Radiohead

Though they began as little more than a cult phenomenon, Radiohead eventually picked up enough steam to become one of the most adventurous and rapturously received bands of the '90s and 2000s. They started out in 1985 under the name On a Friday, when singer Thom Yorke, guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien, bassist Colin Greenwood (Jonny's brother), and drummer Phil Selway were teens attending Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, England. By the late '80s the band wound down but they began anew in 1991, and soon scored a deal with EMI and changed their name to Radiohead. Their first release was the 1992 EP Drill, which went nowhere. Later that year came the band's first single, "Creep," which initially did little business. But by the time Radiohead's debut LP, Pablo Honey, came out in '93 and "Creep" was rereleased, the song became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Though their initial sound was relatively straightforward alt rock, things began to open up a little bit on 1995's The Bends, which reached No. 4 in the U.K. The band's evolution became markedly more rapid on 1997's OK Computer, an album full of ambitious art rock that was hailed as a breakthrough and made a huge international impact. Radiohead progressed even further on 2000's Kid A, a wildly inventive record incorporating electronics and embracing a more abstract, experimental approach than ever. The album reached No. 1 in the U.S. and the U.K., solidifying the band's status as a sort of Pink Floyd for the new millennium. Even after achieving superstardom, Radiohead continued to push the sonic envelope with 2001's Amnesiac and 2003's Hail to the Thief. After their contract with EMI ended, the band decided to innovate in business practices as well. Their next album, 2003's In Rainbows, broke new ground as the first album by a major artist to be released online as a pay-what-you-wish offering, while physical copies were handled more conventionally by indie label XL. Radiohead remained in the indie realm with 2011's The King of Limbs and the 2017 LP A Moon Shaped Pool, but still managed to hit the upper rungs of the album charts.