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50 free Radiohead trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Radiohead met at a boys' school in Abingdon, rehearsed on Fridays, turned down Island Records to go to university, and got signed after their eighth gig. Their first single was blacklisted by Radio 1 as too depressing, broke in Israel and America, and was the song they then spent a decade trying to escape. OK Computer made them the most acclaimed band of the 1990s; Kid A was called a commercial suicide note and then the album of the decade; In Rainbows let fans pay whatever they liked. These 50 questions cover the whole arc: the Talking Heads song behind the name, the Hollies writers credited on Creep, the mansion near Bath where the third album was recorded, the Hitchhiker's Guide phrase that named it, the Napster leak, the Harry Potter cameo, the Toronto stage collapse, the Smile and Atoms for Peace, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction only two members bothered to attend. Easy questions cover the members and albums; the expert tier asks about demo tapes, A&R scouts, side-project drummers and chart peaks. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation. Play it solo, or print it for an alternative rock quiz night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which Oxfordshire town did Radiohead form in 1985?
Abingdon
The five met at the town's private boys' school and rehearsed in its music room on Fridays.
Q 02Who is Radiohead's lead singer?
Thom Yorke
He emerged as the main songwriter early on, though every member contributed songs in the school years.
Q 03What was Radiohead's debut single, released in 1992?
Creep
It flopped at first, then caught on abroad and on American alternative radio before a 1993 reissue made it a hit.
Q 04What was the title of Radiohead's 1993 debut album?
Pablo Honey
It reached only number 22 in the UK, and the band later expressed dissatisfaction with it.
Q 05Which 1997 album is Radiohead's most acclaimed, with themes of modern alienation?
OK Computer
It was their first UK number-one debut and won the Grammy for Best Alternative Album.
Q 06Which 2007 album did Radiohead release as a pay-what-you-want download?
In Rainbows
Fans could pay any amount, including nothing; it was the first such release by a major act.
Q 07Which producer has worked on every Radiohead album since the mid-1990s?
Nigel Godrich
He started as an engineer on The Bends and first recorded with the band on the My Iron Lung EP.
Q 08Radiohead took their name from a song by which band?
Talking Heads
EMI asked them to change their name; 'Radio Head' is on the 1986 album True Stories.
Q 09Which surname is shared by two brothers in Radiohead?
Greenwood
Colin plays bass; his younger brother Jonny, the last to join, was three school years below him.
Q 10Who is Radiohead's drummer?
Philip Selway
He was recruited after the band played their first show with a drum machine.
Q 11In which year were Radiohead inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
2019
David Byrne gave the induction speech; only the drummer and Ed O'Brien turned up to accept.
Q 12Which 2000 Radiohead album marked a dramatic turn toward electronic music?
Kid A
It divided listeners at first but was later named the best album of the decade by several outlets.
Q 13What is the name of the band Yorke and Jonny debuted in 2021?
The Smile
It started as a way to work together during lockdown and released three albums by 2024.
Jonny scored There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread for which director?
Q 21Which band did Radiohead support on tour in 1995, one of their formative influences?
R.E.M.
Michael Stipe's public enthusiasm helped keep them in the spotlight outside the UK.
Q 22The title of Radiohead's third album comes from a phrase in which radio series?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Zaphod Beeblebrox demands full manual control in the line; the band heard it on their 1996 tour bus and Yorke noted it down.
Q 23'Fitter Happier' is recited by 'Fred', a synthesised voice from which make of machine?
Apple Macintosh
Yorke wrote the words in ten minutes and found it liberating to hand them to a neutral-sounding voice.
Paul Thomas Anderson
Phantom Thread earned him an Oscar nomination; One Battle After Another in 2025 was their sixth film together.
Q 15Which major label signed Radiohead to a six-album deal in 1991?
EMI
They signed on 21 December after a Jericho Tavern show attended by several A&R scouts.
Q 16Which artist has designed Radiohead's album covers since 1994?
Stanley Donwood
Yorke met him at the University of Exeter; the pair exhibited their artwork at the Ashmolean Museum in 2025.
Q 17What was Radiohead called before they signed their record deal?
On a Friday
The name referred to their usual rehearsal day in the school music room; Melody Maker called it 'terrible'.
Q 18Which 1972 song, later a Hollies hit, earned its writers a credit on Radiohead's debut single?
The Air That I Breathe
Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood accepted only a small share because the band were honest about the borrowing.
Q 19Why did BBC Radio 1 blacklist Radiohead's debut single in 1992?
Too depressing
NME was no kinder, calling the band 'a lily-livered excuse for a rock band'.
Q 20In which country did Radiohead play their first overseas show, in March 1993?
Israel
DJ Yoav Kutner had made their debut single a hit there before it broke in America.
Q 24Radiohead's fourth album leaked months early on which file-sharing network?
Napster
The leak was credited with helping it debut at number one in the US regardless.
Q 25Which label released the retail version of Radiohead's seventh album in the UK?
XL Recordings
The same label bought the band's entire back catalogue from EMI in 2016.
Q 26Which film featured the drummer and Jonny as members of the wizard band the Weird Sisters?
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Jarvis Cocker of Pulp fronted the fictional band in the 2005 film.
Q 27What was the title of Yorke's 2006 debut solo album?
The Eraser
He stressed it was made with the band's blessing and that Radiohead were not splitting.
Q 28In which city did a stage collapse kill Radiohead's drum technician before a 2012 show?
Toronto
Scott Johnson died at Downsview Park; the band paid tribute at their next show in Nîmes, France.
Q 29What was the name of the band Yorke formed in 2009 with his producer and the bassist Flea?
Atoms for Peace
It played his solo material live and released the album Amok in 2013.
Q 30How many Mercury Prize nominations do Radiohead hold, the most of any act?
5
A Moon Shaped Pool made it five in 2016; they have never actually won.