Radiohead Guitarist Denies Hiding Out In Brazil Over Mayan End Of World Prophecy
Representatives for Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood have been forced to deny that he is holed up in Brazil waiting for the end of the world.
The bizarre denial arises from claims by numerous Brazilian media that the 41-year-old is hiding in a Sao Paulo rural guest-house to wait for December 21 — the date on which according to some interpretation of ancient Mayan calendar, an intergalactic planet will crash into Earth.
The guest house where Greenwood is reported to be staying is in the city of Sao Luiz do Paraitinga, in the state of Sao Paulo.
The city’s Tourism Minister, Eduardo de Oliveira Coelho, told the Folha de Sao Paulo news outlet that Greenwood arrived in Sao Paulo earlier this month.
Coelho also claimed that the rest of Radiohead were joining Greenwood in the next few days, and that the guitarist planned to give free guitar lessons to the city’s children if the Mayan “End of Days” prophecy did not come true.
According to The Telegraph, Frenchman Emmanuel Rengade, owner of hotel Fazenda Catucaba in São Luiz do Paraitinga, said:
“The reason why he’s here is to get away, because hotels like this preserve the privacy of the guests and he does not want publicity.”
The Daily Mailreports that Radiohead’s management, Courtyard Management, said Greenwood was not even in Brazil and that the reports were completely untrue.
Reasons as to why this bizarre story surfaced in the first place probably have more to do with the Brazilian economy and municipal tourist officials.
But if Greenwood — or anyone, for that matter — does need any assurances that the world won’t be ending any time soon, they need look no further than NASA.
The US space agency is so confident that an apocalypse is not scheduled for December 21st that they have released a video 10 days ahead of time entitled “Why the World Didn’t End Yesterday.”
The video addresses each of the main ‘myths’ surround the ending of the Mayan calendar and has been put together by NASA scientists.
