Thom Yorke<\/a> has spoken out about the impact of Nirvana<\/a> to spur Radiohead<\/a> on, as well as reflecting on the band\u2019s 2025 comeback tour and sharing details of his \u201cfucking different\u201d new solo album.<\/p>\n Yorke was this week honoured with the Academy Fellowship award at the 71st Ivor Novello Awards<\/a>, which celebrate the craft, cultural impact and enduring importance of songs and screen compositions.<\/p>\n After being introduced to the stage at London\u2019s Grosvenor House by Harry Styles <\/a>(who called Radiohead his \u201cfavourite band\u201d and shared that he \u201clost [his] virginity to \u2018Talk Show Host\u2019\u201d) <\/a>Yorke gave an impassioned acceptance speech in which he spoke up for better treatment of artists by the industry, before he sat down for an interview with BBC 6 Music\u2019s Matt Everitt.<\/p>\n Asked about Radiohead\u2019s acclaimed 2025 tour dates<\/a> \u2013 their first live shows since 2017 \u2013 the frontman described the experience as \u201coverwhelming\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really, really glad we did it, but if you\u2019d have asked me beforehand then I wouldn\u2019t have known,\u201d said Yorke. \u201c[I was thinking] \u2018I\u2019ve got to get in shape, dude. This is killing me! It\u2019s hard work!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a few moments that really stuck in mind. We felt as much part of it as the audience. Honestly, honestly, honestly, honestly. The first night in Madrid<\/a>, walking through the crowd was just extraordinary. The first night in Berlin, Monday nights are a kamikaze for everybody, but 20,000 Berlin hipsters losing their shit was like, \u2018I will never forget this moment\u2019. It was so cool, man.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he\u2019d tour again with the band soon \u2013 after guitarist Ed O\u2019Brien shared that Radiohead were planning to \u201c20 shows each year\u201d on a different continent<\/a> starting in 2027 \u2013 he coyly replied\u00a0\u201cyeah, maybe\u201d, but he did give a lot more away about his incoming solo album<\/a>, due later this year. The Ivors also saw him debut new song \u2018Space Walk<\/a>\u2018.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to finish some stuff,\u201d shared Yorke. \u201cIt\u2019s a solo thing. I\u2019m trying to figure out what it is, I\u2019m trying to mix it. I did it with Sam Petts-Davies [The Smile<\/a>, Frank Ocean<\/a>]. It\u2019s been a really fun process and it\u2019s pretty fucking different for me.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m too close to it to know for certain. I get moments of going, \u2018This is good, I like this\u2019. That\u2019s enough for me. What else can I say about it? There\u2019s a song called \u2018Arse-Kissers\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n In the spirit of the Ivors, Yorke described songwriting as \u201ca way to communicate when you don\u2019t have other ways to communicate\u201d and \u201clike a worm in my brain burrowing a hole and I have to get it out otherwise the bastard is going to live there forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Opening up about his acceptance speech, Yorke explained how the current state of the music industry is \u201cvery much similar to other landscapes where the era of the tech bro is coming to an end\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve all made these billions and they now think that with technology they can somehow substitute the need for human interaction; that somehow there\u2019s something better out there when clearly there isn\u2019t,\u201d he told Everitt.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really interesting that the same people who have done all that are now speculating these old catalogs as things of value, like Picasso paintings that just sit in a vault, without realising that their entire economic model will expire unless they do a little bit of the old redistribution. For really not a lot of money, you can back an artist you really care about and see them through the early days.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back on the band\u2019s rise to fame back in the early \u201990s, Yorke recalled first signing to EMI Records.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the weird moments that sticks out in my odd life is meeting the guy who was head of EMI at the time,\u201d re remembered.\u00a0\u201cHe looked at me after we signed the contract, shook my hand and said, \u2018You\u2019re going to go a long way, I have absolutely no doubt about it. Anything you need you let me know, and I mean that\u2019. I said, \u2018Thank you. All we need is a van, some money for some gear and for you to leave us alone for a couple of years to figure our shit out\u2019. And he went, \u2018Fair enough\u2019. So we did, and at the end of the two years we put \u2018Creep\u2019 out and we were off.<\/p>\n \u201cThen it was, \u2018OK, so now we need another \u2018Creep\u2019\u2019 and actually it was, \u2018No we don\u2019t\u2019. Then they were like \u2018OK, so we need another \u2018The Bends\u2019, and we didn\u2019t, then they said, \u2018You need another \u2018OK Computer\u2019 and we were like, \u2018OK, see ya\u2019. They did cut us a lot of slack thanks to our management fighting our corner a lot of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n He spoke of his son Noah being in the band Hex Girlfriend<\/a>, and how he finds himself shocked by \u201chow little foresight there seems to be\u201d from the bigwigs running the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cWith not a lot of support, you can really let people grow and find their way,\u201d said Yorke. \u201cTo be fair, the Ivors was full of people who are really interesting; Jacob [Alon<\/a>] especially. I\u2019m happy to be proved wrong, but I do know that the way that the industry is structured right now is very myopic. It doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense. The truth of the matter is that you only learn through your mistakes. Nowadays you make one mistake and you\u2019re toast.<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cThat was kind of my point. This is a thing you learn. It\u2019s like what Elton [John] was saying: he gets excited about new things. I do too. I think I cast my net in a weirder way, but I agree. I don\u2019t want my son\u2019s generation to be copying what we did. It\u2019s like, \u2018Mate, no, you don\u2019t need to do that. You can do better\u2019.<\/p>\n The frontman, solo star and artist said that he remained \u201cproud\u201d of all that Radiohead did, but that the music world should be thinking more about what\u2019s now and what\u2019s next rather than obsessing over the past.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the real world, people need to feel that an artist comes along every couple of years and goes, \u2018Oh shit\u2019,\u201d he admitted.\u00a0\u201cLike I remember when I first heard [Nirvana\u2019s] \u2018Nevermind\u2019 and I was like, \u2018OK, it\u2019s on\u2019. Every now and again you get that. That\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n Yorke added: \u201cThe Ivors is an interesting testament to how important people find music. To me that\u2019s shocking on two levels: Number One that people want to give me an award, and Number Two that people feel like that. That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, I guess I really think that each generation needs to find its own language. The people who are hoarding all this cash should have to have the sense to realise that they should be supporting that, if they really genuinely care about music. No more lip\u00a0service. Transparent accounting. Pay the artist. Don\u2019t give me any more of your bullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n Radiohead haven\u2019t released an album since 2016\u2019s \u2018A Moon Shaped Pool<\/a>\u2018, while Yorke and Jonny Greenwood have since released three albums with drummer Tom Skinner as The Smile \u2013 the last being 2024\u2019s \u2018Cutouts\u2019<\/a>. Yorke\u2019s last solo album was 2019\u2019s \u2018ANIMA<\/a>\u2018, and he also featured on Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist and his Atoms For Peace bandmate Flea\u2019s recent solo debut, \u2018Honora<\/a>\u2018. Today also sees Radiohead guitarist Ed O\u2019Brien release his second solo album, \u2018Blue Morpho<\/a>\u2018.<\/p>\n Yorke received the Ivors Academy Fellowship alongside George Michael<\/a>, who was posthumously awarded the statue by his longtime friend and former Wham! <\/a>bandmate Andrew Ridgeley<\/a>. The pair follow in the footsteps of previous winners Bruce Springsteen<\/a>,\u00a0 U2<\/a>,\u00a0Kate Bush<\/a>,\u00a0Paul McCartney<\/a>\u00a0and more.<\/p>\n Other winners at the Ivors 2026 included Sam Fender<\/a>,\u00a0Rosal\u00eda<\/a>,\u00a0CMAT<\/a>,\u00a0Lily Allen<\/a>,\u00a0Jacob Alon<\/a>,\u00a0Lola Young<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Kano<\/a>. Check out the full list\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The likes of\u00a0Wolf Alice<\/a>,\u00a0Olivia Dean<\/a>,\u00a0Coldplay<\/a>,\u00a0Little Simz<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Florence Welch<\/a> were among the nominees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n
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![\"Radiohead,](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RADIOHEAD_MADRID_ALEX_LAKE_2000.jpg\")