Dr. Rachel Owen, the long-time girlfriend of Radiohead's Thom Yorke, has passed away. She was 48 years old.
Owen, who is the mother of Yorke's two children died on Sunday after a battle with cancer. According to Consequence of Sound, she taught at Pembroke College at University of Oxford, and was an expert in medieval Italian literature. She passed away on Sunday, December 18, 2016.
"It is with great sadness that the College marks the death of Dr Rachel Owen, who was a Retained Lecturer in Italian here at Pembroke," said an announcement and obituary published on the Pembroke website. "Despite her declining health from cancer in the last year, she asked to continue to teach, which she did right until the end of last Michaelmas term."
The obituary added that Owen was prolific artist and academic, teaching at the university and making art. Aside from being a professor and scholar in medieval literature, she was also an internationally-renowned artist who mixed photography and printmaking.
Owen and Yorke were together for two decades but never married. They were rarely seen going out in public together. They met in Exeter University when they were studying art, and eventually had two children named Noah and Agnes.
The two separated in 2015, and the breakup was reportedly referenced in Radiohead songs, especially in "A Moon Shaped Pool," Radiohead's ninth studio album. This album was reportedly heavily influenced by the end of the couple's relationship. Yorke, however, has not confirmed any of this
A 2015 statement by Yorke read: "Rachel and I have separated. After 23 highly creative and happy years, for various reasons we have gone our separate ways. It's perfectly amicable and has been common knowledge for some time."
Yorke has not yet issued a statement on the death, and no other announcement about the arrangements has been made.
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