Radiohead

The Coachella 2026 lineup had, seemingly, begun leaking in the days before its official announcement, as names such as Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G started being discussed as possible headliners. Though, with both names on the heels of widely successful projects, it was hardly a “crystal ball” suggestion — it just so happened to be correct.

Saturday headliner Justin Bieber is still simmering down from a revival that resulted in two consecutive albums — “Swag” and “Swag II,” released on July 11 and Sept. 5, respectively — making his presence at the fest pretty much inevitable.

However, the real crown jewel hiding in the lineup’s fine text was an additional feature that would set off alarms: the inclusion of a group called “Nine Inch Noize” and “The Bunker Debut Of Radiohead Kid A Mnesia,” which was included at the bottom of Coachella’s lineup. Given the online fervor of both these acts it’s worth doing a quick summary of what we know about them.

Naturally, longtime fans of the English quartet swarmed social media to speculate a surprise appearance from the band. Given that Radiohead just announced its first live shows in seven years, it was mentally conceivable that they could throw in an Indio pit stop.

“Surely I’m not the only one noticing Radiohead on the Coachella lineup…” one fan wrote. Another chimed in, “What’s this about the Bunker debut of “Radiohead Kid A mnesia”… So exciting.”

Not only this, but the lineup’s Friday undercards included “Nine Inch Noize,” which seems to be a collaborative project between Nine Inch Nails and German electronic music producer Boys Noize, otherwise known as Alex Ridha. This would be NIN’s first appearance at the festival since 2005.

This one is a bit easier to break down. For context, Boys Noize provided support for Trent Reznor’s brainchild on their recent “Peel It Back” tour and even pumped out some remixes of the band’s hits.

“NIN is listed as Nine Inch Noize. That’s probably because Boys Noize has already been performing as a quasi-half member on the current tour,” one fan explained.

Past performances included a rendition of “Closer,” NIN’s second single off of its lauded sophomore album, “The Downward Spiral,” released in 1994. Though the track already leans into electronic elements, Boys Noize heightens these by tenfold into a techno bliss. On stage, Reznor bounces around under purple lights while Ridha glides along his deck.

Under a YouTube video of the live show, viewers flocked to the comments to demand more of the two: “I need a f— studio version of this remix,” one wrote.

Boys Noize is also listed separately as a performer at the festival, on Saturday.

Back to Radiohead: If the release of Radiohead’s Kid A Mnesia flew over your head, fear not. The compilation album mashes together the best of two albums: “Kid A” and “Amnesiac,” which came out just eight months apart. Its release in 2021 got some buzz, as members of the band began teasing it on social media and eager listeners began to think it may be a tour or even — the holy grail — a new album.

But, no, it would not be the long-awaited 10th studio album from Radiohead, its last release having been the gloomy but beautiful “A Moon Shaped Pool” in 2016. Instead they got “Kid A Mnesia,” which seemingly draws on commentary that the similar sonic palette between the two suggests “Amnesiac” may very well be the leftover of “Kid A.”

But what is a project from four years ago doing on the Coachella 2026 lineup and what is the Bunker?

Starting with the bad news, a representative of Radiohead told The Times “that the band will not physically be at Coachella” and there are “more details to come.” So, no, the band will not make its return to Indio — the band members last played the festival in 2017.

We can’t exactly pinpoint whatthe Bunker is, but it may have something to do with an immersive exhibition the band released alongside the compilation in 2021. It describes itself as “an upside-down digital/analogue universe” that draws from original artwork and recordings to “commemorate 21 years of Kid A and Amnesiac.”

This would align with Radiohead’s recent extracurriculars, as in August the band opened “This Is What You Get,” an exhibition that examined the visual identity of the band throughout its existence. It’s running at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford until Jan. 11, 2026.

Radiohead have announced their first tour in seven years, after teasing it with a series of mysterious flyers that appeared in cities across Europe.

The revered band will play four nights at London’s O2 Arena on 21, 22, 24 and 25 November 2025, with other dates in Berlin, Bologna, Copenhagen and Madrid.

Radiohead last played live in 2018, but drummer Philip Selway confirmed in an Instagram post on the band’s official account on Wednesday that they got back together “to rehearse, just for the hell of it” last year.

“After a seven year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us,” he continued.

“It also made us want to play some shows together, so we hope you can make it to one of the upcoming dates.”

The five-city European tour is all there is for now, he wrote, but added: “Who knows where this will all lead.”

The British band last performed together when they brought their Moon Shaped Pool tour to a close in the US in 2018, after having headlined Glastonbury Festival the previous year.

Since then, frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood have recorded and performed as side project The Smile.

The Smile cancelled some concerts in July 2024 when Jonny, also an Oscar-nominated film composer, became seriously ill from an infection that needed emergency hospital treatment, some of it in intensive care.

Among the other band members, Ed O’Brien has been working on the follow-up to his debut solo album, released in 2020 under the moniker EOB, while bassist Colin Greenwood – Jonny’s brother – has been playing with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds of late.

Last year, Colin confirmed that Radiohead – who formed as schoolmates in 1985 and went on to release nine studio albums – had rehearsed together again that summer. “And it was really fun, had a really good time,” he said in conversation with the Hay Festival Querétaro.

However, late last year, Yorke told Australian radio station Triple J he was not aware of any plans for a Radiohead live return any time soon, regardless of the demand from fans.

“No offence to anyone and, er, thanks for caring,” he said. “But I think we’ve earned the right to do what makes sense to us without having to explain ourselves or be answerable to anyone else’s historical idea of what we should be doing.”

In March this year, though, keen-eyed Radiohead fans noticed they registered a new limited liability partnership (LLP) labelled RHEUK25, with all five members listed as officers.

They then gave four tickets to a “Radiohead concert of your choice” to a Los Angeles fire relief auction run by Palisades High School, suggesting gigs were on the horizon.

Their 2003 album Hail to the Thief was this year remixed with William Shakespeare’s Hamlet for stage shows in Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon.

And last week, their track Let Down – taken from their acclaimed 1997 album OK Computer – entered the US Billboard chart 28 years after its release, having gone viral on TikTok.

Registration for tickets for their new tour will open at Radiohead.com on Friday 5 September at 10:00 BST.