When asked about the best or greatest rock music artists of all time there might come names like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, Dave Grohl, David Gilmour, and more. However, there will also come the name of English musician Thom Yorke.
Yorke is one of the most popular music artists of all time and the main singer or vocalist of the famous rock band Radiohead. He is also listed as one of the most influential singers of his time by Rolling Stone. He not only worked in a band but he also has a very successful solo music artist.
His songs have been listed on Billboard and his album Anima was even nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards. We all know how versatile of a musician he is. And as a fan of Thom Yorke, we ask various questions about him and one of the most asked questions about him is what is Yorke’s favorite Radiohead song? and this is what we will be discussing in this piece.
Thom Yorke’s favorite Radiohead song
Radiohead has many albums and they have sold over 30 million albums globally. And since they have many albums, they also have released many songs. So what is Yorke’s favorite song from the band? does he even have a favorite song from the band?
Well, he does and we are going to discuss his favorite song. Certainly, he could have mentioned any of the band’s songs as they are all great however, he mentioned a particular name when he was asked about his favorite song from the band.
In an interview with The Culture Show, he was asked what one specific thing he wants to be remembered for to which he answered, “How To Disappear Completely from 2000’s Kid A.” The interviewer then asked Yorke why he loves this song then he said, “Because it’s the most beautiful thing we ever did, I think.”
Yorke has also talked about how he was inspired to write this song when he talked to the lead singer of R.E.M. Michael Stipe. He explained, “That song is about the whole period of time that OK Computer was happening. We did the Glastonbury Festival and this thing in Ireland. Something snapped in me. I just said, ‘That’s it. I can’t take it anymore.’ And more than a year later, we were still on the road. I hadn’t had time to address things. The lyrics came from something Michael Stipe said to me. I rang him and said, ‘I cannot cope with this.’ And he said, ‘Pull the shutters down and keep saying, ‘I’m not here, this is not happening.”
He further explained, “I dreamt I was floating down the Liffey and there was nothing I could do. I was flying around Dublin and I really was in the Dream. The whole song is my experiences of really floating.” Yorke also thinks that the guitarist of the band Jonny did a really great job, he said, “We didn’t care how it could be seen as pretentious or anything. It just sounds glorious. What Jonny did to it is amazing.”
A fun fact about this song is that it was titled after, How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, a 1985 book by Doug Richmond. Furthermore, this song was also listed as one of Radiohead’s best or top 10 songs by the fans.
Thom Yorke’s music career and net worth
As mentioned Yorke is a musical genius who has also been voted one of the greatest singers of all time. He is the main singer and songwriter of Radiohead. Yorke formed the band in 1985 along with his classmates while he was in Abingdon School. However, they were called “On A Friday” back then. It was only after they signed to Parlophone in 1991 that they changed their band name and started calling themselves Radiohead.
Moreover, Radiohead became an instant hit with their debut single Creep. However, Yorke also admits that after being successful his ego also grows high. They went on several tours and after the tours the co-producer of the album Pablo Honey, Paul Q Kolderie noticed that Yorke’s writing ability improved very much.
This is why it did not take long before Radiohead came up with their second album The Bends. However, with the success of Creep, the band, and especially Yorke was in a very tight spot because of the pressure. Around two years after their second album, Radiohead came up with their third album OK Computer.
As mentioned Yorke also has a solo career that is especially focused on electronic music. The Eraser is Yorke’s debut or first album that was released back on 10 July 2006. After his solo album, many fans were worried that the band was splitting up however, Yorke stated that they were not. He said, “I’ve been in the band since we left school and never dared do anything on my own… It was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to find out what it feels like,’ you know?”
So how did the band take his solo work? well, they were really happy for him and wished him luck on his solo journey. Around eight years after he dropped his first album, in 2014 he released his second solo album Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes. Similarly, on 27 June 2019, he released his third solo album Anima.
Yorke formed a band named Atoms for Peace back in 2009 to perform the songs from his first solo album The Eraser. Talking about the band he said, “God love ’em but I’ve been playing with [Radiohead] since I was 16, and to do this was quite a trip … It felt like we’d knocked a hole in a wall, and we should just f**king go through it.”
Back in 2021, Yorke again formed a band named The Smile along with Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner from the band Sons of Kemet. However, Yorke is still a pretty active member of Radiohead and it is rumored that Radiohead is planning a world tour in 2023. Furthermore, it is also rumored that they will release a new album between 2023-2025.
