"Creep" is the debut single by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 21 September 1992. It appeared on their debut studio album, Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead took elements from the 1972 song "The Air That I Breathe"; following legal action, Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood are credited as cowriters. Radiohead had not planned to release "Creep", and recorded it at the suggestion of the producers, Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie, while they were working on other songs. Kolderie convinced their record label, EMI, to release "Creep" as a single. It was not initially a success, but achieved radio play in Israel and became popular on American alternative rock radio. It was reissued in 1993 and became a worldwide hit, likened to alt-rock "slacker anthems" such as ''Smells Like Teen Spirit'' by Nirvana and ''Loser" by Beck. Reviews of "Creep" were mostly positive. EMI pressured Radiohead to match its success, which created tension during the recording of their second album, The Bends (1995). "Creep" is atypical of Radiohead's later work; the band grew weary of it, feeling it set narrow expectations of their music, and did not perform it for several years. Though they achieved greater commercial and critical success with later albums, "Creep" remains Radiohead's most successful single. It was named one of the greatest debut singles and one of the greatest songs by Rolling Stone. In 2021, Yorke released a remixed version with synthesisers and time-stretched acoustic guitar. Recording Radiohead formed in Oxforshire in 1985 and signed a record contract with EMI in 1991. They released their debut, the Drill EP, in 1992, which drew little attention. For their debut single, Radiohead hired the American producers Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie and recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. They worked on the songs "Inside My Head" and "Lurgee", but without results. Between rehearsals, Radiohead spontaneously performed another song, "Creep", which the singer, Thom Yorke, had written at Exeter University in the late 1980s. Yorke jokingly described it as their "Scott Walker song", which Slade and Kolderie misinterpreted. As they left the studio that night, Slade told Kolderie, "Too bad their best song's a cover." After further recording sessions failed to produce results, Kolderie suggested Radiohead record "Creep". Radiohead performed it one take, after which everyone in the studio burst into applause. After Radiohead assured Kolderie that "Creep" was an original song, he