Jonny Greenwood
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written a number of film scores.
As a boy in Oxford, England, Greenwood played in youth orchestras. Along with his elder brother, Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood, he attended Abingdon School, where he met the other members of the band. The youngest of the group, Greenwood was the last to join, at first playing keyboards and harmonica but soon becoming lead guitarist. He is the only Radiohead member to have studied music theory. He abandoned a degree in music when the band was signed to Parlophone; their debut single "Creep" was distinguished by Greenwood's aggressive guitar work. Radiohead have since achieved critical acclaim and have sold over 30 million albums.
A multi-instrumentalist, Greenwood plays bass guitar, piano, viola, and drums, among other instruments, and is a prominent player of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument. He incorporates electronic techniques such as programming, sampling and looping in his work, and writes music software used by Radiohead. He described his role in the band as an arranger, helping to transform Thom Yorke's demos into full songs. Greenwood has been named one of the greatest guitarists of all time by several publications.
Radiohead albums have featured Greenwood's string and brass arrangements, and he has composed for orchestras including the London Contemporary Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra. His first solo work, the soundtrack for the film Bodysong, was released in 2003. In 2007, he scored There Will Be Blood, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and has composed the soundtrack for every Anderson film since. In 2018, Greenwood was nominated for an Academy Award for his score for Phantom Thread. His other scores include two collaborations with director Lynne Ramsay. He has collaborated several times with the Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur.
