In an interview, the Radiohead singer shares his favorite artists & dreams of a John Lennon duet.
With his high falsetto voice and mysterious style, Radiohead singer Thom Yorke is one of the most famous vocalists of today. Of course, even such an influential musician has role models who inspire him. In the book “The Singers Talk” by Jason Thomas Gordon, Yorke reveals who his favorite singers are and who he would like to record a duet with.
Thom Yorke’s favorite singers are as versatile as he is
In “The Singers Talk” there are some details about how Thom Yorke always fulfilled his role as singer in Radiohead. He was drunk most of the time during the recording of OK COMPUTER and the band Queen inspired him to make music. However, Brian May, rather than Freddie Mercury, would have been the deciding factor here.
When asked who he would have liked to sing with, Yorke said Beatles mastermind John Lennon. “But it would sound terrible, terrible, UGH. “The mix just wouldn’t be right,” Thom Yorke said humbly. From a purely stylistic point of view, a Lennon-Yorke duet would seem entirely plausible. In his other list of singers he admires most, Yorke, who recently made a name for himself with his side project The Smile, shows his versatility.
“I’m obsessed with Ella Fitzgerald at the moment. There’s this performance of hers with Duke Ellington. […] She sings two jazz standards and her technique is damn crazy. […] And then of course there is Nina Simone. And then Scott Walker and Michael Stipe. […] I would also say Billie Holiday. Oh! Tom Waits! ‘Tom Traubert’s Blues.’ That and ‘Simple Twist of Fate’ by Bob Dylan are two songs that are guaranteed to make me cry every time.”
It is not yet known when Thom Yorke’s voice will be heard again on a Radiohead record. However, the five members, some of whom have been traveling solo recently, hinted that they would be active together again in 2023.