Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and popPopShort for popular music, a broad genre built on catchy melodies, clear hooks, and polished production that aims to reach a wide audience. Pop constantly borrows from other styles, andGo to Pop Glossary singer Harry Styles have found common ground despite their opposite musical backgrounds. The two linked up for Rolling Stone’s Musicians on Musicians video published on October 8. Prior to the conversation, they first met in the summer of 2024, when Styles was walking through Rome and caught sight of Yorke. Styles was in the city to see Yorke’s side project, The Smile, perform that same night.
“ I think for me through that [moment of meeting you] and then the show, it’d always been, you know, you to me had always been that person I was kind of scared of meeting,” Styles tells Yorke.
In May, Styles gave a personal tribute to Yorke when he received the Fellowship of The Ivors Academy at the 71st Ivor Novello Awards. During the speech, Styles admitted that he “lost his virginity” to the intro of “Talk Show Host,” a 1996 B-side from Radiohead’s The Bends.
Impostor Syndrome
The conversation also turned to the strain of touring. By the time OK Computer was released, Yorke said he was sick of the album after recording the songs over and over, and the band wanted to move on from it. Their manager, however, wanted them to play it on tour. Yorke begged them to stop, but the tour went ahead anyway, and it kept going for over two years.
“Two years later, we were still going, you know, and that was just really fucked up because the moving on thing is like, yeah, that’s not a luxury. That’s entirely essential,” Yorke says. “I think everybody sort of has their different ways of dealing with this. Like personally, I rely on the sort of thing of not doing it for too long. I wish I could do it for a long time. I can’t.”
When Yorke received the Fellowship of The Ivors Academy, he brought up how fans love a song like “Pyramid Song,” which has only three chords, and said he still couldn’t see why people admire his music. Styles then admitted to Yorke that he has struggled with impostor syndrome.
“I’ve always wondered if [a song like ‘Pyramid Song’] is part of why the impostor syndrome that can come with that commercial success exists,” Styles says. “If you write in that way, it almost feels like you’re not responsible for it. So then if people are like, ‘Oh, you’ve made this thing and that means that you’re this,’ there’s something in there that feels like, ‘Oh, I can’t take credit for it. It just happened to me.’”
Yorke told him that impostor syndrome feels like you have nothing to show for yourself are part of the creative process, and that the way through is to keep showing up. When Styles said he sometimes worries his shows feel too easy onstage, Yorke assured him that was normal.
“Sometimes it’s fun, but sometimes you’re doing it because you feel you should do it, because you need to stay ahead of the game,” Yorke says. “Or you need to keep proving that you are who you say you are, or other people say you are.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Harry Styles comments about his imposter syndrome, saying “If people are like, “Oh, you’ve made this thing and that means that you’re this,” there’s something in there that feels like, “Oh, I can’t take credit for it. It just happened to me.””
Thom Yorke says that he is “sick” of playing OK Computer prior to its release due to repeated performances of the songs during recording.
Harry Styles had specifically listened to “Talk Show Host,” a B-side from Radiohead’s 1996 album The Bends.
They first met in the summer of 2024, when Styles was walking through Rome and caught sight of Yorke.
In May, Harry Styles gave a tribute to Thom Yorke at the 71st Ivor Novello Awards.
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