Olivia Rodrigo once again crossed the generational divide by welcoming Talking Heads frontman David Byrne onstage last night (June 7) during her Governors Ball headlining set in New York for a performance of his vintage band’s “Burning Down the House.” Talking Heads celebrated the 50th anniversary of their first show two days earlier.
For the second-to-last song before the encore, Rodrigo, 22, brought out a red overall-clad Byrne, 73, who strummed an acoustic guitar before removing it to better dance around the stage in tandem with her.
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Rodrigo has often performed with some of her older musical heroes, including Billy Joel at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2022 and No Doubt at their 2024 Coachella reunion. She also selected ’90s alternative band the Breeders as one of the openers on her GUTS tour. “I’m very inspired by them and everything they stand for,” she told The New York Times of the latter. “They are absolutely iconic, and playing these shows with them has been a surreal honor.”
Rodrigo will spend the bulk of the summer headlining European festivals such as Glastonbury in the U.K. and Roskilde in Denmark. She’ll also anchor Lollapalooza in Chicago in early August.
As for Byrne, he is teasing what appears to be the release of his first album since 2018’s acclaimed American Utopia. Meanwhile, Talking Heads last week released the first official video for their early hit “Psycho Killer” starring Irish actress Saoirse Ronan.
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