Thom Yorke’s Longtime Partner Dies of Cancer

December 20, 2016 Alan Cross 0 Comments

More than 20 years ago, right around the time Radiohead was just starting out, Thom Yorke met Rachel Owen. They fell in love and stayed together until August 2015 when they split after 23 years.

Rachel used her doctorate to become a lecturer in medieval Italian literature and printmaking (she was an expert in images depicting scenes from Dante’s Inferno) at Pembroke College in Oxford. She was also a respected photographer.

Dr. Owen was then diagnosed with cancer. The ordeal brought the two closer together again and inspired much of the material on Radiohead’s last album, A Moon Shaped Pool.

Rachel died Sunday at the age of 48. They have two sons, Noah, 12, and Agnes, 12.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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