Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood announces cancellation of UK shows due to 'credible threats'
6 May 2025, 12:37
Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood has confirmed the band has been forced to cancel a string of upcoming UK shows after a pro-Palestinian group called for their boycott.
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Greenwood said two upcoming shows, featuring a collaboration with Israeli-born musician Dudu Tassa, were cancelled following a campaign launched by The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
Greenwood and Tassa were due to perform at Bristol Beacon's Lantern Hall and London's Hackney Church in June, after the pair released full length album Jarak Qaribak in 2023.
On Tuesday, Greenwood, Tassa, and other band members announced the cancellations in a joint letter.
The statement read: "The venues and their blameless staff have received enough credible threats to conclude that it's not safe to proceed."
Read More: Counter-terror police launch investigation in to Kneecap after 'kill your local MP' call
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel said in a post on X that they welcomed the cancellations and that the performances would have "whitewashed" the war in Gaza.
They reiterated a call for all venues due to host Greenwood and Tassa to cancel the shows.
Greenwood and Tassa's joint letter continues: "The campaign which has successfully stopped the concerts insist that "this is not censorship" and "this isn't about silencing music or attacking individual artists."
"But its organizers can't have it both ways. Forcing musicians not to perform and denying people who want to hear them an opportunity to do so is self-evidently a method of censorship and silencing."
"We believe art exists above and beyond politics; that art that seeks to establish the common identity of musicians across borders in the Middle East should be encouraged, not decried; and that artists should be free to express themselves regardless of their citizenship or their religion - and certainly regardless of the decisions made by their governments."
The letter also called out artists defending Northern Irish rap group Kneecap, who faced criticism after their performance the Coachella music festival in April where they projected pro-Palestine statements on large screens behind the stage.
The letter says "As the artist's statement supporting Kneecap says: "As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom.""
"We have no judgement to pass on Kneecap but note how sad it is that those supporting their freedom of expression are the same ones most determined to restrict ours."
"We agree completely with people who ask: 'how can this be more important than what's happening in Gaza and Israel?' They're right - it isn't. How could it be? What, in anyone's upcoming cultural life, is?"
Artists including Primal Scream and Paul Weller have publicly opposed calls for Kneecap's upcoming Glastonbury shows to be cancelled.
Greenwood and Tassa have collaborated for more than a decade.
Greenwood was criticised last year by pro-Palestinian groups after performing in Tel Aviv while the war in Gaza was ongoing.
Radiohead had previously faced backlash from pro-Palestinian activists after performing at Yakon Park in Tel Aviv in 2017.
