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Kid A
open-in-new
<p><i>Kid A</i> is the fourth studio album by the English rock band <a href="/facts/Radiohead/6TVeLFk7">Radiohead</a>, released on 2 October 2000 by <a href="/facts/Parlophone/NVn0PyMw">Parlophone</a>. It was recorded with their producer, <a href="/facts/Nigel_Godrich/2MnvlxGn">Nigel Godrich</a>, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Departing from their earlier sound, Radiohead incorporated influences from <a href="/facts/Electronic_music/zfGNfUvR">electronic music</a>, <a href="/facts/Krautrock/e5GoRdV6">krautrock</a>, <a href="/facts/Jazz/lmUzXGq8">jazz</a> and <a href="/facts/20th-century_classical_music/zcKk0ANX">20th-century classical music</a>, with a wider range of instruments and effects. The singer, <a href="/facts/Thom_Yorke/R9UeL4WM">Thom Yorke</a>, wrote impersonal and abstract lyrics, <a href="/facts/Cut-up_technique/55k4wkkS">cutting up</a> phrases and assembling them at random. </p><p>In a departure from industry practice, Radiohead released no singles and conducted few interviews and photoshoots. Instead, they released short animations and became one of the first major acts to use the <a href="/facts/Internet/Xw1rVvJU">Internet</a> for promotion. <a href="/facts/Bootleg_recording/wBcryPwr">Bootlegs</a> of early performances were shared on <a href="/facts/File_sharing/7GISy0GJ">filesharing</a> services, and <i>Kid A</i> was <a href="/facts/Music_leak/6jKcdHGy">leaked</a> before release. In 2000, Radiohead toured Europe in a custom-built tent without corporate logos. </p><p><i>Kid A</i> debuted at number one on the <a href="/facts/UK_Albums_Chart/h1hyzP13">UK Albums Chart</a> and became Radiohead's first number-one album on the US <a href="/facts/Billboard_200/XtbnoFSM"><i>Billboard</i> 200</a>. It was <a href="/facts/Certified_platinum/zGzLFa9l">certified platinum</a> in the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, France and Japan. Its new sound divided listeners, and some dismissed it as pretentious or derivative. However, at the end of the decade, <i><a href="/facts/Rolling_Stone/HhCFoJ9F">Rolling Stone</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/Pitchfork_(website)/a5SkWa6I">Pitchfork</a></i> and the <i><a href="/facts/The_Times/5BwkodnX">Times</a></i> ranked it the greatest album of the 2000s, and in 2020 <i>Rolling Stone</i> ranked it number 20 on its updated list of the <a href="/facts/Rolling_Stone%2527s_500_Greatest_Albums_of_All_Time/40CPshrf">500 Greatest Albums of All Time</a>. <i>Kid A</i> won the <a href="/facts/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Alternative_Music_Album/wUK67nYA">Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album</a> and was nominated for the <a href="/facts/Grammy_Award_for_Album_of_the_Year/N7gTMqGf">Grammy Award for Album of the Year</a>. </p><p>Radiohead released a second album of material from the sessions, <i><a href="/facts/Amnesiac_(album)/jfWJCqT9">Amnesiac</a></i>, in 2001. In 2021, they released <i><a href="/facts/Kid_A_Mnesia/aFPHN22c">Kid A Mnesia</a></i>, an anniversary reissue compiling <i>Kid A</i>, <i>Amnesiac</i> and previously unreleased material. </p>