Radiohead’s Thom Yorke shares most important piece of advice given to him by R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe

Thom Yorke, do Radiohead, revelou um conselho formativo que recebeu de Michael Stipe, do R. E. M., enquanto enfrentava a fama.

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Yorke reflected on his decades-long friendship with Stipe during his new Rolling Stone conversation with Harry Styles, which saw the pair discuss navigating fame and the impact it has on their private lives.

After Styles recalled feeling confined to hotels early in his career, Yorke said walking and people-watching could help “bring you out of yourself” and recalled how Stipe encouraged him to stop hiding away during Radiohead’s early years.

Yorke relembrou que Stipe imediatamente colocou o conselho à prova durante uma noite na estrada. “Lembro-me de estar em Estocolmo indo a um clube bem movimentado, e ele disse, ‘Tente,’,” ele continuou.

He added that while being recognised could still leave artists feeling vulnerable, living permanently behind closed doors was worse: “It’s not an easy decision to make, but it’s better than the alternative.”.

Radiohead supported R. E. M. on the latter’s huge 1995 ‘Monster’ tour, beginning a friendship between Yorke and Stipe that has continued for more than three decades.

Speaking to NME in 2019, Stipe said the two had “forged a friendship through touring together and a mutual respect for each other’s work”.

Enquanto Stipe minimizava a sugestão de que ele havia atuado como mentor de Yorke, ele reconheceu que suas próprias experiências com a fama se mostraram úteis para o cantor mais jovem.

Yorke has similarly credited Stipe with helping him when Radiohead’s success began to overwhelm him, saying in 2019 that the R. E. M. singer “helped me when things went crazy, when people started to talk to me like I was Jesus.

When Yorke called him during the relentless touring that followed ‘OK Computer’ to say he was struggling, Stipe advised him to imagine withdrawing from the situation and tell himself: “I’m not here, this isn’t happening.”.

The phrase became the central refrain of ‘How To Disappear Completely’ on Radiohead’s 2000 album ‘Kid A’. Stipe confirmed the story to NME, simply responding “Yep” when asked whether the lyric had originated in his advice.

Yorke tem se juntado repetidamente ao R. E. M. para executar ‘E-Bow The Letter’, assumindo a parte vocal originalmente cantada por Patti Smith, incluindo no Tibetan Freedom Concert de 1998 e em um show secreto em uma igreja londrina em 2004.

A recording of the latter performance was officially released in 2018.

At two shows in Vancouver in 2003, meanwhile, Yorke joined R. E. M. for ‘E-Bow The Letter’ and ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’, before Stipe returned the favour the following night by joining Radiohead for ‘Karma Police’.

Their friendship endured beyond R. E. M.’s 2011 split too. Yorke revealed at the time that Stipe had sent him a message warning him that the band were about to call it a day.

A voz definidora do mundo em música e cultura pop: desbravando o que há de novo e o que vem por aí desde 1952.

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