Edward John O'Brien (born 15 April 1968) is an English guitarist, songwriter, and member of the rock bandRadiohead. He releases solo music under the nameEOB.

Ed O'Brien
O'Brien in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Edward John O'Brien
Also known as	EOB
Born	(1968-04-15)15 April 1968 (age 57) Oxford, England
Genres	Alternative rock,experimental rock,electronic
Occupations	Musician songwriter
Instruments	Guitar vocals
Years active	1985–present
Labels	XL,TBD,Capitol
Member of	Radiohead
Formerly of	7 Worlds Collide

O'Brien attendedAbingdon School inOxfordshire, England, where he formed Radiohead with schoolmates. O'Brien said his role was to "service the songs" and support the songwriter,Thom Yorke. He often createsambient sounds and textures, usingeffects, sustain units and theEBow, and providesbacking vocals.

With musicians including the Radiohead drummer,Philip Selway, O'Brien toured and recorded with the7 Worlds Collide project in the 2000s. His first solo album,Earth, was released in 2020. O'Brien had been writing songs for years, but lacked confidence and felt their character would be lost with Radiohead. He began a North American tour in February 2020; a larger tour was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. He has campaigned on topics includingclimate change and artist rights.

Rolling Stone named O'Brien among the greatest guitarists of all time in 2010 and 2023. He was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Radiohead in 2019.

O'Brien was born on April 15, 1968.^[1] His family comes fromBallyporeen, Ireland.^[2] As a child, O'Brien enjoyed cricket and theatre. His parents separated when he was 10; O'Brien said this was when music became his "refuge".^[3] He grew up listening topost-punk acts such asSiouxsie and the Banshees,Adam and the Ants,Depeche Mode, thePolice andDavid Bowie. He said: "It was a very foetal [time] for music because people who went to art college or artists, or musicians, suddenly thought, 'Oh, I can be that.'"^[4]

The members ofRadiohead met while attendingAbingdon School, an independent school for boys inAbingdon, Oxfordshire.^[5] While O'Brien was playingLysander in a school production ofA Midsummer Night's Dream, he metThom Yorke, who was scoring the production.^[3] Yorke asked him to join him for ajam. According to O'Brien, "Before that, [life] was a bit confusing, a bit crap. And then suddenly ... I felt something very strong, almost like some kind of epiphany, almost like: 'This is it.'"^[6]

One year below the drummer,Philip Selway, O'Brien was in the year above Yorke and the bassist,Colin Greenwood, and four years above Colin's brother, the guitaristJonny Greenwood.^[7] In 1985, they formed a band, On a Friday, the name referring to their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room.^[8] They continued to rehearse during holidays while the members attended university.^[9] O'Brien studied economics at theUniversity of Manchester,^[1] where he took part in theSecond Summer of Love.^[10]

In 1991, On a Friday signed a record contract withEMI and changed their name to Radiohead.^[9] They found early success with their debut single, "Creep", from their debut album,Pablo Honey (1993).^[11] For their second album,The Bends (1995), the guitarists' roles were more divided, with Yorke generally playingrhythm, Greenwoodlead and Ed O'Brien providing effects.^[12]The Bends received positive reviews and elevated Radiohead's profile.^[13]

Radiohead's third album,OK Computer (1997), brought them international fame and is often acclaimed as one of the best albums of all time.^[14][15] O'Brien used lessdistortion and moredelay and other effects, creating a sound that was "more about textures".^[16] He became depressed during the extensiveOK Computer tour, but focused on supporting Yorke.^[17] After the tour, he returned to Oxford, used large amounts of drugs and fell further into depression. He said: "I was single, on my own … I was the lowest I've ever been. It was the irony as well – you're at the top, that old cliché."^[17]

Radiohead's next albums,Kid A (2000) andAmnesiac (2001), marked a dramatic change in sound, incorporating influences fromelectronic music,classical music,jazz andkrautrock.^[18] O'Brien initially struggled with the change, saying: "It's scary – everyone feels insecure. I'm a guitarist and suddenly it's like, well, there are no guitars on this track, or no drums."^[19] He began usingeffects units more extensively to process his guitar, creating synthesiser-like sounds.^[20] O'Brien kept an online diary of Radiohead's progress during the recording.^[21]

During the sessions forIn Rainbows (2007), O'Brien believed Radiohead might never record another album. He said later: "One of my mantras throughout the recording was, 'This is the last time I'm doing this. I'll never summon up the energy to do this again. So I'm going to put everything I can into it.'"^[22] He was motivated by a desire to secure Radiohead's legacy as a great band, and said in 2008: "In my view, we've made three really great records,The Bends,OK Computer andKid A. What we needed was another great record just to seal it."^[22]

By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.^[23] They were inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2019; O'Brien and Selway attended the induction ceremony and gave speeches. O'Brien thanked his bandmates for their musicianship and friendship, saying that "some of the nights we have in the rehearsal studio [are] like transcendental moments".^[24]

In 2020, O'Brien said his role in Radiohead was to "service the songs" and support Yorke. He said: "I've always been like his older brother ... I always say that he was like the dad of the band and I'm the mum. My job was to always put my arm around him, and his job was to be Thom."^[17] Radiohead's producer,Nigel Godrich, described O'Brien as "very much a diplomat".^[10]

O'Brien releases solo music under the name EOB. After making demos with the producerIan Davenport in 2014,^[25] he recorded with the producerFlood from late 2017 to early 2019.^[26] He had written songs for years, but lacked the confidence to bring them to Radiohead and felt they had a "distinct energy" that would be lost if they became a "hybrid product".^[25][26] He denied that he had ever felt "creatively stifled" in Radiohead.^[27] O'Brien's debut solo work, the non-album track "Santa Teresa", was released on 4 October, 2019.Stereogum described it as a "haunting"ambient instrumental in the style ofBrian Eno andFennesz.^[28]

O'Brien's debut solo album,Earth, was released on 17 April 2020 onCapitol Records^[29] to positive reviews.^[30] It features the Radiohead bassist, Colin Greenwood, plus the drummerOmar Hakim, theInvisible membersNathan East andDave Okumu, the folk singerLaura Marling, thePortishead guitaristAdrian Utley and theWilco drummerGlenn Kotche.^[31] The music was inspired by O'Brien's time living in Brazil and attendingCarnival, which he described as a "musical eureka moment".^[31] The first track, "Brasil", was released on 5 December 2019,^[32] followed by "Shangri-La" on 6 February.^[29] O'Brien began a North American tour in February 2020;^[33] a largerEarth tour was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[34]

O'Brien contributed a remix ofPaul McCartney's song "Slidin'" to the 2021 remix albumMcCartney III Imagined.^[35] O'Brien said he intendedEarth to be the first album in a trilogy.^[27] In January 2024, he said he was "deep into" recording his second album.^[36]

In 1999, O'Brien contributed to the soundtrack for theBBC drama seriesEureka Street.^[37] He contributed guitar to the 2003Asian Dub Foundation albumEnemy of the Enemy.^[38] With Selway and other musicians, O'Brien toured and recorded withNeil Finn as part of the7 Worlds Collide project. He provided guitar and backing vocals on their 2001 live album and the 2009 albumThe Sun Came Out.^[39][40]

In 2009, along with the musiciansDave Rowntree,Jazzie B,Billy Bragg,Mark Kelly,Master Shortie andKate Nash, O'Brien co-founded theFeatured Artists Coalition, anonprofit organisation set up to protect the rights of featured musicians, particularly in thedigital age.^[41] He appeared in a 2011 episode of theBBC Radio 5 Live sports programmeFighting Talk in support ofRecord Shop Day.^[42] In 2013, O'Brien cofounded the Laundry, a workspace, restaurant and nightclub converted from a laundry inLondon Fields.^[43] In 2019,Hackney Council announced that the building would be demolished to make way for luxury flats.^[44]

In 2014, O'Brien and Selway signed an open letter protesting a ban on guitars in British prisons and stating that music was important forrehabilitation.^[45] In 2018, O'Brien became an "informal patron" for the environmental pressure groupExtinction Rebellion, which he described as "incredibly enlightened".^[3] In 2019, O'Brien joined theRSPB Let Nature Sing project, which aimed to getbirdsong into the UK charts to raise awareness of the decline in Britain's birdlife.^[46]

In 2020, O'Brien contributed to Ear Opener, an online video course aimed at helping young people write music.^[47] That November, he gave evidence to aDCMS Committee inquiry into the impact ofstreaming on the music industry. He said he wanted to speak for less successful artists, who he felt were exploited.^[48] In February 2025, O'Brien spoke aboutclimate change at São Paulo International Music Week.^[49] O'Brien was one of more than 1,000 musicians to backIs This What We Want?, an album of silence released on 25 February protesting the use ofunlicensed copyrighted work to train AI.^[50]

WhileJonny Greenwood plays most of Radiohead'slead guitar parts, O'Brien often createsambient effects, making extensive use ofeffects units.^[51] He said of the technique: "It's a bit like you're creating a canvas. That would be in accompaniment with Thom playing chords on the piano — you're building up a cloud of effects behind."^[16] O'Brien said of his playing: "I literally learned to play my instrument within the band, so I started off very limited — and I'mstill very limited. But I've been lucky, because I've been in a band that has not required you to be a virtuoso."^[52]

O'Brien usually playsFender Stratocasters, including anEric Clapton Stratocaster.^[52] He worked withFender to design a signature model guitar, the EOBStratocaster, which went on sale in November 2017. It features atremolo bridge and a sustainerpickup.^[53] He also playsGretsch andRickenbacker guitars, including atwelve-string Rickenbacker.^[52] O'Brien also sings backing vocals, whichPitchfork described as Radiohead's "most consistent secret weapon".^[54]

O'Brien said in 2017 that his most used effects for Radiohead weredistortion, anElectro-Harmonix Memory Mandelay and aDigiTech Whammy pitch shifter.^[16] He described theBoss DD-5 delay pedal as "key to the sound ofThe Bends andOK Computer ... It's the only delay that can make thoseOK Computer sounds."^[55] In theKid A sessions, at the suggestion ofMichael Brook, the creator of theInfinite Guitar, O'Brien began using sustain units, which allow guitar notes to besustained indefinitely. He combined these withlooping and delay effects to create synthesiser-like sounds.^[20]

To create the high-pitched chiming sound that introduces "Lucky", O'Brien strums above theguitar nut.^[51] He creates the reverberating pops on the introduction of "2 + 2 = 5".^[51] On "Karma Police", O'Brien distorts his guitar by driving a delay effect to self-oscillation, then lowering the delay rate, creating a "melting" effect.^[56] The ambient track "Treefingers" was created by processing O'Brien's guitar loops.^[20] On "Dollars and Cents", O'Brien uses apitch shifter pedal to shift his guitar chords fromminor tomajor.^[57] For "All I Need", he used a sustain unit and a guitar strung with four bottom E strings, creating a thicker sound.^[16] O'Brien uses theEBow, an electronic sustaining device, on his guitar to generatedrones and ambient leads on songs such as "My Iron Lung", "Talk Show Host", "Jigsaw Falling Into Place", "Where I End and You Begin" and "Nude".^[58] OnThe King of Limbs andA Moon Shaped Pool, he used aKlon Centaur overdrive pedal.^[59]

In 2010, theRolling Stone journalistDavid Fricke named O'Brien the 59th-greatest guitarist of all time.^[51] In 2023,Rolling Stone named O'Brien and Greenwood the joint 43rd-greatest guitarists, writing that O'Brien was "possibly the most underrated guitarist in rock ... adding subtle textures that enhance each song and keeping the band grounded with his cheerful, up-for-anything vibe. You might not be able to name his best solo, but it's impossible to imagine Radiohead without him."^[60]

O'Brien's earliest guitar influence wasAndy Summers of the Police, particularly his use of delay andchorus effects on "Walking on the Moon".^[16] His other influences includePeter Buck ofR.E.M,Paul Weller of theJam,Johnny Marr of theSmiths,John McGeoch ofMagazine and Siouxsie and the Banshees, and theEdge ofU2.^[16] O'Brien admired how these guitarists created "space" rather than playing conventional solos.^[4] He said: "They were great guitarists, but they weren't lead guitarists ... My favourite guitarists know when not to play. Then you make more of it when you do play. Make it count."^[16]

O'Brien cited the American bandPhish as an influence on his solo shows, saying: "[They're] like a jazz band; they are willing to take risks for a moment of musical transcendence. That's what I'm after — I want to tap into that."^[61] He cited the music of Brazil, such as the music ofCarnival andJorge Ben, as an influence onEarth. Other influences includedEarth, Wind & Fire,Arcade Fire,Underworld,Bill Withers,Talking Heads and the "Celtic, folky" music ofLed Zeppelin.^[25]

O'Brien lives in north London.^[62] With his wife, Susan Kobrin, he has a son, born in January 2004, and a daughter, born in 2006.^[63][64] Around 2000, O’Brien gave up alcohol, saying it was "fucking him up", and began practisingmeditation.^[65] In 2011, he and his family moved to Brazil for a year, living on a farm nearUbatuba.^[17] He is a cricket fan and once played a match against the musiciansRichard Thompson andChris Martin.^[65] In March 2020, O'Brien announced that he had contractedCOVID-19 and was recovering in isolation.^[66]

• List of Old Abingdonians

• Randall, Mac (2000).Exit Music: The Radiohead Story.Omnibus Press.ISBN 0-385-33393-5.