{"id":548789,"date":"2026-03-20T10:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T10:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548789\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T10:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T10:25:11","slug":"ed-obrien-admits-he-was-happy-when-radiohead-initially-broke-up-and-didnt-expect-the-band-to-ever-get-back-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548789\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed O\u2019Brien admits he was happy when Radiohead initially broke up \u2013 and didn\u2019t expect the band to ever get back together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radiohead<\/a>\u2019s return to the stage in 2025 marked the end of a seven-year hiatus \u2013 one that guitarist Ed O\u2019Brien<\/a> initially believed was permanent, and was, at the time, happy about.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone<\/a>, O\u2019Brien looks back on the period following Radiohead\u2019s 2018 tour, noting how he\u2019d felt creatively and emotionally spent after decades in the band.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was done with Radiohead,\u201d he says. \u201cIt had got to a place where I just wasn\u2019t enjoying it. I just didn\u2019t resonate with it anymore, and I wanted to do my own thing\u2026 I think we\u2019d run out of road. We\u2019d run out of inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sense of burnout had been building for a while. The sessions for Radiohead\u2019s 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool were reportedly difficult, as was the tour that followed. While the rest of the band were keen to get back on the road, O\u2019Brien admits he was reluctant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe others said they wanted to tour. I didn\u2019t really want to tour, and they knew that,\u201d the guitarist explains. \u201cBut I did it and I\u2019m glad I did. I saw it through to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

When that run finally came to a close, the band had stepped away \u2013 a move that, for O\u2019Brien, felt both final and, in some ways, welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kind of scary at first,\u201d he says. \u201cI really thought that was it on Radiohead. Actually, I sort of got off on that. I was just, \u2018I\u2019m done with it. I want another life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully for Radiohead fans, that feeling didn\u2019t last forever. The band eventually regrouped, returning to the stage in 2025 for a limited run of shows across Europe, including Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen and Berlin.<\/p>\n

For O\u2019Brien, being back onstage with the band has brought a new perspective: \u201cThat tour was very, very emotional, very profound. We all felt that. We\u2019d look at one another on that stage, like, \u2018This is amazing.\u2019 I feel like I\u2019m the luckiest person on the planet, and I\u2019m not just saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Radiohead are taking a more measured approach to touring. Rather than jumping straight back into a full schedule, the band intends to spread things out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely happening,\u201d O\u2019Brien says of future live plans. \u201cWhat we\u2019re going to do is, every year we\u2019re going to do a different continent, and we\u2019re going to do 20 shows each year. No more, no less.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also confirms that 2026 will be a quiet year for the band, with plans to reconvene the following year: \u201cWe won\u2019t do anything this year, but we\u2019ll do something next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The approach, he adds, is about making sure they can still give each show their full energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to give absolutely everything each night,\u201d says O\u2019Brien. We do not ever want it to be like we\u2019re going through the motions or we\u2019re having to run on empty. We\u2019ve got to be able to do it. And you know what? We\u2019re not spring chickens anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Radiohead\u2019s return to the stage in 2025 marked the end of a seven-year hiatus \u2013 one that guitarist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1896,49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-548789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-artist","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}