Following last year’s European tour and numerous side projects between their members, Radiohead might have their eyes set on some very exciting future prospects. This week, guitarist Ed O’Brien disclosed ambitions to take Radiohead out on dedicated tours to a different continent per year, as well as announcing his new solo album ‘Blue Morpho’.
Radiohead were formed by five school-friends in 1985, consisting of frontman Thom Yorke, guitarist Ed O’Brien, drummer Philip Selway, guitarist Johnny Greenwood, and his brother bassist Colin Greenwood. The music they make is incredibly hard to label, a fluid brand of alternative rock spliced with limitless other genres and influences. Their career has seen them release nine studio albums, (scoring Official UK Number One Album with six of them,) headline Glastonbury Festival three times, and make their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. The Oxfordshire quintet have won six Grammys and four Ivor Novello awards, while all five members have also enjoyed successful careers away from the band.
Following a seven year break from live shows, Radiohead went back on the road in 2025, with a novel approach to touring. Instead of hitting 20 cities, they played five 4-night mini-residencies in Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen and Berlin. Their four sold-out shows at London’s O2 arena broke the 20,000 capacity venue’s attendance record with a new maximum of 22,355 crowd members. They also chose to keep a flexible setlist for each night to keep both the band and fans interested, which Colin Greenwood described as a “busking attitude” – their entire catalogue was whittled down to 70 songs from which they would select a list of in any order.
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According to Ed O’Brien, this may shape the way they consider their tours in the future. Speaking to Rolling Stone, he confirmed that the band intends to tour again, albeit not in 2026, saying “We won’t do anything this year, but we’ll do something next year.” He also clarified that they will keep the same tour structure as last year, but on a global scale, saying “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 each year. No more, no less.”
While limiting your entire tour schedule for a year to 20 shows in a single part of the world sounds quite restrictive, O’Brien gives an insight into the thinking behind it. “We want to give absolutely everything each night. 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 any more.”
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With a year off before their prospective live shows, the members are finding success in their solo ventures. Johnny Greenwood’s turn in writing Hollywood movie scores including ‘There Will Be Blood’ and ‘Phantom Thread’ have seen him win his own Ivor Novello Awards, with his ‘One Battle After Another’ soundtrack losing out to Ludwig Göransson’s work on ‘Sinners’ in this weekend’s Academy Awards’ Best Music category. Today, Ed O’Brien announced his second solo album and follow-up to 2020’s ‘Earth’, ‘Blue Morpho’, alongside the release of its title track.
The hypnotic single ‘Blue Morpho’ and its music video can be found here, with O’Brien announcing a companion film and tour dates releasing later in the year. The album will release on the 22nd of May, with the film dropping earlier in March, showing in London on the 24th, Paris on the 25th and Oxford on the 26th. Follow this link for pre-order and pre-save options, as well as updates on Radiohead news for 2026 and beyond.
