David Byrne first rose to prominence through his pioneering role at the helm of the new wave outfit Talking Heads, yet he has also received widespread recognition for an intrepid independent path that has spanned world music, cinema, and performance art. Since leaving the group, the perpetually inventive artist has pursued projects across an eclectic spectrum: Latin rhythms on Rei Momo (1989), orchestral pieces on The Forest (1991), Scottish influences on Lead Us Not Into Temptation (2003), bold pop on Uh-Oh (1992), electronic dance-pop on Here Lies Love (2010) with Fatboy Slim, and high-profile pairings such as Love This Giant (2012) with St. Vincent alongside Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (2008) with Brian Eno. What unifies the body of work is Byrne’s deep affinity for rhythmic patterns and timbral textures, his talent for creating angular yet memorable tunes, and his perceptive, coolly ironic yet compassionate sketches of varied personalities.
Born in Dumbarton, Scotland on May 14, 1952, David Byrne grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. As the child of an electronics engineer, he performed guitar in several adolescent groups before enrolling at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design; after one year he left, having felt out of place among the largely affluent student body. He stayed in the Providence vicinity, however, offering solo ukulele performances before assembling the Artistics (also called the Autistics) alongside fellow students Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth.
Following the band’s rechristening as Talking Heads and the addition of former Modern Lover Jerry Harrison, the quartet secured a contract with Sire Records. Subsequent albums—including the debut Talking Heads: 77, 1978’s More Songs About Buildings and Food, and 1980’s Remain in Light—positioned the group among the era’s most forward-thinking acts. During a 1981 hiatus, Byrne joined Brian Eno, who had produced much of the Heads’ output, on the joint release My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, an intricate, atmospheric record that blended electronic elements with Third World percussion and hypnotic vocal treatments. That same year he also ventured into theater by composing The Catherine Wheel, a dance work choreographed by Twyla Tharp.
Byrne’s subsequent solo effort surfaced in 1985 with The Knee Plays, a New Orleans brass-band-inflected suite written for a segment of Robert Wilson’s theatrical production CIVIL warS. In 1986 he wrote, starred in, and directed the feature True Stories, a collection of comic vignettes drawn from tabloid clippings such as those in the Weekly World News; he additionally composed and produced most of the film’s score while fulfilling his customary Talking Heads responsibilities on that year’s album, also titled True Stories. In 1988 he supplied the soundtrack for the Jonathan Demme comedy Married to the Mob and, together with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su, earned an Academy Award for his contributions to Bernardo Bertolucci’s historical drama The Last Emperor.
Also in 1988, Byrne’s longstanding interest in world music—an influence evident both in his distinctive performance style and in Talking Heads’ intricate polyrhythms—led him to establish the Luaka Bop label, dedicated to issuing global recordings in the United States. That same year the Heads released Naked, their last studio album, allowing Byrne to concentrate exclusively on solo work. He reemerged in 1989 with Rei Momo, a set shaped by Latin rhythms, and directed the documentary Ile Aiye (The House of Life), which examined Yoruban dance-music rituals. In 1991 he again collaborated with Robert Wilson on The Forest, scoring the piece for full orchestra.
Uh-Oh (1992) signaled Byrne’s return to more conventional rock performance, a course he extended with a self-titled album in 1994. Feelings, recorded with members of Morcheeba and Devo, appeared in 1997. Four years afterward Look Into the Eyeball, issued on Virgin Records/Luaka Bop, showcased his characteristic wry humor and stylistic range. In 2003 the soundtrack for the film Young Adam, featuring musicians from Belle & Sebastian and Mogwai, was released by Thrill Jockey as Lead Us Not Into Temptation. Grown Backwards, his debut for Nonesuch, followed a year later. In 2007 Byrne issued a CD/DVD edition of The Knee Plays that included the original twelve tracks plus eight demos and outtakes. Big Love: Hymnal, comprising music composed for the HBO series Big Love, surfaced in 2008; later that year came Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, a folk- and gospel-tinged collaboration with Brian Eno.
Byrne’s next endeavor was another joint project, this time with British DJ Fatboy Slim. Released in early 2010, Here Lies Love was a concept album centered on former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos and her much-discussed romantic life; more than twenty guest vocalists, among them Cyndi Lauper, Martha Wainwright, Sharon Jones, and Santigold, contributed to the diverse collection. His subsequent major undertaking was a further collaboration, involving St. Vincent/Annie Clark, the Dap-Kings, Antibalas, and producer John Congleton; Love This Giant appeared in September 2012.
In 2015 Byrne mounted Contemporary Color, two concerts in Brooklyn and Toronto that paired musicians with color-guard ensembles; the events were documented in a 2016 film of the same name. Early in 2018 he returned with the chart-topping American Utopia, his first solo album since Grown Backwards (2004). The release inaugurated a broader multimedia initiative titled “Reasons to Be Cheerful,” which highlighted optimism amid political uncertainty. Byrne’s tour supporting American Utopia featured elaborate choreography for vocalists and musicians; after acclaimed performances across the United States and Europe, the production transferred to New York City for a Broadway run, from which an album titled American Utopia on Broadway was subsequently drawn.
