Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival

David Byrne's influence on popular music and culture is unquantifiable. As the leader of the Talking Heads, Byrne gave voice and body to some of the most uniquely compelling songs of the late 20th century rock canon, including "Psycho Killer," "Once In A Lifetime," and "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)."  As a collaborator with avant-garde artists like Brian Eno and Twyla Tharpe, Byrne created lasting experimental works. As the founder of Luaka Bop records, Byrne helped bring rhythms from around the world to American ears.  As a visual artist, Byrne has solidified a dialogue that permeates all aspects of his work.


On his latest album, the accomplished Grown Backwards (Nonesuch), Byrne's wide-eyed persona is tempered with a bit of melancholy, and filled out lushly by the Tosca Strings. At age 52 and his hair grayed, he’s still a dramatic front man, just as captivating as he was in the Talking Heads' classic 1984 concert film, Stop Making Sense. His pulsing live performances?complemented equally by African percussion and live strings?are a mix of new material (including two operatic arias arranged specially for Grown Backwards), reimaginings of familiar numbers from his decade-and-a-half solo career, as well as still-transcendent Talking Heads’ favorites.