Radiohead preparing grand world tour — 20 shows each year, with a different continent each year

But 2026 will be a quiet one

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 21: Musician Thom Yorke, founding member of Radiohead, performs onstage with The Smile during the "Light for Attracting Attention Tour" at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on December 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Scott Dudelson via Getty Images)

Missed out on your recent chance to see Radiohead play in London? The alternative superstars will be back — but you’ll have to be patient to see them.

Guitarist Ed O’Brien has revealed the band are planning a major touring schedule that will kick off in 2027.

“It’s definitely happening,” he told Rolling Stone.

“What we’re going to do is, every year we’re going to do a different continent, and we’re going to do 20 shows each year. No more, no less.”

Those hoping to catch them in 2026 however are set to be, ahem, let down, however.

“We won’t do anything this year, but we’ll do something next year,” O’Brien reiterated.

“We want to give absolutely everything each night.

“We do not ever want it to be like we’re going through the motions or we’re having to run on empty. We’ve got to be able to do it. And you know what? We’re not spring chickens anymore.”

Exit music

To hear O’Brien explain it however, it seems we’re very lucky to have Radiohead back at all — he, at the very least, was for a period disillusioned with the prospect of playing live again.

“It had got to a place where I just wasn’t enjoying it. I just didn’t resonate with it anymore, and I wanted to do my own thing… I think we’d run out of road. We’d run out of inspiration.

“The others said they wanted to tour. I didn’t really want to tour, and they knew that. But I did it and I’m glad I did. I saw it through to the end.”

“The chemistry was there from the very beginning,” he added. “I think we always knew that if we got the love between us right, then it all flows from there.”

Radiohead returned to the stage at last Autumn, and played four nights at London’s O2 Arena, as well as a string of dates across Europe. According to O’Brien then, it seems any forthcoming tour will be far more expansive.


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Gerald Lynch
Editor-in-Chief

Gerald Lynch is the Editor-in-Chief of Shortlist, keeping careful watch over the site's editorial output and social channels. He's happiest in the front row of a gig for a band you've never heard of, watching 35mm cinema re-runs of classic sci-fi flicks, or propping up a bar with an old fashioned in one hand and a Game Boy in the other.

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