David Byrne has shared details of a new book tour, taking place across the UK later this year.
The announcement comes shortly after the Talking Heads icon played live across the country earlier this year, celebrating his latest album ‘Who Is The Sky?’. Since then, he has wrapped up a tour of Europe and is currently playing his final leg of festival dates.
Later this year, though, he will be headed back to the UK in celebration of his new book Sleeping Beauties, which is due for release on October 8 (pre-order it here).
Published by Penguin Random House, the book centres on philosophical questions including why some ideas are considered ahead of their time and naturally move back into the spotlight when the world is ready for them.
Across the tour, Byrne will share his own answers to questions like that, and also share his admiration for certain visionaries who helped craft the world around them or make art that resonates with him.
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Dates kick off November 8 at Hackney Empire in London, before continuing in Brighton and Manchester on November 9 and 11. Other dates include a penultimate stop at St. George’s in Bristol and a final show at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh later that month.
The singer and author will donate his fees from the upcoming book tour to the Rocksteady Foundation, a non-profit organisation which provides free music lessons to children around the UK. Visit here for tickets.
David Byrne UK book tour dates are:
NOVEMBER 2026
8 – London, Hackney Empire
9 – Brighton, Theatre Royal
11 – Manchester, Stoller Hall
12 – Bristol, St. George’s
13 – Edinburgh, Assembly Rooms
A synopsis from Penguin Random House shares that the book will explore “how breakthroughs across the arts and sciences get forgotten, and how they get rediscovered”.
“Discoveries as diverse as dark matter, lichen, and continental drift … technologies from solar panels to the steam engine … artists from Bach to Bruegel, Vermeer to Melville … all, David Byrne shows us, were sleeping beauties,” it adds.
“Why did they fall asleep? How did they wake back up? Ranging across centuries and the full scope of human endeavour, Byrne arrives at important conclusions that serve as a lens for bringing to light new seeds for our future breakthroughs.”
Last weekend saw David Byrne perform live at the 10th anniversary edition of Mad Cool festival in Madrid, and NME described his set as joyous and delightfully eccentric.
“Of course David Byrne closed the Orange stage at this year’s Mad Cool: his bonanza of a set sees the art-pop eccentric and his troupe clad entirely in said colour, after all,” our round-up read. “For more than half a century, he’s been raising an arched eyebrow at the world – and we sure do need his anarchic sense of humour right now.”
“The 74-year-old certainly gave us reasons to be cheerful throughout this totally unique performance, though it had a political edge too. As he and his backing musicians moved in formation across the stage, video screens depicted a variety of colourful environs – waves, a misty forest – before the Talking Heads track ‘Life During Wartime’ was accompanied by images of brutal ICE raids,” it added.
“Time marches on, but you can always rely on David Byrne to make sense of the madness. Same as it ever was.”
More live shows this summer include a show at the Piece Hall in Halifax tomorrow (Saturday July 17) and a UK exclusive festival show at Latitude. Visit here for tickets.
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