Take 5 with David Byrne

David Byrne is a music icon.

With Talking Heads, or his many wild collaborations, and as an acclaimed solo artist, he's continually pushed the boundaries of sound, crafting some of the most iconic live performances of our time.

Over five decades, he's never stopped asking why. His curiosity has driven an extraordinary creative life that stretches way beyond music: on canvas, in writing, filmmaking, composing musicals. He's even designed bike racks.

From hearing Bob Dylan's mysterious words on a tiny radio and discovering James Brown's interlocking grooves, to forming Talking Heads at the Rhode Island School of Design and moving to New York's CBGB scene, Byrne has always followed his curiosity wherever it leads. He wrote his very first song, "Psycho Killer," as a test to see if he could write one at all, and it became an instant classic.

His collaborations read like a who's who of music history: Brian Eno, Arthur Russell, Parliament-Funkadelic, and even Celia Cruz. His 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense with Jonathan Demme remains one of the most celebrated live performances ever captured. And decades later, he's still rearranging his classic songs, finding new meaning in them, sometimes discovering, as with "Life During Wartime," that they feel more real and more close than ever.

This episode was filmed for Season 5 of Take 5 with Zan Rowe in a recording studio in Sydney while David Byrne was in Australia touring over the 2025/26 summer. He was jubilant, fascinating, and so generous in exploring his huge life across five songs. As a lifelong DB fan, the theme was clear: curiosity. And as David himself says, the answers don't come in the songs. They come in the live shows, in how we perform and how we are with one another.

David Byrne's song choices:

James Brown - 'Get On the Good Foot'

Joubert Singers - 'Stand On The Word' (Larry Levan mix)

Celia Cruz - 'Cucala'

James Blake - 'The Wilhelm Scream'

Caetano Veloso - 'Tropicalia'