Radiohead have broken the attendance record at The O2 in London, and their shows have raised money for both grassroots music venues and Médecins Sans Frontières.
The iconic band have just completed four sold-out nights at the arena, and have set a new record for fan attendance – surpassing that of Metallica, who have held the title since 2017.
Taking place on November 21, 22, 24 and 25, each of the shows saw 22,200 fans in attendance, with each night breaking the previous night’s record. The final night now stands as The O2’s highest capacity show, with a new record of 22,355 people in the audience.
“These past four record-breaking nights will go down in the venue’s history, with Radiohead breaking the attendance records each night,” said Christian D’Acuna, Senior Programming Director of The O2. “We knew how special these exclusive shows would be and we’re so grateful to the band for bringing them to The O2.
“It’s been a true honour to host them, and each night they played different set lists spanning their incredible back catalogue. These shows will be remembered for years to come.”
Radiohead, live in Madrid, 2025. Credit: Alex Lake
With the gigs, which are the band’s first tour dates in seven years, Thom Yorke and co. are taking a “busking approach” to their setlists – playing “any order” of songs they wish, and whittling down their huge catalogue to “about 70 songs”. The band are also performing in the round, in the centre of the venue.
When tickets first went live earlier this year, fans were notified on both the terms and conditions and in the FAQs section that there was a “1€/£1 charity donation added to, or included in, the ticket price”.
It shared that in London, the money would be donated to the LIVE Trust. The initiative represents the UK’s live music and entertainment sector, and helps provide support for artists, venues, promoters, festivals and more across grassroots spaces in the country.
For the shows across Europe, the 1€ ticket levy is being donated to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). That is a non-profit, humanitarian organisation that works to provide medicine and emergency assistance to those living in countries affected by war, natural disasters, epidemics and more.
It currently is providing aid across 70 countries, and since October 7 2023 has provided 1.2million outpatient consultations and 390,210 emergency room consultations for people in Gaza, as well as over 29,000 surgeries.
The amount of money for Médecins Sans Frontières raised by the ticket sales will be matched and donated to the charity by Radiohead.
Last week, Radiohead drummer Philip Selway told fans that the four London shows would also see him and his bandmates raise awareness and funds for Samaritans.
“l’ve been a proud Ambassador for the wonderful Samaritans for many years, a cause close to my heart,” he said in a statement. “To mark International Men’s Day, they revealed how male stereotypes are holding men back from being themselves and showing that they are struggling.”
Selway went on to highlight how “Men are more than three times more likely to die by suicide”, and how the charity works to help provide help for those struggling. At all four of the London shows, Samaritans volunteers were on site at The O2, collecting donations from fans.
Visit here to find out more about Médecins Sans Frontières, and find out more about Samaritans here, and the LIVE Trust here.
Radiohead have eight dates left on their 2025 comeback tour now that they have completed the London gigs. These include four shows at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, followed by four more shows at the Uber Arena in Berlin.
Reviewing the band’s first show at the O2 last week (Friday November 21), NME’s Andrew Trendell gave the night a glowing five-star review.
“What a show: a visceral energy, a tasteful spectacle, all delivered with a generosity of spirit, Yorke in full rockstar mode as the band trade places to tend to each corner of the venue,” it read. “For a band once embarrassed by the notion of ‘arena rock’, nobody does it better. A new album and another night like this can’t come soon enough.”
English (US) · 