Colin Greenwood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Colin Greenwood
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Greenwood performing at the Bonnaroo music festival in 2006.
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| Birth name | Colin Charles Greenwood |
| Born | 26 June 1969 Oxford, England |
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| Years active | 1985–present |
Colin Charles Greenwood (born June 26, 1969) is an English musician best known as the bassist for the famous rock band Radiohead. Besides the bass guitar, he also plays the upright bass and other electronic instruments.
Colin and his younger brother, guitarist Jonny Greenwood, went to Abingdon School in England. It was there that they started the band that would become Radiohead. The band has received many awards and has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. In 2019, Colin Greenwood was welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Radiohead.
Greenwood has also worked on projects with his Radiohead bandmates and other famous musicians. These include Tamino, Gaz Coombes, Nick Cave, and Warren Ellis. In 2024, he released a book of his own photographs of Radiohead.
Contents
Early Life and School
Colin Greenwood is the older brother of Radiohead's guitarist, Jonny Greenwood. Their father was a bomb disposal expert in the British Army. The Greenwood family has historical connections to the British Communist Party and the Fabian Society, a socialist group. Colin lived in Germany for part of his childhood.
As a teenager, Colin enjoyed reading. He read books by American writers like Richard Ford and John Cheever. He also liked watching movies by directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Derek Jarman. His older sister, Susan, introduced him and Jonny to bands like the Fall, Magazine, and Joy Division. "We were ostracised at school because everyone else was into Iron Maiden," he once said.
Meeting His Future Bandmates
Colin and his brother attended Abingdon School, a private school for boys. When he was 12, he met Thom Yorke, who would become Radiohead's singer. He also met future bandmates Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway at the school.
Colin bought his first guitar at age 15. He and Yorke took classical guitar lessons from a teacher who introduced them to jazz, movie soundtracks, and modern classical music.
Learning the Bass
Greenwood said he started playing bass because the band needed a bass player, as O'Brien already played guitar. He taught himself by playing along to music by New Order, Joy Division, and Otis Redding.
He explained that the band members chose their instruments so they could play music together. It wasn't just about playing one specific instrument. After high school, Greenwood studied English at Peterhouse, Cambridge, from 1987 to 1990. After graduating, he worked at an Our Price record store in Oxford.
Career with Radiohead
In late 1991, a man named Keith Wozencroft from the record label EMI visited the store where Greenwood worked. Greenwood gave him a demo tape from his band, which was then called On a Friday.
This led to the band signing a six-album contract with EMI. They changed their name to Radiohead and went on to become very successful. By 2011, they had sold more than 30 million albums. In 2019, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Talking about being in a band with his brother Jonny, Colin said, "Beyond the normal brotherly thing, I respect him as a person and a musician."
Musical Style
Greenwood usually plays the bass with his fingers instead of a plectrum (a pick). He often uses Fender basses. He also plays the double bass on some songs, like "Pyramid Song".
While his main instrument is the bass, Greenwood has said that every member of Radiohead helps write the songs. He said he thinks of himself as being "in a band with other people" rather than just a bass player. His musical influences include Booker T and the MGs, Bill Withers, and Curtis Mayfield.
Other Projects and Contributions
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Greenwood has worked on many projects outside of Radiohead. He played bass on the soundtracks for the movies Bodysong (2003) and Inherent Vice (2014), which were composed by his brother, Jonny.
He has also played bass for other artists. He appeared on albums by the Belgian-Egyptian singer Tamino and the English musician Gaz Coombes. He also played on the song "Brasil" from the solo album of his Radiohead bandmate, Ed O'Brien.
In late 2022, Greenwood toured Australia with the band of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. He also joined Cave's North American tour in 2023 and played bass on the 2024 album Wild God by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He toured with the band in 2024.
In October 2024, Greenwood published a book called How to Disappear: A Portrait of Radiohead. The book is a collection of his photographs of the band taken between 2003 and 2016.
Personal Life
In December 1998, Greenwood married Molly McGrann, an American writer. They have three sons and live in Oxford, England. Greenwood is an avid reader and photographer.
See also
In Spanish: Colin Greenwood para niños
- List of Old Abingdonians
