David Byrne

David Byrne

From Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud by Bella Freud

March 18, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

This episode features musician and visual artist David Byrne discussing his career and artistic contributions.

David Byrne is a musician and visual artist. He was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, moving to Canada aged 2, and later Maryland, where he was raised in Baltimore. Byrne studied photography, performance, and video at RISD and the Maryland Institute College of Art, before moving to New York in the early 1970s. In 1975, Byrne co-founded the group Talking Heads, who released eight studio albums before splitting up in the early 1990s. The band made the concert film Stop Making Sense in 1984, directed by Jonathan Demme, which in 2024 was remastered and re-released by A24. Byrne established the record labels Luaka Bop and Todo Mundo, which have released music by artists including William Onyeabor, Cornershop, and Floating Points. As a solo musician, David Byrne has released over 10 solo albums, the most recent Who Is The Sky? released in 2025, and collaborated with artists including Brian Eno, St Vincent, and Olivia Rodrigo. He has written soundtracks for films including Bernando Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor, for which Byrne won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Byrne has written several books including Bicycle Diaries and How Music Works, and in 1986 wrote, directed, and starred…

People in this episode

Host: Bella Freud

Guest: David Byrne

Topics covered

  • music
  • art
  • theater
  • cultural impact
  • collaboration

Keywords

  • David Byrne
  • Talking Heads
  • music
  • art
  • theater
  • collaboration
  • American Utopia

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Talking Heads, Luaka Bop, Todo Mundo

Books & works: Stop Making Sense, Bicycle Diaries, How Music Works, True Stories, The Last Emperor

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