David Byrne, the former lead singer of Talking Heads, revealed he’s getting married this week. In a post shared to his Instagram stories on Sept. 1, the new wave icon revealed a playlist for his wedding day.
“I’m getting married this week and made an almost entirely instrumental playlist while our guests eat an amazing and spicy dinner,” Byrne, 73, told fans on his social media page. “My sense is that words and lyrics can be distracting – the ear goes to them, especially if it’s a song one knows. So, I opted for buoyant instrumentals that will create a hopeful and joyous atmosphere… and that folks can also ignore at the same time.”
The accompanying Apple Music playlist, titled “David Byrne Radio Presents: Dinner Music,” features 42 songs, many of them Latin instrumentals, as well as additions such as Jeff Beck’s “Corpus Christi Carol,” Brian Eno’s “An Ending (Ascent),” and an instrumental version of Post Malone’s “Wow.”
David Byrne Quietly Revealed He Was Engaged During an Interview
Last month, Byrne subtly revealed that he was engaged when he referred to his girlfriend Mala Gaonkar, 55, as his “fiancée” during an interview with the British Sunday paper, The Times.
The Grammy-nominated musician has been in a relationship with the financier since 2016, when they worked on an immersive theater project for The Makers Series at Stanford Arts Institute, per The Daily Mail.
Byrne was previously married to artist and costume designer Adelle Lutz from 1987 to 2004 and has one daughter, Malu Abeni Valentine Byrne, with her.
Byrne confirmed his wedding news days before he’s set to release his album Who Is the Sky? with the Ghost Train Orchestra. The album drops on Sept. 5 from Byrne’s new label Matador. In June, Byrne also announced on Instagram that he would start touring in September.
