Thom Yorke of Radiohead
The United Nations had an interloper in their midst last week at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, posing as a journalist, scored a press pass and straight-on crashed the gathering of world leaders who were there to address climate change and global warming. Yorke then blogged about what went on behind those closed doors to bring the rest of us up to speed. The British singer and ardent environmentalist, known for his strong views on such issues, felt compelled to make the trek to Denmark to sit in on the talks in order to help him lift the curtain on the negotiations between what he calls “a lot of uptight, middle-aged men.”
Thom Yorke has some clout in matters concerning the environment. He served as spokesperson for the Big Ask campaign by Friends of the Earth, a grassroots international network of environmental organizations, that saw a law passed last year requiring the UK to cut emissions of carbon dioxide gas by 90% by the year 2050. Yorke has also protested the UK’s green deficient nuclear power stations and recently performed at the premiere of the global warming docudrama, The Age of Stupid, not in person but via Skype, as a show of his commitment to curbing his own carbon footprint, a cause that will no doubt impact any future touring plans of his band, Radiohead. Yorke considers the music industry’s use of air transport “dangerous and unsustainable” and says that he would consider forgoing a tour entirely if new carbon emissions standards do not force the situation to improve. For their 2008 tour, Radiohead used a new low-energy LED lighting system and pushed for festivals to offer reusable plastics.
As lead singer, songwriter, rhythm guitarist and pianist for Radiohead, Yorke is considered one of the most influential figures in the music industry. He created Radiohead with fellow classmates Ed O’Brien (guitar), Phil Selway (drums), and brothers Colin and Jonny Greenwood (bass and lead guitar respectively) way back in 1985 while they were attending an all-boys public school in Oxfordshire, England.
Radiohead’s first single, “Creep,” became a worldwide hit in 1993 when it was released on the band’s debut album, Pablo Honey. The group built on their success with each subsequent album and gained international fame with their third record, OK Computer, which was released in 1997. OK Computer is considered by critics and fans alike to be one of the greatest albums ever recorded.
Following the release of Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), Radiohead put out Hail to the Thief in 2003. Although Yorke denies Thief’s political agenda, he admits that his songwriting on the album was inspired by current events. With the release of Thief, Radiohead’s contractual obligations to EMI were fulfilled and the band became rock’s most coveted free agents. No more deadlines. No more tour dates. Band members went home to their families, and Radiohead stagnated.
Yorke says of that time that he fell into a depression and began wrestling with the self-doubt that accompanies lost momentum. After releasing a solo album in 2006, Yorke rallied the band and Radiohead released In Rainbows as a digital download in 2007 for which customers set their own price. The album was physically released in December 2007 in the UK and in January 2008 in the States. In Rainbows won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 2009 and earned the band their third nomination for Album of the Year.
So here were are, the Copenhagen conference having gone down in the annals of history as a failure and just who is going to save the planet now? I’m in Thom Yorke’s corner. After all, this crusty, diminutive, activist rockstar is a man on a mission. Anyone who has the chutzpah to turn down a request from England’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss climate changes because he (Yorke) considers Blair environmentally incompetent; anyone who inspires the masses to action, getting them to demand change from their leaders the way Yorke did with the Big Ask campaign; and anyone ballsy enough to crash a fusty meeting of world dignitaries in the name of providing a better world for his children and mine is someone whose carbon footprint I may want to follow.
The recent Copenhagen conference will no doubt provide plenty of material for the band who are headed back into the studio in January. A new Radiohead album is expected to drop in 2010.
