David Byrne recently admitted that he may have mishandled the breakup of the Talking Heads. In an interview with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes, Byrne stated, “I became, I think, kind of obsessive about getting that show up and running,” (In Reference to Talking Heads’ 1983-84 tour.) “I might not have been the most pleasant person to deal with at that point.”
As the Talking Heads were continuing to make music, Byrne started his own musical projects outside of the band. He added, “As I became more relaxed as a person, started writing different kinds of songs, songs that maybe weren’t quite as angst-ridden and peculiar, so fans were probably disappointed. ‘We liked the really quirky guy’ or ‘We liked the guy who was really struggling with himself and really having a hard time,’ And I thought, ‘Why would you wish that on me? For your own amusement, right?’”
Drummer Chris Frantz told the Los Angeles Times back in 1992 that, “As far as we’re concerned, the band never really broke up. David just decided to leave,”
Byrne continued the interview admitting he doesn’t think he handled the situation properly, “I think it is very possible that I did not handle it as best as I could,” he confessed,
Byrne concluded by making sure fans were aware they will never reunite adding, “I realized after awhile that I was very happy doing the kind of wide variety of things that I was doing and the different kinds of music that I was doing, And I thought, ‘Why should I trade in my happiness for some cash?’”
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