Thom Yorke (born October 7, 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of Radiohead. His work combines rock, electronic music, experimental production, and art-pop, while his distinctive high tenor and restless approach to songwriting have made him one of the most influential figures in modern alternative music.
Yorke met future Radiohead members Ed O'Brien and Colin Greenwood while attending Abingdon School in Oxfordshire. The group that became Radiohead began as On a Friday in the mid-1980s, later adding Phil Selway and Jonny Greenwood. After signing with Parlophone, the band released its debut album, Pablo Honey, in 1993. The single "Creep" became an international hit, but its success initially threatened to define the band too narrowly. Yorke and his bandmates responded by moving toward more complex arrangements and darker subject matter.
Radiohead's second album, The Bends (1995), established Yorke as a major songwriter and showed the band expanding beyond straightforward alternative rock. Songs such as "Fake Plastic Trees," "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," and "High and Dry" combined emotional directness with increasingly ambitious production. The band's status changed decisively with OK Computer (1997), an album shaped by themes of technological anxiety, alienation, and modern social life. Yorke's tense, vulnerable vocals became central to the record's impact, while tracks including "Paranoid Android," "Karma Police," and "No Surprises" broadened Radiohead's audience without sacrificing its experimental character.
With Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), Yorke moved further into electronic music, fragmented vocals, unconventional rhythms, and studio-based composition. The change divided listeners at first but ultimately confirmed Radiohead's reputation as a band unwilling to repeat its previous successes. Later albums, including Hail to the Thief (2003), In Rainbows (2007), The King of Limbs (2011), and A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), continued to balance guitar music with electronic textures, orchestration, and unusual song structures.
Yorke's first solo album, The Eraser, appeared in 2006. Produced by Nigel Godrich, it focused on programmed rhythms, synthesizers, and spare vocal arrangements. He later formed Atoms for Peace with Godrich, Flea, Joey Waronker, and Mauro Refosco. The group's album Amok was released in 2013. Yorke's subsequent solo records, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes (2014) and Anima (2019), continued his interest in electronic composition. The latter was accompanied by a visual film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, creating a close connection between Yorke's music, movement, and surreal imagery.
Yorke has also composed music for film, including Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria (2018) and Daniele Luchetti's Confidenza (2024). In 2021, he joined Jonny Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner to form The Smile, whose albums A Light for Attracting Attention, Wall of Eyes, and Cutouts explore improvisation, art rock, and electronic experimentation. In 2025, Yorke collaborated with Mark Pritchard on Tall Tales, extending his career-long interest in combining intimate songwriting with atmospheric electronic sound. Throughout his career, Yorke has treated the music video and visual performance as integral parts of his art rather than simple promotion, helping make Radiohead and his related projects important reference points for both music and visual culture.