david byrne (born 14 may 1952) is a scottish-american musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. he was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the american new wave band talking heads. byrne has released solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography, opera, fiction, and non-fiction. he has received an academy award, a grammy award, a special tony award, and a golden globe award, and he is an inductee to the rock and roll hall of fame as part of talking heads.