Talking Heads Reportedly Turned Down $80 Million For Reunion Shows

Talking Heads reportedly turned down $80 million from Live Nation and Coachella to reform, Billboard reports.

According to a Billboard report, Coachella festival curator and Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett tried to nab a Talking Heads reunion for a Once In A Lifetime event.

Tollett travelled for the Toronto International Film Festival last September, where the band – David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison – reunited for the first time in over 20 years for a Q&A discussion to promote A24’s upscaled premiere of Stop Making Sense, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the live album of the same name.

Explaining that he “sensed there were no shows happening, so I didn’t make an offer”, when he tried to approach the band and their representatives about performing at Coachella, Tollett insisted that he didn’t broach payments with the band. A source familiar with Coachella told Billboard that they could have earned $10 million if they had played.

Tollett wasn’t the only one interested in a Talking Heads reunion: Live Nation told the band they were willing to pay them $80 million to headline six to eight festivals and accompanying gigs. Talking Heads declined the offer.

While Tollett was unsuccessful in coaxing Talking Heads into headlining Coachella, he did nab two other reformations for the festival: No Doubt and Sublime.

Since Talking Heads’ disbandment in 1991, the only other time the four members of the group shared the stage was in 2002, upon their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, where they performed unforgettable versions of Psycho Killer, Burning Down The House and Life During Wartime.

Earlier this month, American rock band Paramore shared a snippet of their cover of Burning Down The House, which will appear on an upcoming Talking Heads tribute album.

The teaser of their cover is the first piece of new music we’ve heard from Paramore since breakup rumours swirled around them, and a subsequent report that confirmed that they are not breaking up but merely free agents was published.