Jonny Greenwood
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written a number of film scores.
Along with his elder brother, Radiohead bassist Colin, Greenwood attended Abingdon School in Abingdon near Oxford, England, where he met the future band members. The youngest of the group, Greenwood was the last to join, first playing keyboards and harmonica but soon becoming lead guitarist. He abandoned a degree in music when the band signed to Parlophone; their debut single "Creep" was distinguished by Greenwood's aggressive guitar work. Radiohead have since achieved critical acclaim and sold over 30 million albums. Along with the other members of Radiohead, Greenwood was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Greenwood has been named one of the greatest guitarists of all time by publications including Rolling Stone. A multi-instrumentalist, he uses instruments including bass guitar, piano, viola, and drums, and is a prominent player of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument. He uses electronic techniques such as programming, sampling and looping, and writes music software used by Radiohead. He described his role in the band as an arranger, helping to transform Thom Yorke's demos into finished songs.
Radiohead albums feature Greenwood's string and brass arrangements, and he has composed for orchestras including the London Contemporary Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra. His first solo work, the soundtrack for the film Bodysong, was released in 2003. In 2007, he scored There Will Be Blood, the first of several collaborations with director Paul Thomas Anderson; in 2018, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his score for Anderson's Phantom Thread. Greenwood's other scores include two collaborations with director Lynne Ramsay. He has collaborated several times with the Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur, including on the 2015 album Junun. In 2021, Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile, with Yorke and drummer Tom Skinner.
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