Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke's longterm partner Dr Rachel Owen dies aged 48
DR RACHEL OWEN, who is the former longterm partner of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, has died at the age of 48, it has been confirmed.
Thom Yorke's former partner Dr Rachel Owen has died aged 48
The mother-of-two - who had been by Thom's side since the inception of his band - was in a relationship with the musician for 23 years, before they split in August of last year.
The pair - who have a son called Noah and a daughter called Agnes together - met while they were both studying at the University of Exeter.
Pembroke College Oxford - where Dr Rachel was a lecturer in Italian - took to their official website today to pay tribute.
They released a statement, which read: "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."
Dr Rachel Owen passed away on Sunday, December 18
Thom and Rachel dated for 23 years
Radiohead - Lucky [AUDIO]
It continued: "Dr Owen was an internationally-renowned artist – mixing photography and printmaking – and at the same time a scholar in medieval Italian literature. As Retained Lecturer, she used to teach Dante's Divine Comedy to Pembroke's finalists in Italian.
"Dr Owen's parallel passion for art and literature was already established in her university years at Exeter, where she studied Italian and Fine Art. She then moved to Royal Holloway, London, where she completed a PhD on the illustrations of the early manuscripts of Dante's Divine Comedy.
"Each year, her Pembroke students enjoyed the pleasure and the privilege of a guided tour through the manuscripts of the Divine Comedy held at the Bodleian Library."
Rest In Peace Rachel Owen, we will always remember you in lyrics of @Radiohead songs... pic.twitter.com/LuShVdroxh
— Radiohead Club (@RadioheadClub) December 20, 2016
The message went on to say: "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. She was 48 years old and leaves behind a son, Noah, and a daughter, Agnes, aged 15 and 12.
"One of her latest artistic productions was a series of prints inspired by the Cantos of Dante's first book of the Divine Comedy. The prints will be exhibited at Pembroke's JCR Art Gallery during Trinity term.
"Rachel Owen, died on Sunday 18th December."
The former couple kept their relationship extremely private and were rarely seen out in public together, but it's thought that the breakdown of their relationship led to Radiohead's latest album; A Moon Shaped Pool.