Radiohead is gearing up to hit the road again — but don’t call it a conventional world tour. Guitarist Ed O’Brien has revealed an ambitious yet pared-down live schedule the band is eyeing for the coming years. “It’s definitely happening,” O’Brien said of Radiohead’s return to the stage, in a new interview. “What we’re going to do is, every year we’re going to do a different continent, and we’re going to do 20 shows each year. No more, no less.” In typical Radiohead fashion, the plan flips the script on the standard months-long global tour. Instead, starting in 2027, the Oxfordshire art-rock icons intend to perform just 20 concerts annually, focusing each year on a single region of the world.
The strategy comes on the heels of Radiohead’s successful string of comeback shows in late 2025, which saw them play 20 dates across Europe (including multi-night runs in London, Berlin, and more). Rather than extend that tour immediately to other territories, the band pressed pause for 2026. Now we know why: they’ve been devising this rotate-the-continent approach to keep things fresh and sustainable. By limiting the number of shows, Radiohead can ensure every performance is an event — and avoid the burnout that sometimes accompanies massive tours. It also means fans in, say, North America or Asia will have to wait their turn if their continent isn’t on deck in a given year, but the promise is that eventually the band will make the rounds.
O’Brien’s comments, given to Rolling Stone while discussing his new solo project, have electrified the fanbase with the prospect of a “definitely” active Radiohead. “We won’t do anything this year, but we’ll do something next year,” he clarified, suggesting that 2027 will likely kick off the cycle (smart money is on North America or Asia as the first stop). After years of side projects and speculation, it sounds like Thom Yorke and company are firmly plotting Radiohead’s next era on their own terms — in limited doses, across the globe, one year at a time.
