{"id":333829,"date":"2025-10-26T12:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T12:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/333829\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T12:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T12:39:12","slug":"i-guess-the-wheels-came-off-a-bit-so-we-had-to-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/333829\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI guess the wheels came off a bit, so we had to stop\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radiohead<\/a> have revealed they have not played live for seven years because \u201cthe wheels came off a bit\u201d in 2018, meaning they \u201chad to stop\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the start of September, the band announced their return to the stage, confirming they will play four nights each in Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen and Berlin between November 4 and December 12<\/a>, with tickets for all shows selling out very quickly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They will be the first Radiohead shows since the end of their \u2018A Moon Shaped Pool\u2019 world tour in 2018, with the 77th and final show having gone down in Philadelphia\u2019s Wells Fargo Center in August of that year. The band have also not released any new music since the album of the same name<\/a>, released in 2016.<\/p>\n

In a new interview with The Times<\/a>, they have shed light on why it has taken so long for the band to play together again. \u201cI guess the wheels came off a bit, so we had to stop,\u201d Thom Yorke<\/a> explained. \u201cThere were a lot of elements. The shows felt great but it was, like, let\u2019s halt now before we walk off this cliff.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Yorke went on to share that part of the reason was that he was still trying to come to terms with the passing of his first wife Dr. Rachel Owen at the age of 48 in December 2016<\/a>. \u201cI needed to stop anyway,\u201d Yorke told the publication. \u201cBecause I hadn\u2019t really given myself time to grieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[My grief] was coming out in ways that made me think, I need to take this away,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Explaining the role that music played during the grieving process, Yorke said: \u201cMusic can be a way to find meaning in things and the idea of having to stop it, even when it makes sense to, because you\u2019re not well? Even at my lowest point? I can\u2019t. I need something that I can hold on to. But there have been points in my life where I have looked for solace in music and played the piano, but it literally hurts. Physically. The music hurts, because you\u2019re going through trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guitarist Ed O\u2019Brien<\/a> has also spoken about the seven-year gap between Radiohead shows. \u201cI was nervous going into rehearsals because I was effectively over Radiohead [in 2018],\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t great on the last round. I enjoyed the gigs but hated the rest. We felt disconnected, fucking spent. It happens. This has been our whole life \u2013 what else is there? Look, success has a funny effect on people \u2013 I just didn\u2019t want to do it anymore. And I told them that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cI went through a very long dark night of the soul. I had a deep depression. I hit the bottom in 2021. And one of the things that was lovely coming out of it was realising how much I love these guys. I met them when I was 17 and I have gone from thinking I can\u2019t see myself doing it again to realising that, you know, we do have some stellar songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Elsewhere in the new interview, the band members each reflected on the controversies stemming from their stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict<\/a>, with Yorke saying the \u201clow-level Arthur Miller witch-hunt\u201d on the subject \u201cwakes him up at night\u201d.<\/p>\n

The band\u00a0were criticised for playing a show in Tel Aviv in 2017<\/a>, Yorke got into a clash with a protester at a solo show in Melbourne in 2024<\/a> and Jonny Greenwood has been attacked for collaborating with<\/a> and playing live with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yorke said he would \u201cabsolutely not\u201d play in Israel with the band again, but Greenwood \u201cpolitely disagreed\u201d with him, calling the backlash \u201cthe embodiment of the left\u201d, adding: \u201cThe left look for traitors, the right for converts and it\u2019s depressing that we are the closest they can get\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, meanwhile, have argued that the band\u2019s \u201ccomplicit silence\u201d and support of Israeli performers during the \u201cgenocide against Palestinians in Gaza\u201d<\/a> should lead to a boycott of their upcoming shows.<\/p>\n