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David Byrne inducts Radiohead into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Radiohead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Friday 29 March by David Byrne, whose Talking Heads song “Radio Head” gave them their name. Byrne said he was surprised and flattered that they took it, though he had wondered why they chose that one. That slightly goofy Tex-Mex song? Why that one?
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Radiohead were the second act of the night, and a film of their career led straight into his speech. He took the story from Radio 1 turning down “Creep” as too depressing to Kid A, the record that won him over, and on to In Rainbows, whose pay-what-you-wish release he called an act of trust in the audience. Radiohead, he said, had changed both what popular music can be and how it can be released.
Two of the five were there to hear it, and the band did not play. Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway accepted; Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Colin Greenwood stayed away. Yorke had said in January that he would miss the ceremony for the premiere of Don't Fear the Light, his piece for the pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque. The Greenwoods gave no reason, though Colin had been the one member who sounded keen, joking in 2017 that if nobody else went I’d have to play the bass part to ‘Creep’ five times.
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Selway began by joking about a line of Yorke's in the film, that Phil was the only drummer. It was particularly special to be inducted by Byrne, he said, since the band borrowed his song's name 30 years ago and he had never asked for it back. Vulture has the band's speeches. We may not be the greatest musicians around and we’re certainly not the most media-friendly of bands. But we have become very adept at being Radiohead.
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O'Brien, who said in 2017 that the Hall felt inauthentic to the band and that he would rather be at home by the fire, called it a beautifully surreal evening. He saved his biggest thanks for Thom, Colin and Jonny, his brothers of 34 years. It is a big fucking deal. I wish the others could be here because they would be feeling it.
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