Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke challenges pro-Palestine heckler at Melbourne show

Thom Yorke issued a challenge to a pro-Palestine heckler before walking off stage in his sold-out Melbourne show.

Thom Yorke walks off stage during his Melbourne show.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke walked off stage during his show in Melbourne on Wednesday after an audience member interrupted his set to protest the war in Gaza.

A man in the crowd shouted at Yorke “how many dead children will it take for you to condemn the genocide in Gaza?” during the encore of his sold-out solo gig at Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

“Don’t stand there like a coward,come here and say it!”

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke responded to an anti-Israel hackler who kept yelling about Gaza throughout his show in Melbourne today.

Yorke left the stage and came back after the crowd kicked out the protester. pic.twitter.com/a5yhtBWpTo

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 30, 2024

Yorke responded by calling the man a “coward” and inviting him on stage before storming off.

“Hop up on the f...ing stage and say what you wanna say,” Yorke said.

“Don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it.”

“You want to piss on everybody’s night? OK, you do it, see you later then.”

The heckler reportedly left the crowd and Yorke returned to loud cheers, finishing his set with Radiohead’s classic Karma Police.

Radiohead have previously been criticised by other artists for playing gigs in Israel.

An open letter signed by 47 performers, including Roger Waters, of Pink Floyd fame, and actor Miriam Margolyes, in 2017 read, “In asking you not to perform in Israel, Palestinians have appealed to you to take one small step to help pressure Israel to end its violation of basic rights and international law.”

Yorke said performing in Israel didn’t mean Radiohead supports the Netanyahu government. Picture: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Yorke defended the band at the time, saying performing in Israel didn’t mean they supported the Netanyahu government.

“Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government,” Yorke wrote on X.

“We’ve played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others.

Yorke’s bandmate, Jonny Greenwood, was criticised in May for performing with Israeli artist Dudu Tassa in Tel Aviv.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel accused Greenwood of “artwashing genocide”.

In response, Greenwood said “silencing Israeli artists for being born Jewish in Israel doesn’t seem like any way to reach an understanding between the two sides of this apparently endless conflict.”

Wednesday’s concert was Yorke’s last in Melbourne on his Everything tour, which now heads to the Sydney Opera House on November 1.

“We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America.”

The protest came the day after the United States condemned a “horrifying” Israeli airstrike on a residential apartment block in northern Gaza which killed 93 people including up to 25 children.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 43000 people have been killed by the Israeli military response to the October 7 terrorist attacks last year. The UN Human Rights Office previously said the figure is likely an undercount.

The October 7 attacks by Hamas killed approximately 1200 people, including over 800 civilians.

Originally published as Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke challenges pro-Palestine heckler at Melbourne show