Ed O’Brien, 58, is an English musician, songwriter and founding member of Radiohead, the band he formed at school in Oxford alongside Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, Philip Selway and Jonny Greenwood. They went on to become one of the most admired and influential British bands of their generation. He and his wife Susan have two children: Salvador, 22 and Oona, 20, and divide their time between London and Wales. Radiohead released their last album in 2016, and last toured in 2025. Now O’Brien returns with his second solo album, Blue Morpho.
Here, he reflects on the experiences that shaped him, from a happy childhood tainted by his parent’s divorce, to giving up drinking, life advice from The Smith’s Johnny Marr, and only fully realising how cool Radiohead are through his kids.
I had moments of happiness and moments of deep unhappiness in my childhood – like lots of children in the 70s. I grew up in Oxford. When I was 10, my parents separated, and my younger sister, my mum and I moved to the countryside in West Oxfordshire. It’s a beautiful part of the world. I found it very formative – being in nature, amongst the rural working class, away from the shadow of the university.
Shorts
I was bright at school and did well until my parents split up. It frazzled my brain a bit. The band met at Abingdon School, a private grammar school, with a lot of traditions rooted in the old empire. When you’re young, you don’t challenge that stuff. It’s absurd that children are made to wear suits and ties. I don’t wear one, so why should they? They’re pretending to be adults and it’s not natural. I never got in trouble because I always did stuff with a smile on my face. I could make people laugh, which was my way of subverting the system.
