Radiohead’s OK Computer is climbing the charts again — thanks to Gen Z’s TikTok obsession

Twenty-eight years after OK Computer reshaped the rock landscape, Radiohead are suddenly back on America’s Billboard Hot 100, with a song they released before half of TikTok’s user base was even born.

That’s right: Let Down, the dreamy third single from the band’s 1997 masterpiece, has cracked the Hot 100 at number 91, marking Radiohead’s first entry on the chart in 17 years.

 

To put that into perspective, the last time Thom Yorke and co. showed up stateside was with Nude in 2008. Before that, their only serious brush with American chart glory came with 1993’s Creep, a song Yorke famously despised even as it climbed to number 34.

So why now? Why Let Down? The answer, of course, lies in TikTok. Gen Z, who has rediscovered OK Computer and is using the melancholic anthem to soundtrack their highly-stylised micro-dramas.

Whether it’s wistful stares out of rainy car windows or existential scrolls at 2am, the algorithm has crowned Let Down its new emotional backdrop.

For Radiohead fans, this is a drop of irony. The band that once shunned mainstream pop appeal are now charting again because the youth have decided their alienation and disaffection are infinitely memeable. What a time to be alive.

It’s also a reminder of just how enduring OK Computer really is. Released in 1997, the record tore down the walls between Britpop and the 21st century, swapping swagger for paranoia and guitar anthems for sonic dissonance. Now, nearly three decades on, it’s finding fresh ears in the unlikeliest of places.

Radiohead, for their part, haven’t dropped a new studio album since 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool. Earlier this month, however, they surprised fans with Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009), a collection of performances from London, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Dublin.

So if you needed proof that Radiohead still have the cultural pull to bend time itself, here it is: Let Down is officially a hit — again.