skip to main content

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke clashes with pro-Palestinian heckler in Australia

Thom Yorke (pictured during his first show at Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Tuesday 29 October) subsequently returned to the stage to play his final song
Thom Yorke (pictured during his first show at Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Tuesday 29 October) subsequently returned to the stage to play his final song

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke briefly walked off stage during an Australian concert after a verbal incident with a pro-Palestinian heckler.

Yorke was performing a solo show on Wednesday night at Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl when a concertgoer began chiding him about the mounting death toll in Gaza.

"How many dead children will it take for you to condemn the genocide in Gaza?" the heckler said.

In a frosty reply, Yorke accused the man of ruining the gig for other fans and invited him to "hop up" on the stage.

"Don't stand there like a coward, come here and say it. You want to p*** on everybody's night," Yorke said.

Yorke briefly walked off stage as the crowd booed the heckler. Yorke returned minutes later to play his final song - Radiohead's 1997 hit Karma Police.

Radiohead defied pro-Palestinian activists in 2017 to play a gig in Tel Aviv.

"Playing in a country isn't the same as endorsing its government," Yorke wrote on Twitter at the time.

"We've played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others. As we have in America.

"We don't endorse [Benjamin] Netanyahu any more than [Donald] Trump, but we still play in America."

Source: AFP

Read Next