Multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood is the guitarist for British rock band Radiohead. He's also the composer-in-residence for the BBC and wrote the score for the Paul Thomas Anderson film There Will Be Blood.
Fast Facts:
- Name: Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood
- Born: November 5, 1971
- Genre: Experimental Rock, Classical
- Origin: Oxford, England
- Active: 1992-Present
- Brother of Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood
- Spouse: Sharona Greenwood
- Ranked #59 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 All-Time Greatest Guitarists
- Plays guitar, viola, organ, piano, xylophone, glockenspiel, ondes Martenot, banjo, harmonica and drums
- Wears an arm brace when playing guitar
- Only classically trained musician in Radiohead
- Notable instruments: Fender Telecaster Plus, Fender Starcaster, Ondes Martenot
Career with Radiohead
Greenwood has been a member of Radiohead since was still a student at university. The band, then called On a Friday, was signed to EMI in 1991. Greenwood is the band's lead guitarist and also provides much of the electronic accompaniment and sound collages that appear on the band's albums.
While Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke is generally considered the band's primary songwriter, Greenwood has contributed extensively to the band's sound.
Other Projects
in 2003, Greenwood wrote music for the documentary Bodysong and released the soundtrack as a solo album. The album contains one song, "Convergence," that also appeared on the There Will Be Blood soundtrack he composed in 2007, a technicality that barred that music from competing at the Academy Awards that year.
In May of 2004, Greenwood was offered the position of composer-in-residence for the BBC and has recorded three original pieces for them - smear, Piano for Children and Popcorn Superhet Receiver. The third piece won the Radio 3 Listeners' Award at the 2006 BBC British Composer Awards.
The Mahalo Top7
Wikipedia: Jonny Greenwood
Official MySpace Page: Jonny Greenwood
Pitchfork: Jonny Greenwood Collaborates with Israeli Singer (January 16, 2009)
Pitchfork: Jonny Greenwood Talks In Rainbows (JOctober 10, 2007)
Guitar Geek: Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead
Faber Music: Jonny Greenwood Biography
YouTube Video: "Bodysong"