Former Talking Heads members bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz shared, via two essays in the Sunday Times, their experience with frontman David Byrne. And it’s not very flattering.
Weymouth and Frantz, who also formed the Tom Tom Club and are married, are confused as to why Byrne won’t even say their names in public interviews.
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“I recently described David Byrne as Trumpian, which didn’t go down well with everybody,” wrote Weymouth in her essay in The Times. “What I meant was that, from my experience, everything with David is transactional—he will use you until he has no more use for you. He always seemed very insecure about himself and would often try to blame other people if things went wrong. Chris and I loved him dearly and we did our best to overlook these disastrous character flaws, but it seemed obvious that Talking Heads wasn’t going to last.”
Weymouth adds: “In interviews, David always says he’s happy and I’d like to believe that. But if he’s happy, why does he refuse to refer to Chris and I or Jerry by name? He calls us ‘people he used to play with.’ Isn’t that odd? I’ve been around the block a few times and I’ve realized that people act like animals. Some are doves: beautiful and peaceful, like Chris. Unfortunately, some are sly foxes.”
The bassist has also in the past called Byrne “a man incapable of returning friendship.”
Frantz writes that “David stopped communicating with us,” saying, “The end of the band [in 1991] was messy and sad. David stopped communicating with us. That was another time when having Tina with me was so beneficial. We talked about the future. We continued to make music as Tom Tom Club [the side project group formed by the couple in 1981]. And we enjoyed being Mr. and Mrs. Average Suburban Couple.”
The band most recently reunited more than 20 years ago for their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Byrne was last seen in public performing during the Oscars, wearing hotdog fingers made famous by the award-winning film Everything Everywhere All At Once. Byrne has said that he doesn’t think Talking Heads would reunite again.
In other Talking Heads news, the band’s seminal concert film, Stop Making Sense, is set for a 4K restoration. It will return to theaters later this year. And a deluxe edition of the vinyl would be released on August 18.
Check out Weymouth’s and Frantz’s essays in The Times, HERE.
Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage