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Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...
ist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...
, and has written numerous
film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
s. Along with his elder brother, the Radiohead bassist Colin, Greenwood attended
Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...
in Abingdon near
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England, where he met the future band members. The youngest of the group, Greenwood was the last to join, first playing keyboards and harmonica but soon becoming lead guitarist. He abandoned a degree in music when the band signed to Parlophone; their debut single, "
Creep Creep, Creeps or CREEP may refer to: People * Creep, a creepy person Politics * Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), mockingly abbreviated as CREEP, an fundraising organization for Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign Art ...
", (1992) was distinguished by Greenwood's aggressive guitar work. Radiohead have since achieved critical acclaim and sold over 30 million albums. Along with the other members of Radiohead, Greenwood was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...
in 2019. Greenwood was named the 48th greatest guitarist of all time by ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
.'' A multi-instrumentalist, he also uses instruments including the bass guitar, piano, glockenspiel and drums, and is a prominent player of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument. He uses electronic techniques such as programming, sampling and
looping Looping may refer to: Media and entertainment * Loop (music), a repeating section of sound material * Audio induction loop, an aid for the hard of hearing * a film production term for dubbing (filmmaking) * repeating drawings in an animated cartoo ...
, and writes music software used by Radiohead. He described his role in the band as an arranger, helping to transform Thom Yorke's demos into finished songs. Radiohead albums feature Greenwood's string and brass arrangements, and he has composed for orchestras including the London Contemporary Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra. He has collaborated several times with the Israeli composer
Shye Ben Tzur Shye Ben Tzur (שי בן צור) is an Israeli musician who lives in India and Israel. He composes Qawwalis, instrumental and devotional music in Hebrew, Urdu and Hindi. Ben Tzur has been living and creating music in India and Israel for over a d ...
, including on the 2015 album '' Junun''. In 2021, Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile, with Yorke and the drummer
Tom Skinner Sir Thomas Edward Skinner (18 April 1909 – 11 November 1991) was a New Zealand politician and Trades Union leader. Sir Tom served as President of the Auckland Trades Council from 1954 to 1976, and President of the New Zealand Federation of ...
. Greenwood's first solo work, the soundtrack for the film '' Bodysong,'' was released in 2003. In 2007, he scored '' There Will Be Blood'', the first of several collaborations with director
Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with '' Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' (1997) and received ...
; in 2018, he was nominated for an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for his score for Anderson's ''
Phantom Thread ''Phantom Thread'' is a 2017 American historical drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville. Set in 1950s London, it stars Day-Lewis as an haute couture dressmaker ...
''. He was nominated a second time for his score for '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), directed by
Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...
. Greenwood also scored '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011) and '' You Were Never Really Here'' (2017), both directed by Lynne Ramsay.


Early life

Jonny Greenwood was born on 5 November 1971 in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England. His brother, the Radiohead bassist
Colin Greenwood Colin Charles Greenwood (born 26 June 1969) is an English musician and the bassist for the rock band Radiohead. Along with bass guitar, Greenwood plays upright bass and electronic instruments. With his younger brother, the Radiohead guitari ...
, is two years older. His father served in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
as a bomb disposal expert. The Greenwood family has historical ties to the British Communist Party and the socialist Fabian Society. When he was a child, Greenwood's family would listen to a small number of cassettes in their car, including Mozart's horn concertos, the musicals '' Flower Drum Song'' and '' My Fair Lady'', and cover versions of
Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of ...
songs. When the cassettes were not playing, Greenwood would listen to the noise of the engine and try to recall every detail of the music. He credited his older siblings with exposing him to rock bands such as the Beat and New Order. The first gig Greenwood attended was the Fall on their 1988 ''Frenz Experiment'' tour, which he found "overwhelming". Greenwood's first instrument was a
recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
given to him at age four or five. He took the instrument seriously, playing it into adulthood, and played
baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transit ...
in recorder groups as a teenager. He also learnt the
viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...
and joined the Thames Vale youth orchestra, which he described as a formative experience: "I'd been in school orchestras and never seen the point. But in Thames Vale I was suddenly with all these 18-year-olds who could actually play in tune. I remember thinking: 'Ah, that's what an orchestra is supposed to sound like!'" Greenwood spent time as a child programming computers, experimenting with BASIC and simple machine code to make computer games. According to Greenwood, "The closer I got to the bare bones of the computer, the more exciting I found it."


On a Friday

The Greenwood brothers attended the independent boys' school Abingdon, where they formed a band, On a Friday, with the singer
Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
, the guitarist Ed O'Brien and the drummer
Philip Selway Philip James Selway (born 23 May 1967) is an English musician and the drummer of the English rock band Radiohead. Along with the other members of Radiohead, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Selway released his deb ...
. Jonny had previously been in another band, Illiterate Hands, with Matt Hawksworth, Simon Newton, Ben Kendrick,
Nigel Powell Nigel Powell (born 1 October 1971) is an English multi-instrumental musician from Abingdon. Powell was born in Bromley, London, and educated at Abingdon School. While at school he was in a band called Illiterate Hands, which also featured futu ...
and Yorke's brother
Andy Yorke Andy Yorke (born 10 January 1972) is an English musician and former lead singer and guitarist for the band Unbelievable Truth. He is the younger brother of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. Early life Yorke began singing when he was ten. At the a ...
. The youngest member of On a Friday, Greenwood was two school years below Yorke and Colin and the last to join. He first played harmonica and keyboards, but soon became the
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...
ist. As the band had fired their previous keyboardist for playing too loudly, Greenwood spent his first months playing with his keyboard turned off. No one in the band realised, and Yorke told him he added an "interesting texture". According to Greenwood, "I'd go home in the evening and work out how to actually play chords, and cautiously, over the next few months, I would start turning this keyboard up." Greenwood studied music at
A Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
, including chorale harmonisation.


Career


1991—1992: ''Pablo Honey'' and early success

In 1991, Greenwood was three weeks into a degree in music and psychology at Oxford Polytechnic when On a Friday signed a recording contract with EMI. He dropped out of university and On a Friday changed their name to Radiohead. The band found early success with their debut single, "
Creep Creep, Creeps or CREEP may refer to: People * Creep, a creepy person Politics * Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), mockingly abbreviated as CREEP, an fundraising organization for Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign Art ...
" (1992). According to ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', "It was Greenwood's gnashing noise blasts that marked Radiohead as more than just another mopey band ... An early indicator of his crucial role in pushing his band forward." Greenwood played harmonica on Blind Mr. Jones's 1992 single "Crazy Jazz".


1995—1999: ''The Bends'' and ''OK Computer''

Greenwood wrote his first Radiohead string part for the middle eight of " My Iron Lung", which appeared on Radiohead's second album, '' The Bends'' (1995). On tour for ''The Bends'', Greenwood damaged his hearing and wore protective ear shields for some performances. Radiohead's third album, '' OK Computer'' (1997), achieved acclaim, showcasing Greenwood's lead guitar work on songs such as " Paranoid Android". For "Climbing up the Walls", Greenwood wrote a part for 16 stringed instruments playing
quarter tone A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each ...
s apart, inspired by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. For the 1998 film '' Velvet Goldmine'', Greenwood formed Venus in Furs with Yorke, Suede's
Bernard Butler Bernard Joseph Butler (born 1 May 1970) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the first guitarist with Suede, until his departure in 1994. He has been hailed by some critics as the greatest guitarist of hi ...
, and
Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone ...
's
Andy Mackay Andrew Mackay (born 23 July 1946) is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member (playing oboe and saxophone) of the art rock group Roxy Music. In addition, he has taught music and provided scores for television, while his ...
and recorded covers of the Roxy Music songs "
2HB "2HB" is a song written by Bryan Ferry and first recorded by Roxy Music for their 1972 debut album, ''Roxy Music''. Ferry also recorded a version for his 1976 solo album, ''Let's Stick Together''. The title is a dedication to the film star Humph ...
", " Ladytron" and "Bitter-Sweet". Greenwood played harmonica on the tracks "Platform Blues" and "Billie" on Pavement's final album, '' Terror Twilight'' (1999).


2000: ''Kid A''

Radiohead's albums '' Kid A'' (2000) and '' Amnesiac'' (2001) marked a dramatic change in sound, incorporating influences from
electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...
,
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
and krautrock. Greenwood employed a modular synthesiser to build the drum machine rhythm of " Idioteque", and played ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument similar to a
theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...
, on several tracks. For "How to Disappear Completely", Greenwood composed a string section by multitracking his ondes Martenot playing. According to Radiohead's producer,
Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He is known for his work with the English rock band Radiohead, having produced all their studio albums since '' OK Computer'' (1997) ...
, when the string players saw Greenwood's score "they all just sort of burst into giggles, because they couldn't do what he'd written, because it was impossible—or impossible for them, anyway". The orchestra leader, John Lubbock, encouraged the musicians to experiment and work with Greenwood's "naive" ideas. Greenwood played guitar on Bryan Ferry's 2002 album '' Frantic''.


2003—2005: ''Bodysong'' and first solo work

In 2003, Greenwood released his first solo work, the soundtrack for the documentary film '' Bodysong''. It incorporates guitar, jazz, and classical music. In 2004, Greenwood and Yorke contributed to the
Band Aid 20 Band Aid 20 was the 2004 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. The group, which included Daniel Bedingfield, Dido, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Bono of U2, and ...
single " Do They Know It's Christmas?", produced by Godrich. Greenwood's first work for orchestra, ''Smear'', was premiered by the
London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—giv ...
in March 2004. In May, Greenwood was appointed composer-in-residence to the BBC Concert Orchestra, for whom he wrote "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" (2005), which won the Radio 3 Listeners' Award at the 2006 BBC British Composer Awards. The piece was inspired by radio static and the elaborate, dissonant tone clusters of Penderecki's ''
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima (''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for 52 string instruments'') , other_name = , year = , catalogue = , period = Contemporary, postmodernism , genre = Sonorism, avant-gard ...
''(1960). Greenwood wrote the piece by recording individual tones on viola, then manipulating and overdubbing them in Pro Tools. As part of his prize, Greenwood received £10,000 from the PRS Foundation towards a commission for a new orchestral work. For the 2005 film ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'', Greenwood appeared as part of the wizard rock band Weird Sisters with the Radiohead drummer
Philip Selway Philip James Selway (born 23 May 1967) is an English musician and the drummer of the English rock band Radiohead. Along with the other members of Radiohead, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Selway released his deb ...
, the Pulp members
Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following ...
and Steve Mackey, the electronica artist Jason Buckle and the Add N to (X) member Steven Claydon. At the 2005 Ether Festival, Greenwood and Yorke performed "Arpeggi" with the
London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—giv ...
orchestra and the Arab Orchestra of Nazareth. It was released in a different arrangement on Radiohead's seventh album, '' In Rainbows'' (2007), retitled "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi".


2007: ''There Will Be Blood''

Greenwood composed the score for the 2007 film '' There Will Be Blood'' by the director
Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with '' Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' (1997) and received ...
. The soundtrack won an award at the Critics' Choice Awards and the Best Film Score trophy in the Evening Standard British Film Awards for 2007. As it contains excerpts from "Popcorn Superhet Receiver", an earlier piece, it was ineligible for an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' named ''There Will Be Blood'' the best film of the decade and described the score as "a sonic explosion that reinvented what film music could be". In 2016, the film composer Hans Zimmer said the score was the one that had most "stood out to him" in the past decade, describing it as "recklessly, crazily beautiful". Greenwood curated a compilation album of
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
tracks, '' Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller,'' released by
Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name ''Trojan'' comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck ...
in March 2007. It features mostly 70s
roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
and dub tracks from artists including
Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...
, Joe Gibbs, and Linval Thompson; the title references Thompson's track "Dread Are the Controller". In 2008, Greenwood wrote the title music for Adam Buxton's sketch show ''Meebox''. He also collaborated with the Israeli rock musician Dudu Tasaa on the Hebrew-language single "What a Day".


2010—2013: ''Norwegian Wood'' and ''The King of Limbs''

In February 2010, Greenwood debuted a new composition, "Doghouse", at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios. Greenwood wrote the piece in hotels and dressing rooms while on tour with Radiohead. He expanded "Doghouse" into the score for the Japanese film '' Norwegian Wood'', released later that year. Greenwood played guitar on Bryan Ferry's 2010 album '' Olympia.'' In 2011, he and Yorke collaborated with the rapper MF Doom on the track "Retarded Fren". Radiohead's eighth album, '' The King of Limbs'' (2011), was recorded using sampler software written by Greenwood. In 2011, Greenwood scored '' We Need to Talk About Kevin,'' directed by Lynne Ramsay, using instruments including a wire-strung harp. In 2012, he composed the score for Anderson's film '' The Master''. That March, Greenwood and the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, one of Greenwood's greatest influences, released an album comprising Penderecki's 1960s compositions ''
Polymorphia ''Polymorphia'' (Many forms) is a composition for 48 string instruments (24 violins and 8 each of violas, cellos and basses) composed by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki in 1961. The piece was commissioned by the North German Radio Hambur ...
'' ''and Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima,'' Greenwood's "Popcorn Superhet Receiver", and a new work by Greenwood, "48 Responses to ''Polymorphia''". In the same year, Greenwood accepted a three-month residency with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney and composed a new piece, "Water". Greenwood, Yorke, and other artists contributed music to ''The UK Gold'', a 2013 documentary about
tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdi ...
in the UK. The soundtrack was released free in February 2015 through the online audio platform
SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
.


2014—2016: ''Inherent Vice'', ''Junun'' and ''A Moon Shaped Pool''

Greenwood composed the soundtrack for the Paul Thomas Anderson film '' Inherent Vice'' (2014). It features a new version of an unreleased Radiohead song, "Spooks", performed by Greenwood and two members of
Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey ...
. In 2014, Greenwood performed with the London Contemporary Orchestra, performing selections from his soundtracks alongside new compositions. In the same year, Greenwood performed with the Israeli composer
Shye Ben Tzur Shye Ben Tzur (שי בן צור) is an Israeli musician who lives in India and Israel. He composes Qawwalis, instrumental and devotional music in Hebrew, Urdu and Hindi. Ben Tzur has been living and creating music in India and Israel for over a d ...
and his band. Greenwood described Tzur's music as "quite celebratory, more like
gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is co ...
than anything—except that it's all done to a backing of Indian harmoniums and percussion". He said he would play a "supportive" rather than "solistic" role. In 2015, Greenwood, Tzur and Godrich recorded an album, '' Junun'', with Indian musicians at
Mehrangarh Fort Mehrangarh Fort covers an area of 1,200 acres (486 hectares) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The complex is located on a hilltop around 122 metres above the surrounding plain, and was constructed by Rajput ruler Rao Jodha, though most of the exi ...
in
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...
, India. Greenwood insisted they hire only musicians from
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...
and only use string instruments native to the region. Ben Tzur wrote the songs, with Greenwood contributing guitar, bass, keyboards, ondes Martenot and programming. Whereas western music is based on harmonies and chord progressions, Greenwood wanted to use chords sparingly, and instead write using North Indian
raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...
s. Greenwood and Godrich said they wanted to avoid the "obsession" with high fidelity in recording world music, and instead hoped to capture the "dirt" and "roughness" of music in India. The recording is the subject of a 2015 documentary, '' Junun'', by Paul Thomas Anderson. Greenwood contributed string orchestration to Frank Ocean's 2016 albums '' Endless'' and '' Blonde''. Radiohead's ninth album, '' A Moon Shaped Pool'', was released in May 2016, featuring strings and choral vocals arranged by Greenwood and performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra. With Ben Tzur and the Indian ensemble, Greenwood supported Radiohead's 2018 ''Moon Shaped Pool'' tour under the name Junun.


2017—2016: ''Phantom Thread'' and ''The Power of the Dog''

Greenwood wrote the score for Anderson's 2017 film ''
Phantom Thread ''Phantom Thread'' is a 2017 American historical drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville. Set in 1950s London, it stars Day-Lewis as an haute couture dressmaker ...
.'' It was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by t ...
and earned Greenwood his sixth Ivor Novello award. In the same year, he reunited with Ramsay to score her film '' You Were Never Really Here.'' At the 2019 BBC Proms in London, Greenwood debuted his composition "Horror Vacui" for solo violin and 68 string instruments. Radiohead were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...
in March 2019. Greenwood did not attend the event; in the year before Radiohead became eligible for nomination, he told ''Rolling Stone'': "I don't care. Maybe it's a cultural thing that I really don't understand ... It's quite a self-regarding profession anyway. And anything that heightens that just makes me feel even more uncomfortable." In September 2019, Greenwood launched a record label, Octatonic Records, to release contemporary classical music by soloists and small groups. He started the label to record the musicians he had met as a film composer. In 2021, he expressed uncertainty about releasing further Octatonic records, as the two they had released "seemed to not really connect with anybody". For the soundtrack for '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), Greenwood played the cello in the style of a banjo and recorded a piece for player piano controlled with the software Max. The soundtrack earned Greenwood his second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. For his soundtrack to'' Spencer'' (2021), Greenwood combined
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
and jazz music, creating a conflict between the "rigid" and "colourful" styles. He also contributed cues to Anderson's 2021 film ''
Licorice Pizza ''Licorice Pizza'' is a 2021 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in their film debuts, alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Coo ...
''.


2021—present: the Smile

In 2021, Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile, with Yorke and the jazz drummer
Tom Skinner Sir Thomas Edward Skinner (18 April 1909 – 11 November 1991) was a New Zealand politician and Trades Union leader. Sir Tom served as President of the Auckland Trades Council from 1954 to 1976, and President of the New Zealand Federation of ...
. Greenwood said the project was a way for him and Yorke to work together during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The Smile made their surprise debut in a performance streamed by Glastonbury Festival on May 22, with Greenwood playing guitar and bass. The '' Guardian'' critic
Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
said the Smile "sound like a simultaneously more skeletal and knottier version of Radiohead", exploring more
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...
influences with unusual
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...
s, complex riffs and "hard-driving"
motorik Motorik is the 4/4 beat often used by, and heavily associated with, krautrock bands. Coined by music journalists, the term is German for " motor skill". The motorik beat was pioneered by Jaki Liebezeit, drummer with German experimental rock ba ...
psychedelia. In May 2022, the Smile released their debut album, '' A Light for Attracting Attention'', and began an international tour. Greenwood and Yorke contributed music to the sixth series of the television drama ''
Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...
'' in 2022.


Musicianship


Guitar

Greenwood is Radiohead's
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...
ist. He is known for his aggressive playing style; in the 1990s, he developed repetitive stress injury, necessitating a brace on his right arm, which he likened to "taping up your fingers before a boxing match". For most Radiohead songs, Greenwood has long used a
Fender Telecaster Plus The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes Paul had built a prototype solid body ...
, a model of Telecaster that uses
Lace Sensor The Lace Sensor is a guitar pickup designed by Don Lace and manufactured by AGI (Actodyne General International) since 1985. Lace Sensors are true single coil pickups; however, internally they are different from classic single coils. The chief di ...
pickups. According to '' Far Out'', Greenwood used the Telecaster's "power and instability" to produce a "punchy" sound that helped set Radiohead apart in the 1990s. On softer tracks, such as "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and " Let Down" from ''OK Computer'' and "You And Whose Army?" from ''Amnesiac,'' Greenwood plays a Fender Starcaster. He plays a
Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typ ...
for solo performances and his work with the Smile. For bass, he plays a Fender Precision Bass, using an aggressive picking style. He sometimes plays with a violin bow. Greenwood said he dislikes the reputation of guitars as something to be "admired or worshipped", and instead sees them as a tool like a typewriter or a vacuum cleaner. Greenwood often uses effect pedals, such as the
Marshall ShredMaster The Marshall ShredMaster (also known as the Shred Master) is a discontinued distortion pedal which was manufactured by Marshall Amps. It was the high-gain pedal of a triad, also including the Marshall DriveMaster and the Marshall BluesBreaker. ...
distortion pedal used on many 90s Radiohead songs. For the " My Iron Lung" riff, he uses a DigiTech Whammy pedal to pitch-shift his guitar by one octave, creating a "glitchy, lo-fi" sound. On "Identikit" and several Smile songs, Greenwood uses a delay effect to create "angular" synchronised repeats. His main amplifiers are a Vox AC30 and a Fender 85. In 2010, ''NME'' named Greenwood one of the greatest living guitarists. He was voted the seventh-greatest guitarist of all time in a 2010 poll of more than 30,000 BBC 6 Music listeners. In 2011, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' ranked Greenwood the 48th-greatest guitarist of all time, and in 2012 ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...
'' ranked him the 29th. In 2008, Greenwood's
guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular ...
in "Paranoid Android" was named the 34th-best guitar solo by ''
Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...
.'' "Paranoid Android", "
Just Just or JUST may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Just (surname) * Just (given name) Arts and entertainment * ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm * "Just" (song), a song by Radiohead * "Just", a song from the album '' Lost and Found'' by Mudvayn ...
" and " The Bends" appeared in ''NME'''s 2012 list of the best guitar solos.


Ondes Martenot

Greenwood is a prominent player of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument played by moving a ring along a wire, creating sounds similar to a
theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...
. He is credited with bringing the ondes Martenot to a larger audience. He first used it on Radiohead's 2000 album '' Kid A,'' and it appears in Radiohead songs including " The National Anthem", "How to Disappear Completely" and "Where I End and You Begin". Greenwood became interested in the ondes Martenot at the age of 15 after hearing Olivier Messiaen's ''Turangalîla Symphony''. He said he was partly attracted to the instrument as he cannot sing: "I've always wanted to be able to play an instrument that was like singing, and there's nothing closer." As production of the ondes Martenot ceased in 1988, Greenwood had a replica created to take on tour with Radiohead in 2001 for fear of damaging his original model.


Other instruments

Greenwood is a multi-instrumentalist and plays instruments including piano, synthesiser, viola, glockenspiel, harmonica, recorder, organ, banjo and harp. He said he enjoyed "struggling with instruments I can't really play", and that he enjoyed playing glockenspiel with Radiohead as much as he did guitar. Greenwood created the rhythm for " Idioteque" (from ''Kid A'') with a modular synthesiser and sampled the song's four-chord synthesiser phrase from "mild und leise", a
computer music Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...
piece by Paul Lansky. He uses a Kaoss Pad to manipulate Yorke's vocals during performances of the ''Kid A'' song " Everything in its Right Place". In 2014, Greenwood wrote of his fascination with Indian instruments, particularly the
tanpura The tanpura (), also referred to as tambura and tanpuri, is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating in India, found in various forms in Indian music. It does not play melody, but rather supports and sustains the melody of an ...
, which he felt created uniquely complex "walls" of sounds. Greenwood uses a "home-made sound machine" comprising small hammers striking objects including yoghurt cartons, tubs, bells, and tambourines. He has used found sounds, using a television and a transistor radio on "Climbing Up the Walls" (from ''OK Computer'') and " The National Anthem" (from ''Kid A'').


Software

At the suggestion of Radiohead's producer,
Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He is known for his work with the English rock band Radiohead, having produced all their studio albums since '' OK Computer'' (1997) ...
, Greenwood began using the music programming language Max. He said: "I got to reconnect properly with computers… I didn't have to use someone else's idea of what a delay, or a reverb, or a sequencer should do, or should sound like—I could start from the ground, and think in terms of sound and maths. It was like coming off the rails." Examples of Greenwood's use of Max include the processed piano on the ''Moon Shaped Pool'' track "Glass Eyes" and his signature "stutter" guitar effect used on tracks such as the 2003 single " Go to Sleep". He also used Max to write sampling software used to create Radiohead's eighth album, '' The King of Limbs''.


Songwriting

Greenwood's major writing contributions to Radiohead include "Just" (which Yorke described as "a competition by me and Jonny to get as many chords as possible into a song"); " My Iron Lung", co-written with Yorke, from '' The Bends'' (1995); "The Tourist" and the "rain down" bridge of "Paranoid Android" from ''OK Computer'' (1997); the vocal melody of "Kid A" from ''Kid A'' (2000); and the guitar melody of "A Wolf At The Door" from ''Hail To The Thief'' (2003), whose "sweet" quality inspired Yorke to sing the song's "angry" lyrics. Promotional interview CD sent to British music press. The ''New York Times'' described Greenwood as "the guy who can take an abstract Thom Yorke notion and master the tools required to execute it in the real world". Greenwood described his role as arranger:
It's not really about can I do my guitar part now, it's more ... What will serve this song best? How do we not mess up this really good song? Part of the problem is Thom will sit at the piano and play a song like " Pyramid Song" and we're going to record it and how do we not make it worse, how do we make it better than him just playing it by himself, which is already usually quite great.
For his film soundtracks, Greenwood attempts to keep the instrumentation contemporary to the period of the story. For example, he recorded the '' Norwegian Wood'' soundtrack using a 1960s Japanese nylon-strung guitar and recorded it with period home recording equipment, attempting to create a recording that one of the characters might have made. Many of Greenwood's compositions are microtonal. He often uses modes of limited transposition, particularly the octatonic scale, saying: "I like to know what I ''can’t'' do and then work inside that."


Influences

Greenwood has cited influences from genres including jazz, classical, rock, reggae, hip-hop, and electronic music. His jazz favourites include
Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' ...
, Alice Coltrane and
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
. Along with the other members of Radiohead, he admires Scott Walker and the Krautrock band Can. Greenwood said the guitarist that had most influenced him was John McGeoch of
Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
, and that Magazine's songwriting "informs so much of what adioheaddo". He declined an offer to fill in for McGeoch, who died in 2004, during Magazine's 2009 reunion tour. According to the Radiohead collaborator Adam Buxton, Jonny was "overwhelmed" and too shy to accept the role. Greenwood first heard Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony at the age of 15 and became "round-the-bend-obsessed with it". Messiaen was Greenwood's "first connection" to classical music, and remains an influence; he said: "He was still alive when I was 15, and for whatever reason I felt I could equate him with my other favourite bands – there was no big posthumous reputation to put me off. So I'm still very fond of writing things in the same modes of limited transposition that he used." Greenwood is an admirer of the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, and cited a concert of Penderecki's music in the early 90s as a "conversion experience". He is also a fan of the composers
György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...
, Henri Dutilleux, and
Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, ...
. He has performed Reich's 1987 guitar composition ''
Electric Counterpoint ''Electric Counterpoint'' is a minimalist composition by the American composer Steve Reich. The piece consists of three movements, "Fast," "Slow", and "Fast". Reich has offered two versions of the piece: one for electric guitar and tape (the ...
'' and recorded a version for Reich's 2014 album '' Radio Rewrite.''


Personal life

Greenwood is married to the Israeli visual artist Sharona Katan, whom he met in 1993 when Radiohead performed in Israel. Her work (credited as Shin Katan) appears on the covers of ''Junun'' and Greenwood's soundtracks for ''Bodysong,'' ''There Will'' ''Be Blood'', ''Norwegian Wood'', ''The Master'', ''Inherent Vice'', and ''Phantom Thread''. Their first son was born in 2002; Radiohead's 2003 album '' Hail to the Thief'' was dedicated to him. Their daughter was born in 2005, and a second son was born in February 2008. Katan said she considers their family Jewish: "Our kids are raised as Jews, we have a mezuzah in our house, we sometimes have Shabbos dinners, we celebrate Jewish holidays. The kids don’t eat pork. It's important to me to keep this stuff." In February 2021, Greenwood appeared on the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
program '' Saturday Live,'' where his selected "Inheritance Tracks" were " Sweetheart Contract" by
Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
and " Brotherhood of Man" by
Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...
and
Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duk ...
. Greenwood is red-green colour blind.


Discography


Collaborations


Soundtracks


Compilations


Extended plays


Appearances

* 2009 –
Dudu Tassa David "Dudu" Tassa ( he, דודו טסה; born February 10, 1977) is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter and record producer of Mizrahi Jewish descent. Besides having had a successful solo career in Israel, Tassa has been the leader of t ...
– "Eize Yom" * 2016 –
Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...
, ''Endless'' – string arrangement * 2016 – Frank Ocean, '' Blonde'' – string arrangement * 2021 – '' Licorice Pizza (Official Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' – "Licorice Pizza"


Concert works

*2004 – ''smear'' for two ondes Martenots and chamber ensemble of nine players *2004 – ''Piano for Children'' for piano and orchestra (withdrawn) *2005 – ''Popcorn Superhet Receiver'' for string orchestra *2007 – '' There Will Be Blood'' live film version *2010 – ''Doghouse'' for string trio and orchestra *2011 – ''Suite from 'Noruwei no Mori' ( Norwegian Wood)'' for orchestra *2011 – ''48 Responses to
Polymorphia ''Polymorphia'' (Many forms) is a composition for 48 string instruments (24 violins and 8 each of violas, cellos and basses) composed by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki in 1961. The piece was commissioned by the North German Radio Hambur ...
'' for 48 solo strings, all doubling optional pacay bean shakers *2012 – ''Suite from 'There Will Be Blood for string orchestra *2014 – ''Water'' for two flutes, upright piano, chamber organ, two tanpura & string orchestra *2015 – ''88 (No 1)'' for solo piano *2018 – ''Three Miniatures from 'Water for violin, piano, 2 tampuras, and cello/bass drone *2019 – ''Horror vacui'' for solo violin and 68 strings


Awards and nominations


See also

*
List of Old Abingdonians Old Abingdonians are former pupils of Abingdon School or, in some cases, Honorary Old Abingdonians who have been awarded the status based on service to the School. The Old Abingdonians also run the Old Abingdonian Club (OA club) which is an orga ...


References


Notes


Citations


External links

* *
StringsReunited.com
a website by Plank, the guitar technician for Radiohead
Greenwood's composer page on the Faber Music website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Jonny 1971 births Alternative rock guitarists Alternative rock pianists British male pianists English film score composers English male film score composers English male guitarists English multi-instrumentalists English rock guitarists English rock keyboardists Grammy Award winners Ivor Novello Award winners Lead guitarists Living people Nonesuch Records artists Ondists People educated at Abingdon School Musicians from Oxford Radiohead members The Smile (band) members