David Byrne brought out Paramore’s Hayley Williams for two songs during his New York City show on Friday – watch footage below.
On October 10, the singer brought his current solo tour to the Radio City Music Hall, playing songs from across his career, from early Talking Heads classics such as ‘Once In A Lifetime’ and ‘Psycho Killer’ to tracks from his new album ‘Who Is The Sky?’, which he released last month.
During the set, he was joined by Williams for a version of ‘What Is The Reason For It?’, the song from the new record on which she appears. Later in the show, she appeared again for ‘Hard Times’, the Paramore song that has been a regular presence on Byrne’s setlists on this tour.
Watch fan-captured footage of both performances here:
David Byrne played:
‘Heaven’
‘Everybody Laughs’
‘And She Was’
‘Strange Overtones’
‘Houses In Motion’
‘T-Shirt’
‘(Nothing But) Flowers’
‘This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)’
‘What Is The Reason For It?’ (with Hayley Williams)
‘Like Humans Do’
‘Don’t Be Like That’
‘Independence Day’
‘Slippery People’
‘Moisturizing Thing’
‘My Apartment Is My Friend’
‘Hard Times’ (with Hayley Williams)
‘Psycho Killer’
‘Life During Wartime’
‘Once In A Lifetime’
‘Everybody’s Coming To My House’
‘Burning Down The House’
Speaking about Williams’ appearance on the album, Byrne has said: “When we were finishing up the record, the producer Kid Harpoon and I were wondering, ‘Oh, maybe this song, it’s a love song, or at least it’s asking what is love, what it’s about? Why do we do this? Why do other people do it? Do we know anything about it? (…) And I knew that [Williams] was in town, so I just texted her and said, ‘Do you want to come by and sing on this?’ And she said yes. And she killed it.”
Byrne and Williams have also collaborated on ‘Open The Door’, a song from the new animated film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits.
Byrne’s current worldwide tour in support of ‘Who Is The Sky?’ kicked off in September and will reach the UK in March 2026. Any remaining US tickets can be purchased here, and UK tickets here, and all dates can be viewed here.
We last caught up with David Byrne when he released the American Utopia concert film in 2020, with Byrne sharing why there wouldn’t be a Talking Heads reunion in the future. You can revisit the full Big Read cover feature here.
As for Williams, she released her solo album ‘Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party’ digitally in August, with a physical release coming in November (pre-order here).
NME gave the record a glowing five-star review, writing: “As with almost every era of Hayley Williams’ career, this new release has come with questions about the future of Paramore. The determined lyrics on the tender ‘I Won’t Quit On You’ should be all the reassurance worried fans need, but if that’s not enough, there’s plenty in this brilliant, swaggering new chapter to be excited about. These songs might be about missed second chances, but Williams is certainly making the most of hers.”
