David Byrne heaps praise on Olivia Rodrigo: “I’m a fan”
During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, David Byrne discussed Olivia Rodrigo and confessed, “I’m a fan”.
This summer, Rodrigo made a habit of bringing out musical legends during her headline sets at festivals. At Governors Ball in New York, she welcomed Byrne to the stage, and at Glastonbury, Rodrigo was joined by The Cure’s Robert Smith.
For Governors Ball, Rodrigo and Byrne wore colour-coordinated red outfits to deliver an emphatic rendition of the Talking Heads classic, ‘Burning Down The House’.
While speaking to Fallon on September 3rd, Byrne explained how it came about, sharing, “I saw her show here at Madison Square Garden and met her — I’m a fan. And she stayed in touch.”She said, ‘Hey, wanna join me?’
“She said, ‘Hey, wanna join me?’,” Byrne recalled of the relaxed nature of the Governors Ball invite from Rodrigo.” I did say, ‘Hey, if you’re in town for a couple days, maybe we can work out a little choreo.’ I had to pinch myself and go, ‘Yeah, I’m really doing this’.”
He then praised the community that Rodrigo has built with her fans, adding, “She has a great relationship with her audience. Not only do they know the songs, they mean something to them.”
Earlier this week, Byrne revealed he is due to get married in the coming days and shared the instrumental playlist which he has curated for the occasion, which he explained the thinking behind to Fallon, sharing, “My sense is that words and lyrics can be distracting – the ear goes to them, especially if it’s a song one knows. So, I opted for buoyant instrumentals that will create a hopeful and joyous atmosphere… and that folks can also ignore at the same time.”
Byrne’s new album, Who Is The Sky?, is out today. In a four-and-a-half-star review, Far Out wrote: “His first album in seven years is a balming celebration of life that defies all previously known party etiquette. It’s a mad modernist masterpiece that defies a lot of things, in fairness, but a sense of familiarity isn’t one of them.”
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