Jonny Greenwood’s studio is filled with guitars, pianos, violas, synthesizers, ondes Martenot and instruments that are difficult to fit into the usual image of a rock musician. It is precisely this curiosity about sound that has turned Radiohead’s guitarist into one of the most recognizable multi-instrumentalists of his generation.
Greenwood was born on November 5, 1971, in Oxford. In 2026, he turns 55. His full name is Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood. He joined Radiohead as a schoolboy in 1985, and the band gradually became one of the most influential acts in alternative rock.
The guitarist who expanded Radiohead’s boundaries
In the band, Greenwood is not limited to the guitar. He plays keyboards, piano, synthesizers, viola and the ondes Martenot — an early electronic instrument whose ethereal sound became part of Radiohead’s distinctive sonic landscape.
His contribution is particularly evident on albums such as OK Computer, Kid A and In Rainbows. The band’s most recent studio album to date is A Moon Shaped Pool, released in 2016.
After a seven-year hiatus, Radiohead returned to the stage in 2025 with 20 concerts in Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen and Berlin. Greenwood described the experience as enjoyable, but admitted that he does not know whether the band will record new material. “It was really lovely to play and listen to Thom again,” he said in an interview cited by NME. According to him, all the members are creating new music, but for now outside Radiohead.
From the stage to the cinema
Alongside his work with Radiohead, Greenwood has built a career as a composer. He has written the music for films including There Will Be Blood, The Master, Inherent Vice, Phantom Thread and The Power of the Dog. He has worked with director Paul Thomas Anderson on several productions, and his score for Phantom Thread earned him nominations for an “Oscar” and a BAFTA.
In 2026, Greenwood also received a new “Oscar” nomination for Best Original Score for Anderson’s film One Battle After Another. It is further proof that his name has long belonged to more than just the rock scene.
New directions with The Smile and Ranjha
Alongside Thom Yorke and drummer Tom Skinner, Greenwood is a member of The Smile. The trio has released the albums A Light for Attracting Attention, Wall of Eyes and Cutouts, the last of which came out in 2024.
In May 2026, Greenwood also released Ranjha, a new album with Shye Ben Tzur and Rajasthan Express. The project continues the collaboration that began with Junun in 2015, but this time the recordings were made at Greenwood’s studio in Oxfordshire.
The musician himself says that he now plays guitar every day — a habit that did not exist at the beginning of his career. “I used to feel like a clumsy guitarist and I was lazy,” Greenwood admitted to The Independent, as cited by NME. Later, it was precisely his persistence that helped him turn the guitar from an instrument into an entire language.
Sources: nme.com, theguardian.com, pitchfork.com