Edward “Ed” John O’Brien (born April 15, 1968, in Oxford, England) is a member of Radiohead. He plays guitar and sings harmony vocals live and on some tracks from the band’s first three albums. All vocal parts on their subsequent albums were done by Thom Yorke, although Ed still handles the harmony parts from those songs in concert. O’Brien’s vocals have a unique siren-like quality to them, sometimes (but not always) functioning as an individual “instrument”, rather than complementing the lead parts. One example of this is on the OK Computer track, Airbag, where his short backing vocal part near the beginning (to be precise, from 0:44 to 0:57) helps set the song’s energetic and euphoric tone. This effect is generally used sparingly by the band, as evidenced by the absence of O’Brien vocals on their recent albums. However, the track “Arpeggi”, expected to be on the band’s next album, features significant vocal parts by Ed in the aforementioned style.

Ed is known for his large collection of effects pedals, which are important in creating 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 vocals (Along with Greenwood on the Korg Kaoss Pad.) Though he served primarily as a rhythm guitarist on the earlier albums, Radiohead’s migration beyond alternative rock instrumentation often saw fellow guitarist Jonny Greenwood called on to play keyboards, the modular synthesizer, or the Ondes Martenot, moving Ed to the forefront as Radiohead’s chief guitarist. He is a self-taught guitarist, but took drum lessons and is an accomplished drummer, though his only drum work for Radiohead to date is the auxillary drums on Hail To The Thief track There There, a task he shared with Jonny Greenwood.

Although all members of the band are credited equally for all songs, Ed is not usually involved in songwriting, apart from few notable exceptions, such as the opening riff on Go To Sleep, which he wrote. 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), “Lucky” (he created the effect that opens the song, and his backing vocals during the chorus are an integral part of the track) and “Treefingers” (his guitar chords were processed electronically to sound like ambient music). He also played the guitar solo on Climbing Up The Walls, and plays lead guitar on the fan favorite B-Side and live staple, Talk Show Host.

Ed was originally invited into the band by Thom Yorke because of his resemblance to Morrissey. He is often considered the most photogenic rock star of the band, and the most gregarious with the public. He is easily the tallest member of the band, at 6′ 5″ (no other band members exceed 6 feet tall). Ed has a wife named Susan and a son, Salvador, who was born in January 2004 and daughter, who was born earlier this year, 2006.

Ed is known to smoke marijuana recreationally, and is a supporter of the campaign for cannabis reclassification. Despite the “no-drugs-during-sessions”-policy of the band, Ed has said that he recorded songs during Pablo Honey and The Bends while stoned. In Meeting People Is Easy documentary, Ed was seen rolling a spliff. At the Brit awards in 2001, Ed talked openly about how he had used hallucinogenic mushrooms. Ed and Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood claimed they had been under the influence of mushrooms while attending the 2001 Grammy awards.