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Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Colin Greenwood (bass), Phil Selway (drums, percussion, backing vocals) and Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals). Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992. It became a worldwide hit after the release of the band's debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Their popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to international fame; featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK Computer is often acclaimed as one of the landmark records of the 1990s and one of the best albums of all time.

Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked a dramatic evolution in Radiohead's musical style, as they incorporated experimental electronic music, krautrock and jazz influences. Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of piano and guitar rock, electronics, and lyrics inspired by war, was the band's final album for their record label, EMI. Radiohead self-released their seventh album In Rainbows (2007) as a digital download for which customers could set their own price, to critical and chart success. Their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), was an exploration of rhythm and quieter textures, and was also self-released.

Radiohead have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their work places highly in both listener polls and critics' lists of the best music of the 1990s and 2000s. In 2011, Radiohead were ranked the third best British artists of all time by Paste, below only the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In 2005, they were ranked 73rd in Rolling Stone's list of "The Greatest Artists of All Time"; Jonny Greenwood (48th) and O'Brien were both included in Rolling Stone '​s list of greatest guitarists, and Yorke (66th) in their list of greatest singers. In 2009, Rolling Stone readers voted the group the second best artist of the 2000s.

Among Radiohead members' earliest influences were Queen, Pink Floyd and Elvis Costello; post-punk acts such as Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Magazine; and significantly 1980s alternative rock bands such as R.E.M., Pixies, the Smiths and Sonic Youth. By the mid-1990s, Radiohead began to adopt some recording methods from hip hop, inspired by the sampling work of DJ Shadow. They also became interested in using computers to generate sounds. Other influences on the group were Miles Davis and Ennio Morricone, along with 1960s rock groups, such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys, and Phil Spector's "wall of sound" productions for girl groups. Jonny Greenwood also cited composer Krzysztof Penderecki as an inspiration on the sound of OK Computer. The electronic music of Kid A and Amnesiac was inspired by Thom Yorke's admiration for glitch, ambient techno and IDM as exemplified by Warp Records artists such as Autechre and Aphex Twin, and the album also sampled from early computer music. The jazz of Charles Mingus, Alice Coltrane, and Miles Davis, and 1970s krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!, were other major influences during this period. Jonny Greenwood's interest in 20th century classical music also had a role, as the influence of both Penderecki and composer Olivier Messiaen was apparent; for several songs on Kid A and later albums, Greenwood has played the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument popularised by Messiaen. While working on Hail to the Thief, Radiohead put renewed emphasis on guitar rock. Since beginning to record In Rainbows, Radiohead members have mentioned a variety of rock, electronic, hip hop and experimental musicians as influences, including Björk, M.I.A, Liars, Modeselektor and Spank Rock. Since leaving their major label, the band members have been interviewed less frequently, more often posting "office charts" of their favourite songs of the moment on their blog Dead Air Space. In 2011, Yorke denied Radiohead had ever set out deliberately to change musical styles or to make "experimental music", saying the band was "constantly absorbing music" and that a variety of musicians are always influencing their work.

Since their formation, Radiohead have been lyrically and musically spearheaded by Yorke. Although Yorke is responsible for writing nearly all the lyrics, songwriting is a collaborative effort, and it has been noted in interviews that all the band members have roles in the process. As a result, all the band's songs are officially credited to "Radiohead". The Kid A/Amnesiac sessions brought about a change in Radiohead's musical style, and an even more radical change in the band's working method. Since their shift from standard rock music instrumentation toward an emphasis on electronic sound, the members have gained flexibility and now regularly switch instruments depending on the particular song requirements. On Kid A and Amnesiac, Yorke played keyboard and bass, while Jonny Greenwood often played ondes Martenot rather than guitar, bassist Colin Greenwood worked on sampling, and O'Brien and Selway branched out to drum machines and digital manipulations, also finding ways to incorporate their primary instruments, guitar and percussion, respectively, into the new sound. The relaxed 2003 recording sessions for Hail to the Thief led to a different dynamic in Radiohead, with Yorke admitting in interviews that "[his] power within the band was absolutely unbalanced and [he] would subvert everybody else's power at all costs. But ... it's actually a lot more healthy now, democracy wise, than it used to be."
Collaborators

Radiohead have maintained a close relationship with a number of frequent collaborators since early in their career. Record producer Nigel Godrich made his name with Radiohead, working with the band as an audio engineer since The Bends, and as their producer on all six studio albums since OK Computer. He has been dubbed the "sixth member" of the band in an allusion to George Martin being called the "Fifth Beatle". Graphic artist Stanley Donwood met Thom Yorke when both were art students, and with Yorke has produced all of Radiohead's album covers and visual artwork since 1994. Donwood and Yorke won a Grammy in 2002 for a special edition of Amnesiac packaged as a library book. Dilly Gent has been responsible for commissioning all Radiohead music videos since OK Computer, working with the band to find a director suitable for each project. Since the Radiohead's inception, Andi Watson has been their lighting and stage director, designing the visuals of Radiohead's live concerts, such as the carbon-neutral "LED forest" of the In Rainbows tour. The band's chief live technician, Peter Clements, or "Plank", has worked with the band since before The Bends, overseeing the setup of their instruments for studio recordings and live performances.