Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood Debut New Band The Smile During Glastonbury

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood debuted their new project The Smile during the Glastonbury Live At Worthy Farm global livestream on May 22.

Named after the Ted Hughes poem, the band played their first set together with Yorke on guitar, bass, Moog and Rhodes piano, during the five-hour Glastonbury livestream, also featuring performances by Coldplay, Idles, Wolf Alice, Haim, and a spoken word by PJ Harvey and Jarvis Cocker.

The Smile also features Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner and longtime collaborator Nigel Godrich, who has played with Yorke in Atoms for Peace and produced all of Radiohead’s albums following OK Computer in 1997 in addition to Yorke’s solo albums, including 2019 release Anima.

Greenwood and Yorke also performed as Venus of Furs, along with Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay, and Bernard Butler of Suede, for the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine. Yorke released his soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Suspiria in 2018, and Greenwood has released film soundtracks to the Oscar nominated Paul Thomas Anderson-helmed Phantom Thread and You Were Never Really Here, directed by Lynee Ramsay.

Yorke and Greenwood surprised Glastonbury fans with a surprise acoustic set in 2010, and Radiohead, who last released A Moon Shaped Pool in 2016, have headlined Glastonbury three times—1997, 2003, and 2017—in addition to a 2011 secret show.

“We’re truly honored that Thom and Jonny have chosen our livestream event to premiere their brand new project,” says Emily Eavis, co-organizer of Glastonbury in a statement. “Sadly, we are all unable to gather together at Worthy Farm, but alongside sets from other wonderful performers, this has all the makings of a special Glastonbury moment.”