Radiohead fans are buzzing at the news the band are reported to be hitting the road in 2025.
The dates and locations haven’t been released yet, and nothing’s been confirmed, but eagle eyed members of the group’s loyal army of followers across the world have put two and two together and you can read all about that here.
If the rumours are true, it’ll be the first UK tour for Radiohead in seven years, and if they head to Scotland, it’ll be something of a homecoming. As I exclusively revealed back in the 90s – frontman Thom Yorke has a close connection with the country, as he spent a period of his childhood in a Fife village.
His unlikely upbringing in Scotland first came to light when the Record caught up with the singer and the band at the height of fame in Philadelphia in 1996, before heading out with the band on their US tour.
And my initial encounter with Thom was the biggest surprise of all, as I introduced myself having met him only once before briefly and he told me: “I’m not completely, glaikit”.
Born blind, Thom revealed he couldn’t fully enjoy his days on the beach near Kirkcaldy, and had to endure a series of ground-breaking operations to save his sight.
He told me: “I was born with both eyes closed and one eye paralysed.
“I lived in Lundin Links between the age of two months and seven years old. I’d go down to the beach every day and all I remember is the incredible brightness of it all.
“My eyes were ultra-sensitive to light and I used to keep bumping into things. The doctors did a lot of things to make one eye bionic.
“I still don’t have 20/20 vision, but my right eye counteracts the fact that my left eye is very bad.”
The band – made up of Yorke as well as Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Philip Selwaywere – were electric during those 1996 tour shows and many Scots fans will be keeping their fingers crossed for Scottish tour dates to be announced soon. But an early King Tuts show saw Radiohead play, literally, to a handful people.
Thom told me: “We always have a good time in Scotland.
“We played King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut lots of times and they were always really good shows.
“We also played to our smallest crowd there – five people.”
The band previously played a raft of Scottish shows over the years including gigs at King Tut’s, The Barrowlands, SECC and as well T in the Park in Kinross.
Having first shot to fame with the iconic single Creep, taken from their 1993 debut album Pablo Honey, they broke through with the follow up 1995 album The Bends while the third album OK Computer is regarded as one of the best albums of all time.
Further albums, 2000’s Kid A, 2001’s Amnesiac, 2003’s Hail To The Thief, 2007’s In Rainbows and 2011’s The King of Limbs became gradually more and more uncompromising as the band aimed for creativity over commerciality. A ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool was released in 2016.
Radiohead’s last live performance was on August 1, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, marking the end of their A Moon Shaped Pool tour in support of their album of the same name.
Radiohead have been operating independently since parting ways with EMI/Parlophone after 2003’s Hail To The Thief. They founded Xurbia Xendless in 2007 before releasing In Rainbows in the groundbreaking ‘pay what you want’ format via their website.
That album and subsequent releases have been handled in physical formats in partnership with XL Recordings.
Last September, Colin Greenwood said: “We did some rehearsals about two months ago in London, just to play the old songs. And it was really fun, a really good time.”
And the most surprising thing I discovered about Thom Yorke? He’s as down to earth as they come, despite being one of the most famous faces on the planet….