
activist campaigning for causes including Fair
Trade, Anti-War movements, and Amnesty
International. He even played at the Free Tibet
concert in 1999. Thom Yorke and other Radiohead
members were heavily influenced by Elvis Costello,
R.E.M., The Fall, Queen, Tom Jones, Clinic
(band)|Clinic, PJ Harvey, Björk, Nirvana
(band)|Nirvana (in their earlier years), the
Pixies, the Talking Heads, and Joy Division
(band)|Joy Division. Besides his extensive work
with the band, Yorke also collaborates with other
musicians. He has worked with Björk, PJ Harvey,
Tom Jones, James Lavelle, Beck, U.N.K.L.E., and DJ
Shadow.

Yorke worked Jonny Greenwood in 2004 contributing
to the Band Aid 20|Do they know it's Christmas
charity single.

===Collaborations===
*Drugstore (band)|Drugstore
::"El President": Thom shared vocals with Isabel
from the band Drugstore on the band's first
single, "El President," off their album White
Magic For Lovers.
*Come Again
::"Wish You Were Here (1975 song)|Wish You Were
Here": Thom collaborated with Sparklehorse on a
cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." Thom
sang his part on the telephone from his hotel room
where you can hear his TV in the background. 
*UNKLE
::"Rabbit In Your Headlights": Thom and DJ Shadow
got together during the OK Computer tour in San
Francisco and recorded "Rabbit in Your Headlights"
for the James Lavelle project going under the name
UNKLE. The album is called Psyence Fiction. 
*Velvet Goldmine: Thom and Jonny got together with
Bernard Butler, Andy Mackay, and Paul Kimble to
form the band, The Venus in Furs. They recorded
five songs for the Michael Stipe produced movie,
Velvet Goldmine. The tracks are:
 
::"2HB"

::"LADYTRON"

::"BABY'S ON FIRE"

::"BITTER-SWEET"

::"TUMBLING DOWN"

*Björk
::Thom and Björk sang a duet called "I've Seen It
All" on Selmasongs, the soundtrack to Dancer in
the Dark.
*PJ Harvey
::Thom had a strong presence on PJ Harvey's 2000
release, Stories from the City, Stories from the
Sea. Thom did a duet with Harvey on the song "This
Mess We're In" and sang back-up on two other
songs: "One Line" and "Beautiful Feeling".

A note on genre

Genre labels being loaded as well as approximate
terms, it should be noted that the idea of
Radiohead being in the progressive rock (prog)
tradition is solely from the perspective of some
listeners.  Asked in 2001 by a journalist "what is
it about prog-rock that still appeals, despite it
being widely treated as a genre for losers and
geeks," Thom Yorke essentially concurred with the
charge rather than rebutting it:
"prog rock is sad. and krautrock is
not prog rock is more punk. queen were not prog
rock. they were camp and not serious or shite
enough. pink floyd moved too slow to be prog rock.
certain areas of electronica smell of prog
occasionally, i try not to notice. those who
thought prog rock was like jazz are deluded. i
dont know what prog rock is. never did. just
because you change time signature a couple of
times doesnt mean you is singing abou the fairies
in the woods does it? were genesis prog rock? when
peter gabriel put a flower round his head and
kicked a bass drum was that prog? i have no
connectivity with anything prog whatsoever except
maybethat last bit about the flower and the kick
drum and peter gabriel."

== External links ==

* http://www.radiohead.com/ www.radiohead.com -
The Official Site
* http://www.radioheadfaq.co.uk/ Talk in Maths: A
Not Even Remotely Official RADIOHEAD FAQ
* http://radiohead1.tripod.com/band/thomquotes.htm
A collection of Thom Yorke quotes
* http://www.greenplastic.com/
www.greenplastic.com - Highly informative fan-site
* http://www.ateaseweb.com/ www.ateaseweb.com -
Another fan site.  They tend to update the news
anytime Radiohead is mentioned anywhere
*
http://www.andrewkendall.com/pages/gallery/musicph
otography.php?band=thomyorke&viewby=recent&Submit=
Go andrewkendall.com - Photographs of Thom.

Radiohead