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The Evening Show with Dan O'Connell 7pm - 10pm
8 October 2023, 13:00
What happened to Thom Yorke’s eye? Who was Thom Yorke’s partner? What’s the name of that soundtrack he did? All of this and more will be revealed…
When he was born, Thom's left eye was discovered to be paralysed. He had five operations on it before he was six years old and the last one left him with a drooping eyelid.
Thom Yorke was born on 7 October 1968 in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
Thom was with his partner Dr. Rachel Owen for 23 years. They had two children: Noah, born in 2001 and Agnes, born in 2004. The pair separated amicably, with Yorke saying: "It's perfectly amicable and has been common knowledge for some time." Sadly, Owen passed away on 18 December 2016, after losing her battle with cancer. Since 2017, Yorke dated Italian actress Dajana Roncione and the pair married in September 2020.
Radiohead were originally called On A Friday. When they signed to the Parlophone label in 1991, they were persuaded to change their name.
The name Radiohead is taken from a Talking Heads song, included on their 1986 album True Stories: "Transmitter! Oh! / Picking up something good / Hey, radio head! / The sound...Of a brand-new world."
Thom didn't move to Oxford until he was ten years old.
Thom's father was a nuclear physicist and moved around the country depending on his work.
Between the end of school and the start of Radiohead, Thom occasionally DJed and was a member of the band Headless Chickens. They released a track called I Don't Want To Go To Woodstock on an EP released by Exeter label Hometown Atrocities in the summer of 1989.
He met the future members of Radiohead - Colin and Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway - at the Abingdon public school in Oxford.
Thom's first solo album was The Eraser, released in July 2006. The second, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, was released in September 2014.
Thom Yorke – The Eraser, The Eraser, 2006 [HD]
Thom performed guest vocals on PJ Harvey's song This Mess We're In, which was included on the album Stories From The City Stories From The Sea in 2000.
PJ Harvey feat. Thom Yorke - This Mess We're In
Thom also appears on Bjork's Selmasongs album, which was released in 2000. He sings on the track I've Seen It All.
Björk ft. Thom Yorke - I've seen it all
Thom's side project Atoms For Peace features Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and R.E.M. drummer Joey Waronker.
Atoms For Peace - Ingenue
Yorke covered Roxy Music songs for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack back in 1998, but his latest cinematic outing is for the 2018 remake of the classic horror movie Suspiria.
Thom Yorke - Has Ended