Member Biography
Thomas Edward Yorke
Yorke was born on 7 October, 1968, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. At birth, his left eye was fixed shut; the doctors
determined that the eye was paralyzed and that the condition was permanent. Yorke's parents took him to an eye
specialist, who suggested a muscle graft. Yorke underwent five eye operations before he was six years old
.
Yorke's father, a chemical equipment salesman, was hired by a firm in Scotland shortly after his son'
s
birth and the family lived there until Yorke was seven. During this time Yorke had to wear a patch over his eye. He has
stated that the last surgery was "botched," giving him a drooping eyelid.Y orke's family moved frequently; Yorke would
move from school to school, where classmates teased him because of his eye problems. The family finally settled
in Oxfordshire in 1978.Yorke received his first guitar when he was seven, inspired by guitarist Brian May in a live
performance with his band Queen. By age eleven he had joined his first band and written his first song.
He attended the all boys public school Abingdon where he met future band members Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway,
Colin Greenwood and Colin's younger brother, Jonny Greenwood. Yorke and his friends formed a band
named On A Friday, as Friday was the only day on which the members were allowed to rehearse. Yorke, in this
early line up, played guitar and provided vocals, and was already developing his songwriting and lyrical skills.
Yorke, speaking about music's influence on him as a schoolboy, said, "School was bearable for me because
the music department was separate from the rest of the school. It had pianos in tiny booths, and I used to
spend a lot of time hanging around there after school."
