RadioheadIt’s been fourteen long years since Radiohead last toured Australia, but according to guitarist and backing vocalist Ed O’Brien, the wait could finally be coming to an end.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, O’Brien admitted that Radiohead don’t have plans to tour this year, but he says they’ll return to the road in 2027. And they plan to visit different continents—including Asia/Oceania.
Discussing his forthcoming solo album, Blue Morpho, the follow-up to 2020’s Earth, the musician also stated that Radiohead will “definitely” play more shows in 2027, following a run of successful comeback gigs in Europe and the UK last year.
“It’s definitely happening,” O’Brien said after being asked if Radiohead were planning more shows. “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 a year. No more, no less.”
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Adding that Radiohead “won’t do anything this year, but we’ll do something next year,” O’Brien told Rolling Stone that the band plans to visit North America, South America, and Asia/Oceania.
He continued, “We want to give absolutely everything each night,” and that’s the driving motivator behind playing 20 shows a year. “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.”
Also in the interview, O’Brien admitted that he was “done with Radiohead” following their 2018 tour in support of their 2016 record, A Moon Shaped Pool. “The others said they wanted to tour,” he shared. “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.”
O’Brien added that the band’s lengthy hiatus from touring – 2018 to 2025 – as well as his solo work and his later return to the stage, renewed his passion for performing with Radiohead. He previously indicated that the band felt “disconnected” during the A Moon Shaped Pool tour.
Upon announcing last year’s shows, drummer Philip Selway revealed, “Last year [in 2024], we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it. After a seven-year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us.
“It also made us want to play some shows together, so we hope you can make it to one of the upcoming dates. For now, it will just be these ones, but who knows where this will all lead.”
Radiohead last toured Australia in 2012 – in support of their 2011 album, The King Of Limbs – and singer and multi-instrumentalist Thom Yorke visited Australia for a solo tour in 2024, which saw him debut material from a new collaborative album with Mark Pritchard. Check out The Music’s review of Yorke’s show at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl here.
