David Byrne admits he “regrets” Talking Heads split
Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has admitted he holds “regrets” about the manner of how things ended between the band.
The new-wave icons officially split in 1991, however, relations between Byrne and the rest of the band broke down many years before they parted ways. Now, in a new interview, the singer has admitted he was “not pleasant to be around” and has taken responsibility for the way it unravelled.
“As a younger person, I was not as pleasant to be around. When I was working on some Talking Heads shows, I was more of a little tyrant,” he said. “And then I learned to relax, and I also learned that collaborating with people, both sides get more if there’s a good relationship instead of me telling everybody what to do.”
“I think [the end] wasn’t handled well. It was kind of ugly,” Byrne continued. Later in the same interview with People, he added: “I have regrets on how that was handled. I don’t think I did it in the best way, but I think it was kind of inevitable that would happen anyway. We have a cordial relationship now. We’re sort of in touch, but we don’t hang out together.”
Byrne’s comments arrive after it was revealed Talking Heads are officially reuniting for a Q&A with Spike Lee following a showing of Stop Making Sense at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11th.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of their groundbreaking concert film, Talking Heads are re-releasing Stop Making Sense in conjunction with A24. It will be first shown in Toronto in September with David Byrne, Chris Franz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison scheduled to engage in a Q&A with the legendary director following the premiere.
On his expectations for the re-release, Byrne said: “I’m curious. I’m hopeful that a wider, kind of younger audience will get to see this and see what we’ve done. I’m optimistic that it’s going to reach a different audience that wasn’t aware of a lot of this stuff.”
Meanwhile, in the interview, the former Talking Heads singer played down the likelihood of an imminent retirement because he’d be “bored”.
Watch the new trailer for Stop Making Sense below.
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