Thom Yorke decided to become a rockstar thanks to Queen

On several occasions, Thom Yorke has told and recalled how he decided to become a rock star at just seven years old. When he was a child, the current frontman of Radiohead and The Smile was inspired and pushed towards his dreams by Queen and one song in particular, “Bohemian Rhapsody” from the historic British band’s 1975 album, “A Night at the Opera”.

As recently reported by Loudersound, Thom Yorke said during an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in 2019: “I was obsessed with Queen when ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ came out. I remember sitting at a friend’s house listening to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do.'”

A few years later, in an interview in 2023 for Jason Thomas Gordon’s book, “The Singers Talk,” the frontman of the “Creep” band explained that he initially wanted to be a great guitarist, rather than a singer. On that occasion, he said: “I didn’t see myself as someone who could get in front of a microphone. I loved Queen a lot, but I didn’t see myself as Freddie Mercury. In my head, I was always Brian May.”

Thom Yorke discussed the inspiration the guitarist from the legendary band once fronted by Freddie Mercury had had for him back in 1997, when he recalled a meeting with the two in a chat with Irish magazine Hot Press: “I met Brian May once and I said, ‘You’re the reason I spent months and months in my garage trying to build a guitar,'” the Radiohead frontman revealed. “I didn’t have any tools, just a fucking hacksaw and some brass things to round off the edges.” Luckily, Yorke later told Desert Island Discs, his father “felt so sorry” that he eventually decided to give him a guitar.

Also during the Hot Press interview, when asked if he still considered himself a Queen fan, Thom Yorke replied: “Well, yeah, more or less. To a certain extent. You can’t help but admire them.” He added: “I’ve heard stories about Freddie Mercury, from someone who worked with him, that he apparently didn’t talk to anyone, never gave interviews. Yet when he went on stage, you saw him completely focused and elated, but in private he was the exact opposite: sensitive and very shy. I always thought he was very charming, it was as if he were two different people.”