Tom York is a British rock musician, singer and composer, better known as the founder and frontman of the cult band Radiohead. High poetry of texts, characteristic vocals using vibrato and falsetto, as well as an ascetic lifestyle and a clear civic position made him one of the most famous and influential musicians of the English rock scene. Biography of Tom York, his work and personal life later in this article.
early years
Thomas Edward York was born on October 7, 1968 in the city of Wellingborough (UK) in the family of a nuclear physicist who works part-time as a chemical equipment seller. Thomas's mother was a housewife, as the frequent travels associated with her husband's profession did not allow her to find a permanent job.
The future musician was born with an eyeball defect: his left eye was paralyzed for six years, during which time the boy underwent five surgeries. The last of them was unsuccessful, and as a result, Thomas's left eye was almost blinded, and the eyelid just lifted above him. Until seven years old, the boy wore a black blindfold and could only dimly see a damaged eye.
During this time, due to relocations, Tom changed three primary schools and could not find friends in any of them. Classmates laughed at him from behind his eyes, the boy grew closed and felt constant loneliness. The only consolation of Tom was music, he really loved the Queen group, and in order to somehow cheer up his son, on the seventh birthday his parents gave him a guitar.
The beginning of creativity
When York was 10 years old, he became a student in a private men's school. He composed his first completed song at age 11, it was called Mushroom Cloud ("Cloud-Mushroom") and talked about a nuclear explosion. At the same time, he joined the school rock band, meeting the future line-up of Radiohead - Ed O'Brien, brothers Colin and Johnny Greenwood, and Phil Salway.
The group was called On A Friday ("Friday"), because due to the tight training schedule, young men could rehearse only on Fridays. This school collective was the first to play Tom York author's music, as, in addition to performing the functions of vocalist and guitarist, he independently composed most of the songs. Already at that time, York was distinguished from peers by musical preferences: if all his colleagues in the group listened mainly to contemporaries of The Cure, REM and The Smiths, then he himself preferred Elvis Costello and the groups of The Beatles and Queen.
After graduating from school, Tom York became a student at Exeter University, where he studied fine arts and English literature. After studying, he worked as a DJ in a nightclub, sometimes performing as a member of Headless Chickens.
Radiohead
While studying at university, Tom York maintained contact with former On A Friday band colleagues, and in 1991, when all participants graduated from their colleges and universities, it was decided to reunite and resurrect the group. The new name was chosen by the name of the song Radiohead of the American rock band Talking Heads. The first single, called Creep, released by the newly-minted group in 1992, attracted the attention of not only the public, but also critics. Entering the debut album of the group called Pablo Honey (1993), the song Creep rose to the seventh line of the British charts, despite the fact that many radio stations refused to include it on air, considering it too depressing.
To this day, Creep is the most famous song of Tom York and Radiohead, although the musician performs it very rarely and speaks negatively about the content. This was influenced by personal experiences associated with writing the composition. Given the context, the name of the song can be translated as "scared." It sings about an angelically beautiful girl and a guy who considers himself a "scary" who does not dare to approach her.
In general, the translation of Tom York’s songs of that period gives an idea of ​​his state of mind: all of Radiohead’s early work is based on the musician’s personal experiences and complexes that originated in him as a child.
The band's next major success was their third studio album, titled OK Computer, released in 1996. He was called the "epochal release" by many music publications, and the English magazine Q called the record the best music album of all time. OK Computer included Tom York's second most popular (after Creep) track, Karma Police. A live video of this song at one of the 1998 concerts is presented below.
Tom York himself was not happy with such massive success and recognition, and therefore tried to make the next album - Kid A (2000) - as unlike the previous one. Like Amnesiac (2001) and Hail to the Thief (2003), Kid A became an electronic experiment, ending the period of classical guitar rock forever in Radiohead’s repertoire. The band's latest album to date was A Moon Shaped Pool, released in 2016.
Solo work and Atom for Peace band
Despite the fact that the musician never left Radiohead, in his work there is a place for solo works, and for another musical group. The first solo album of Tom York was released in 2006 by The Eraser - a fully electronic album created without the use of live instruments.
In 2009, the musician assembled the Atoms for Peace supergroup, which, in addition to him, included the bassist of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea, drummer from REM Joey Varonker, as well as percussionist Mauro Refosco. As part of this group, Tom York recorded the Amok album, which was released in 2013 and took second place in the American hit chart Billboard 200. The second and last to date solo album of York Tomorrow's Modern Boxes was released in 2014.
Discography
Tom York's studio discography, in addition to the above two solo albums and one as part of Atoms for Peace, includes nine Radiohead albums. Below is a list of studio records of the musician:
- Pablo Honey (Radiohead, 1993).
- The Bends (Radiohead, 1995).
- OK Computer (Radiohead, 1997).
- Kid A (Radiohead, 2000).
- Amnesiac (Radiohead, 2001).
- Hail to the Thief (Radiohead, 2003).
- The Eraser (Tom York, 2006).
- In Rainbows (Radiohead, 2007).
- The King of Limbs (Radiohead, 2011).
- Amok (Atoms for Peace, 2013).
- Tomorrow's Modern Boxes (Tom York, 2014).
- A Moon Shaped Pool (Radiohead, 2016).
Other hobbies and interesting facts
For more than ten years, Tom York has been actively engaged in yoga, meditation and adheres to vegetarianism. In addition to music, he is interested in graphics, for example, all of the covers for Radiohead albums were created by him (in collaboration with artist Stanley Donwood, a friend of York at the university). Tom's circle of interests also includes computers: when he first got acquainted with the Mac during his student life, he became seriously interested in smart machines. Since then, he dreamed of creating a music album using only one computer and, as mentioned above, did this when recording his debut solo record.
A well-known fact is the fear of cars, which appeared at the musician back in 19 years - at this age he had an accident while driving. Tom himself was practically not injured, but the girl sitting next to him was badly crippled. Since then, to this day York has been experiencing a panicky fear of cars, never gets behind the wheel, and even in the passenger seat is extremely rare.
Personal life
Tom York met his first wife - artist Rachel Owen - while still at university. Their friendship soon grew into a romantic relationship, and since 1992, Tom and Rachel began to live together. In 2001, the couple had a son, Noah. In 2003, after 11 years of marriage, the lovers decided to legalize their relationship and played a wedding in Oxfordshire. A year later, their daughter Agnes was born. For an unknown reason, in 2015, Tom and Rachel, who seemed to be the perfect couple, announced their breakup. The death of Rachel from cancer one and a half years after the separation was a heavy blow for the musician. Currently, Tom York is in a relationship with Italian actress Dayana Roncione - their joint photo is presented below.
Musician quotes
Tom York owns the word not only in the lyrics of his songs, but also in real life: during speeches and interviews, he knows how to express thoughts so accurately and capaciously that individual statements turn into quotes. Here, for example, as in one of the interviews the musician spoke about himself:
I'm a crazy paranoid neurotic. And I built on this career - hurray, damn it.
And here is what York once said about the meaning of his music:
You know, I can get drunk and hang out scary in a club on a Monday night, and then some dude will come up to me who will buy me a drink and say that my last song changed his life. This means a lot, you can believe me.
In another statement, he is neglectful of his own creativity, which speaks of self-criticism and the apparent absence of star fever:
If I ever hear that people are going to burn my records, I myself will bring them everything that I have.
Often in the words of Tom York expressed his pessimism in relation to modern politics:
It seems to me that we are approaching very dangerous times. Having decided that he is at the helm, the West is trying to get comfortable, but not for the prosperity of mankind and not for good undertakings. Those who are at the helm, strictly speaking, are maniacs. And if we do not try to somehow change the situation now, these people will take our future away from us.
And this quote expresses the experiences on the basis of which many sad songs of the musician were written:
I am afraid of all women. From school. I do not think this is misogyny. Quite the contrary - this is wild fear, and it all happened because I went to school for boys, and it happened that I did not communicate with girls for 5 months or more.
It is considered that the work of Tom York is very pessimistic and depressing, and he himself is a deeply unhappy person.
It is very easy to be miserable. Being happy is harder and cooler.
With this statement, the musician informs the public: to be a person who causes pity is not his personal choice, and, of course, not a stage image created for commercial purposes.