Thom Yorke Won’t Attend Rock Hall Ceremony, But Hopes He Gets an Oscar Nomination

Thom Yorke will not attend this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, he revealed in an interview with Chris Willman for Variety. Yorke explained his absence: “I can’t. I know I can’t, because of these piano pieces that I’ve written. There’s the Paris Philharmonic, so I have to be there for that.” Variety noted: “The piece he wrote for Katia and Marielle Labèque premieres at Philharmonie de Paris on April 7, nine days after the Hall of Fame induction.” Pitchfork has contacted Radiohead representatives for more information and further comment.

Elsewhere in his Variety interview, Yorke said:

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame... we’ve always been very blasé about that stuff. So we don’t want to offend anyone. We just think that we just don’t quite understand it. We’ve had it explained to us, so it’s cool. But we don’t really understand it as English people. I think our problem is essentially that every awards ceremony in the UK stinks. We grew up with the BRITs, which is like this sort of drunken car crash that you don’t want to get involved with. [Chuckles.] So, yeah, we don’t really know what to make of it.

Yorke did, however, express a desire to get nominated for Best Original Song at the 2019 Oscars. (His track “Suspirium” has already made the shortlist.) Yorke stated, “I mean, I hope it gets nominated. That would be great, because it was a year and a half in my life, and I worked bloody hard on it. So, you know, sometimes it’s nice to be recognized. Sometimes, if you understand what it means.” Find the full interview at Variety.

Radiohead made the Rock Hall’s class of 2019 alongside the Cure, Janet Jackson, and more. In a statement following their “surprise” induction, a Radiohead rep said, “The band thanks the Hall of Fame voting body and extends congratulations to this year’s fellow inductees.” The ceremony takes place Friday, March 29, 2019 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Prior to being nominated for Rock Hall consideration in 2018, the band were asked how they felt about a potential induction. “I don’t care,” said Jonny Greenwood. Thom Yorke said, “It wouldn’t be the first place... don’t ask me things like that. I always put my foot in my mouth.” Ed O’Brien added, “I don't want to be rude about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame because for a lot of people it means something, but culturally I don’t understand it.” Colin Greenwood was the sole member to express enthusiasm about the prospect. “I don’t know if everyone else will go, though,” he admitted. “It might be me just doing bass versions of everything like, ‘Come on, you know this one!’ I’d have to play the bass part to ‘Creep’ five times.”

Read Pitchfork’s 2017 feature “The Radiohead Prophesies: How OK Computer Predicted the Future”