David Byrne has recently appeared on late-night television to discuss his hit Broadway show American Utopia, discussing what led him to become an American citizen after six decades on this week’s CBS Sunday Morning.
In an interview with Serena Altschul, the former Talking Heads frontman opened up about how he turned his 2018 album American Utopia into a Broadway show, and also discussed the demise of his legendary band.
“We’re gonna take you on a whole journey that’s not just a bunch of songs, and you’re gonna have a party,” he explained. “But you’re gonna be at a different place emotionally and intellectually or whatever by the end.”
Byrne also addressed the demise of the Talking Heads. “You’re really tight. You’re friends and making a living together. It’s really high pressure. In certain ways, it’s just never gonna last,” he told Altschul.
Watch David Byrne performing ‘Burning Down the House’ below.
He also shared the advice that he would give to himself in the early days of the band: “Don’t worry David Byrne, it’s gonna be okay. You don’t have to panic.”
Byrne also touched on immigrating to the U.S. at the age of eight from Scotland saying he felt like “an outsider.”
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According to Byrne, music helped him become more comfortable in his own skin. “Even though I was painfully shy, I could put myself on stage and perform and do really sometimes wacky things. I had no fear on stage. And then coming off the stage, I was frozen as far as social interaction,” he said.
It wasn’t until 2012 that he’d become a citizen of the U.S., which was the result of “an unlikely run-in at the voting booth.”
“‘Cause I was busted,” he laughed. “I firmly believed that green card holders could vote in elections as long as they didn’t vote for president. And I did it! I did it for many years. See? They were right. There’s a lot of voter fraud!”
American Utopia is set to end its Broadway run in February.
You can watch the full tour performance below.
