Ed O'Brien
Name
Ed O'Brien
Birth date
15 April 1968
Land
United-Kingdom 
Stadt
Oxford
Edward John O'Brien (born 15 April 1968) is an English musician, songwriter, and guitarist for the rock band Radiohead. He is also responsible for harmony vocals during live concerts and on many tracks from the band's albums (occasionally with drummer Phil Selway). In addition, he has played guitar and provided backing vocals for the 7 Worlds Collide project.
Citing his work with Radiohead, various lists and polls have ranked Ed O'Brien as one of the greatest guitarists in the modern era.
O'Brien uses a large collection of effects pedals, to create Radiohead's distinct sound. Even on tracks that do not feature any guitar work, his pedals are put to use for other purposes, such as altering Thom Yorke's keyboard playing (he and co-guitarist Jonny Greenwood sample Yorke's piano and vocals, respectively, with the Korg Kaoss Pad on live performances of "Everything In Its Right Place"). As well as being a self-taught guitarist, he is an accomplished drummer; though his only drum contributions for Radiohead to date have been tom drums on live performances of Hail to the Thief track "There There", a task he shares with Greenwood (though the part they play is put together on a synthesizer on the studio version)., and additional drumming on the b-side “Pearly*”.
Notable songwriting contributions to Radiohead include the opening riff on the songs "Go to Sleep", and the riff that makes up the closing song on The Bends, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". He has also written the instrumental "Meeting in the Aisle", "Lull", and the music to "Big Boots".
He mainly helps to expand on the musical framework created by Thom Yorke, and is known for his contributions to "Karma Police", (he created the effect that closes the song and his backing vocals during the chorus are an integral part of the song), "Lucky" (creating the effect that opens the song) and "Treefingers" (his guitar chords were processed electronically to sound like ambient music).
O'Brien made contributions to a soundtrack project for the BBC drama series Eureka Street before recording Kid A. During sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac, he kept fans up to date with an open diary posted on the band's website, providing the most in-depth look at how those experimental albums were recorded. His most recent collaboration outside Radiohead involved guitar work on an Asian Dub Foundation album; he played on "1000 Mirrors" (with Sinéad O'Connor), "Blowback" and "Enemy of the Enemy".
O'Brien has toured and recorded with Neil Finn as part of the 7 Worlds Collide project. He provided guitar and backing vocals on their eponymous 2001 live album, and reprised his role on their 2009 studio album, The Sun Came Out, where he also co-wrote two tracks.
O'Brien and bandmate Phil Selway had programming lessons with producer/engineer Phelan Kane at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London in 2001, and the same two band members also joined the 7 Worlds Collide project.
O’Brien is a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition.
O'Brien appeared on the 16 April 2011 episode of BBC Radio 5 Live's sports punditry programme Fighting Talk in celebration of National Record Shop Day; also on the panel were Bob Mills, Dion Dublin, and Steve Lamacq.
O'Brien lives with his wife Susan Cobrin, who previously worked for Amnesty International, in London. The couple have a son, Salvador, born in January 2004 and daughter, Oona, born in early 2006. O'Brien studied economics at the University of Manchester. He is the tallest member of Radiohead, standing at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) (no other band members exceed 6 feet tall).
Source : Wikipedia
Citing his work with Radiohead, various lists and polls have ranked Ed O'Brien as one of the greatest guitarists in the modern era.
O'Brien uses a large collection of effects pedals, to create Radiohead's distinct sound. Even on tracks that do not feature any guitar work, his pedals are put to use for other purposes, such as altering Thom Yorke's keyboard playing (he and co-guitarist Jonny Greenwood sample Yorke's piano and vocals, respectively, with the Korg Kaoss Pad on live performances of "Everything In Its Right Place"). As well as being a self-taught guitarist, he is an accomplished drummer; though his only drum contributions for Radiohead to date have been tom drums on live performances of Hail to the Thief track "There There", a task he shares with Greenwood (though the part they play is put together on a synthesizer on the studio version)., and additional drumming on the b-side “Pearly*”.
Notable songwriting contributions to Radiohead include the opening riff on the songs "Go to Sleep", and the riff that makes up the closing song on The Bends, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". He has also written the instrumental "Meeting in the Aisle", "Lull", and the music to "Big Boots".
He mainly helps to expand on the musical framework created by Thom Yorke, and is known for his contributions to "Karma Police", (he created the effect that closes the song and his backing vocals during the chorus are an integral part of the song), "Lucky" (creating the effect that opens the song) and "Treefingers" (his guitar chords were processed electronically to sound like ambient music).
O'Brien made contributions to a soundtrack project for the BBC drama series Eureka Street before recording Kid A. During sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac, he kept fans up to date with an open diary posted on the band's website, providing the most in-depth look at how those experimental albums were recorded. His most recent collaboration outside Radiohead involved guitar work on an Asian Dub Foundation album; he played on "1000 Mirrors" (with Sinéad O'Connor), "Blowback" and "Enemy of the Enemy".
O'Brien has toured and recorded with Neil Finn as part of the 7 Worlds Collide project. He provided guitar and backing vocals on their eponymous 2001 live album, and reprised his role on their 2009 studio album, The Sun Came Out, where he also co-wrote two tracks.
O'Brien and bandmate Phil Selway had programming lessons with producer/engineer Phelan Kane at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London in 2001, and the same two band members also joined the 7 Worlds Collide project.
O’Brien is a founding director of the Featured Artists Coalition.
O'Brien appeared on the 16 April 2011 episode of BBC Radio 5 Live's sports punditry programme Fighting Talk in celebration of National Record Shop Day; also on the panel were Bob Mills, Dion Dublin, and Steve Lamacq.
O'Brien lives with his wife Susan Cobrin, who previously worked for Amnesty International, in London. The couple have a son, Salvador, born in January 2004 and daughter, Oona, born in early 2006. O'Brien studied economics at the University of Manchester. He is the tallest member of Radiohead, standing at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) (no other band members exceed 6 feet tall).
Source : Wikipedia