David Byrne

As front man of New York new wave stars Talking Heads, David Byrne became the king of oddball, art school rock in the 1980s, before turning to a solo career that has seen him dabble with brass bands, electronica and world music. His collaboration with legendary producer Brian Eno on the album My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (1981) used synths, strange percussive sounds and helped pioneer the use of sampling, before he took on Latin, Brazilian and Cuban styles on Rei Momo (1989). He won an Academy Award for his soundtrack to the film The Last Emperor and started his own label Luaka Bop, releasing music from Africa, India and the Far East while continuing to experiment with all sorts of sounds on his solo albums Uh Oh (1992), Feelings (1997) and Look Into The Eyeball (2001). Byrne featured on British electro act X-Press 2's UK Number 2 hit Lazy in 2002 and produced a rock musical about the Philippines' first lady Imelda Marcos, working with Fatboy Slim and a host of female singers, including Florence Welch, Martha Wainwright and Cyndi Lauper on the soundtrack Here Lies (2010). Ever the eccentric pop scientist, Byrne writes a column for the New York Times about his love of cycling, creates contemporary art and in 2008 even turned New York City Ferry Terminal into one huge musical instrument in a project he called Playing The Building.