Ed O'Brien

Ed O'Brien is the quiet engine I most respect in Radiohead. He once described his job as serving the songs and supporting Thom Yorke, and that humility is exactly what makes him essential. Rather than chasing solos, he builds ambient textures with effects, sustain units and the EBow, giving the band its sense of space and atmosphere. Standing 196 cm yet content to work from the background, he embodies the truth that great bands need someone shaping the air around the melody. I find that kind of unselfish craftsmanship deeply admirable, and his solo work proves the vision was always his own too.

Name (English)

Ed O'Brien

Name (Japanese)

エド・オブライエン

Reading

えど・おぶらいえん

Born

April 15, 1968 (age 58)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Monkey

Origin

Oxford, United Kingdom

Height

196 cm

Occupation

guitarist / percussionist / songwriter / musician / composer

• Official sitehttps://www.eobmusic.com/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed%20O'Brien
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A8%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AA%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%82%A8%E3%83%B3
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q842850

Tags

• guitarist
• percussionist
• songwriter

Last updated

2026-06-18

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.