Radiohead have big plans: “20 shows each year on a different continent” from 2027 onwards
Ed O’Brien has revealed huge plans for one of the biggest bands of all time.
2 min read
Credit: Alex Lake 📸
At the end of 2025, Radiohead returned for a special run of shows, their first since 2018, appearing in Madrid, Bologna, London, Berlin and Copenhagen.
Radiohead were not road-testing new material, which is unusual for the group, and instead performed tracks from their catalogue in any order they liked after narrowing it down to 60-70 songs for the tour.
The ‘comeback’ tour was appreciated by fans, new and old, but quickly opened up curiosity about whether it could lead to something bigger in the future.
At the time, Thom Yorke had explained: “For now, it will just be these, but who knows where this will all lead.”
Now, in March 2026, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Ed O’Brien has confirmed that Radiohead will be playing more shows in the near future.
“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,”
O’Brien continues: “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 anymore.”
He admitted that Radiohead would be out of action throughout 2026, but is looking to perform together in 2027. This new approach to shows, regardless of new material, is something only a band like Radiohead could pull off, with such an expansive catalogue.
O’Brien also implied the importance of each musician experimenting down other creative avenues, which they have all done successfully, by expressing he felt he “was done with Radiohead” after their tour in 2018.
“It had got to a place where I just wasn’t enjoying it. I just didn’t resonate with it anymore, and I wanted to do my own thing… I think we’d run out of road. We’d run out of inspiration. The others said they wanted to tour. I didn’t really want to tour, and they knew that. But I did it, and I’m glad I did. I saw it through to the end.”
However, O’Brien changed his mind in 2024 when the band got together to rehearse following their long hiatus. “And the chemistry was there from the very beginning. I think we always knew that if we got the love between us right, then it all flows from there.” Echoing the sentiment, Jonny Greenwood also expressed that he was ‘surprised’ at how much the band enjoyed their comeback tour so much.
The rest of this year, O’Brien will be busy promoting his new solo album, Blue Morpho, which arrives on May 22. In other news, Radiohead formed a new private limited company this year, suggesting that they are planning something musically in the near future.
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