Radiohead are completely surprised by their success on TikTok.
The band’s 1997 single, Let Down, returned to the United States. Billboard Hot 100 in August, 28 years after its release after the track became popular on the platform.
Frontman Thom Yorke admits the song’s re-emergence feels “strange” because he initially fought to have it removed from his 1997 album, OK Computer.
Yorke said Sunday weather newspaper Culture magazine: “It seems especially strange to me. Because I fought tooth and nail to not have it on the album, but [guitarist] Ed O’Brien said, ‘If it doesn’t, I’m leaving.'”
Ed O’Brien went on to tell the publication that he sees the song as the “emotional heart” of the album, but he was still confused by the song’s popularity on TikTok, so he asked his children about it.
He said: “I was amazed [by the son’s success on TikTok]. So I told my children, who are 18 and 21, and they said, ‘What are you waiting for? Teenagers are depressed. It’s depressing music!'”
It is pertinent to mention that Radiohead announced last month that they will return to the stage in several European cities later this year, marking their first concerts since 2018.
Thom Yorke also explained the reason for the band’s hiatus: “The wheels came off a bit, so we had to stop.”
