Finneas Performs a Tender Rendition of Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’

As Finneas promotes his latest album For Cryin’ Out Loud!, the hit producer popped into the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge to perform a cover of Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees.” In a video posted Friday, Finneas sang an emotional rendition to the 1995 hit, as piano keys swelled in the background.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke previously divulged the origins of the track. The song was “the product of a joke that wasn’t really a joke, a very lonely, drunken evening and, well, a breakdown of sorts,” he said, per Far Out Magazine, describing its beginnings as “a very nice melody that I had absolutely no idea what to do with.”

Yorke remembered the eventual studio recording as “was one of the worst days for me.” He explained, “I shouted at everyone, and then John Leckie sent everybody else away. He sat me down, and I did a guide vocal on ‘Fake Plastic Trees.’”

Guitarist Jonny Greenwood said that after “Thom played it in three takes,” the singer “burst into tears”. 

“Fake Plastic Trees” has gone on to be one of the band’s standout offerings among a prolific body of work and has been covered by numerous artists including Hayley Williams, and Phoebe Bridgers and Arlo Parks (which was also performed on BBC Radio 1).

Earlier this week, Finneas made a surprise appearance during Billie Eilish‘s tour stop in Newark, New Jersey. As Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft tour came to a close Wednesday, Finneas shredded his guitar alongside Eilish for “Happier Than Ever,” as flames plumed behind them, and also joined her for “Birds of a Feather.”