David Byrne announces intimate UK book tour
Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has announced yet another jaunt to the UK later this year for a book tour.
Byrne first came to the UK at the beginning of the year for an extensive tour in celebration of his latest studio album, Who is the Sky?, which arrived last September.
Currently, he is back in Britain after concluding a tour of mainland Europe, with his next date lined up at The Piece Hall in Halifax on July 18th, before three gigs in Edinburgh, and a UK-festival exclusive at Latitude later this month.
Now, he’s confirmed plans to return in November to visit a number of theatres in support of his new book Sleeping Beauties, which is set to arrive on October 8th, 2026.
According to publishers Penguin Random House, Byrne explores in Sleeping Beauties “how breakthroughs across the arts and sciences get forgotten, and how they get rediscovered”.
The synopsis continues, “Discoveries as diverse as dark matter, lichen, and continental drift … technologies from solar panels to the steam engine … artists from Bach to Bruegel, Vermeer to Melville … all, David Byrne shows us, were sleeping beauties.”
It adds, “Why did they fall asleep? How did they wake back up? Ranging across centuries and the full scope of human endeavor, Byrne arrives at important conclusions that serve as a lens for bringing to light new seeds for our future breakthroughs.”
The book tour will begin at the Hackney Empire in London on November 8th, followed by visits to Brighton, Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh.
While fans shouldn’t expect to hear ‘Psycho Killer‘ or ‘Burning Down The House’, Byrne will deliver a talk that “explores why some ideas flourish almost instantly while others remain hidden in plain sight. He celebrates the visionaries who were ahead of their time and the creations that went on to change the world.”
Notably, Byrne is set to donate his fees from the upcoming book tour to the Rocksteady Foundation, which provides free music lessons to children around the UK.
David Byrne UK book tour:
November
- 08 – London, Hackney Empire
- 09 – Brighton, Theatre Royal
- 11 – Manchester, Stoller Hall
- 12 – Bristol, St. George’s
- 13 – Edinburgh, Assembly Rooms
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