distributing newspapers at a promotional event for
The King of Limbs at
Rough Trade, London|alt=Radiohead formed a
limited liability company, Ticker Tape Ltd, to release
The King of Limbs. They announced it on their website on 14 February 2011. It was released on 18 February, a day early, as the website was ready ahead of schedule. The download version was sold for £6. The
NME reporter Matt Wilkinson argued that the
surprise release was "a stroke of genius" that created excitement and "made being a fan seem like you're part of a brilliant, exclusive club". The video inspired the "Dancing Thom Yorke"
internet meme, whereby fans replaced the audio or edited the visuals, and "#thomdance" became a trending
hashtag on
Twitter. A promotional broadcast in
Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, was canceled due to security concerns.
The King of Limbs was released on CD and vinyl on March 28 by
XL Recordings in the UK,
TBD in the US and
Hostess Entertainment in Japan. To promote the release, Radiohead distributed a free newspaper, the
Universal Sigh, at independent record shops across the world. Donwood and Yorke distributed copies in person at the
Rough Trade shop in East London. Influenced by
free newspapers such as
LA Weekly or
London Lite, the
Universal Sigh is a 12-page
tabloid printed using
web-offset lithography on newsprint paper. It features artwork, poetry and lyrics, plus short stories by Donwood,
Jay Griffiths and
Robert Macfarlane.
Sales On the Radiohead website, where it was exclusively available for nearly two months prior to its retail release,
The King of Limbs sold between 300,000 and 400,000
downloads. ending Radiohead's streak of five consecutive number-one UK albums, and sold 33,469 copies in its first week. and became the bestselling vinyl album of 2011. In the US, the retail edition debuted at number six on the
Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 69,000 copies. The following week, it reached number three, its highest position, selling 67,000 copies. It sold 156,000 copies in its first three weeks. In June, Radiohead announced a series of
King of Limbs remixes by various electronic artists, released as vinyl singles. Yorke said Radiohead had wanted to experiment with the music further by giving it to remixers, and liked the idea that it was not "fixed and set in stone". The remixes were compiled on the album
TKOL RMX 1234567, released that September. Radiohead performed
The King of Limbs in its entirety for
The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement, broadcast in July and released on DVD and Blu-ray in December. Godrich said the performance was an effort to record the "very mechanised" album again and show it in a new light. On 11 February 2014, Radiohead released an app, PolyFauna, a collaboration with the British digital arts studio Universal Everything, with music and imagery from
The King of Limbs. Yorke said it came "from an interest in early computer-life experiments and the imagined creatures of our subconscious". In 2017, Radiohead collaborated with the composer
Hans Zimmer to record a version of "Bloom" for the
BBC nature documentary series
Blue Planet II. It features vocals by Yorke recorded alongside the
BBC Concert Orchestra. Yorke said "Bloom" was inspired by the original
Blue Planet series and so he was happy to "come full circle with the song". Deamer joined Radiohead for subsequent tours. On 24 June 2011, Radiohead played a surprise performance on the Park stage at
Glastonbury Festival, performing mainly new material. The
Guardian critic Rosie Swash gave the performance a mixed review, saying the audience had hoped for older songs. In September, Radiohead played two dates at New York City's
Roseland Ballroom and performed on the season premiere of
Saturday Night Live and an hour-long special of
The Colbert Report. In 2012, Radiohead toured Europe, North America and Asia, with appearances at the
Bonnaroo,
Coachella and
Fuji Rock festivals. They played mainly arenas, as O'Brien said the "precise and detailed"
King of Limbs material would not suit outdoor venues. On 16 June 2012, the
stage collapsed during the setup for a show at Toronto's
Downsview Park, killing the drum technician Scott Johnson and injuring three other members of Radiohead's
road crew. After rescheduling the tour, Radiohead paid tribute to Johnson and their stage crew at their next concert, in
Nîmes, France, in July. In 2013,
Live Nation Canada Inc, two other organisations and an engineer were charged with 13 charges. Following a delay caused by mistrial, the case was dropped in 2017 under the
Jordan ruling, which puts time limits on cases. ==Reception==