| David Byrne discography | |
|---|---|
 David Byrne speaking at the 2006 Future of Music Policy Summit hosted by the McGill University Schulich School of Music in Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
| Studio albums | 10 |
| Soundtrack albums | 12 |
| Live albums | 5 |
| Singles | 14 |
| Remix albums | 1 |
This article catalogs the ongoing discography of Scottish-American recording artist, composer, musician, and producer David Byrne, former singer for Talking Heads.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [1] | AUS [2] | BEL (Fl.) [3] | ITA [4] | NLD [5] | NZ [6] | SWE [7] | UK [8] | ||
| My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (with Brian Eno) |
| 44 | 47 | 62 | 29 | — | 8 | — | 29 |
| Rei Momo |
| 71 | 96 | — | — | 88 | — | 28 | 52 |
| Uh-Oh |
| 125 | 67 | — | — | 52 | 39 | 26 | 26 |
| David Byrne |
| 139 | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | 43 |
| Feelings |
| 155 | — | — | — | — | — | 42 | 91 |
| Look into the Eyeball |
| 120 | — | — | 15 | — | — | — | 58 |
| Grown Backwards |
| 178 | — | 55 | 29 | — | — | — | 88 |
| Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (with Brian Eno) |
| 174 | 66 | 58 | — | — | 31 | — | — |
| Love This Giant (with St. Vincent) |
| 23 | — | 51 | 52 | 83 | — | — | 40 |
| American Utopia |
| 3 | 82 | 19 | 32 | 43 | — | — | 16 |
| Who Is the Sky? (with Ghost Train Orchestra) |
| 172 | 18 [9] | 7 | — | 17 | 17 [10] | — | 34 |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [1] | BEL (Fl.) [3] | NLD [5] | NZ [6] | SWE [7] | UK [8] | ||
| The Catherine Wheel |
| 104 | — | — | 32 | 40 | — |
| Music for "The Knee Plays" |
| 141 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sounds from True Stories |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| The Last Emperor (with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su) |
| 152 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Your Action World [a] |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| In Spite of Wishing and Wanting |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| E.E.E.I. (Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information) [b] |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lead Us Not into Temptation |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Big Love: Hymnal |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Here Lies Love (with Fatboy Slim) |
| 96 | 96 | 83 | — | — | 76 |
| American Utopia on Broadway Original Cast Recording |
| — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||
In addition to the scores and soundtracks that Byrne recorded have been released as albums, Byrne has written music for several other productions:
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US World [11] | PRT [12] | ||
| Between the Teeth |
| — | — |
| David Byrne Live at Union Chapel |
| — | — |
| Live from Austin, Texas |
| — | — |
| Everything That Happens Will Happen on This Tour – David Byrne on Tour: Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno |
| — | — |
| Live at Carnegie Hall (with Caetano Veloso) |
| 8 | 28 |
| "...The Best Live Show of All Time" —NME |
| — | — |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Visible Man |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEX | US Alt. [13] | US AAA [14] | US Rock and Airplay | |||
| "Regiment" b/w "America Is Waiting" (with Brian Eno) | 1981 | — | — | — | — | My Life In the Bush of Ghost |
| — | — | — | — | |||
| "The Jezebel Spirit" (with Brian Eno) | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The Last Emperor" (with Ryuichi Sakamoto) | 1987 | — | — | — | — | The Last Emperor |
| "Loco De Amor" (feat. Celia Cruz) | — | — | — | — | Rei Momo | |
| "Make Believe Mambo" (feat. Kirsty MacColl and Willie Colón) | 1989 | — | 11 | — | — | |
| "Dirty Old Town" | — | 8 | — | — | ||
| "Independence Day" (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | 1990 | — | — | — | — | |
| "The Forestry" | 1991 | — | — | — | — | The Forest |
| "Hanging Upside Down" | 1992 | — | — | — | — | Uh-Oh |
| "She's Mad" | — | 3 | — | — | ||
| "Girls on My Mind" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Angels" | 1994 | — | 24 | — | — | David Byrne |
| "Back in the Box" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Sad Song" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Lillies of the Valley" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Dance on Vaseline" | 1997 | — | — | — | — | Feelings |
| "Miss America" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Like Humans Do" | 2001 | — | — | 18 | — | Look Into the Eyeball |
| "U.B. Jesus" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Desconocido Soy" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Strange Overtones" (with Brian Eno) | 2008 | 36 | — | 14 | — | Everything That Happens Will Happen Today |
| "One Fine Day" | 2009 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Who" (with St. Vincent) | 2012 | — | — | — | — | Love This Giant |
| "I Should Watch TV" | 39 | — | — | — | ||
| "Everybody's Coming to My House" | 2018 | 41 | — | 5 | 49 | American Utopia |
| "This Is That" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "David Byrne Does Hard Times" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Everybody Laughs" (with Ghost Train Orchestra) | 2025 | — | — | 2 | 32 | Who Is the Sky |
| "She Explains Things To Me" (with Ghost Train Orchestra) | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The Avant Garde" (with Ghost Train Orchestra) | — | — | — | — | ||
| "What Is the Reason For It? (with Ghost Train Orchestra) (feat. Hayley Williams) | — | — | 26 | — | ||
| Year | Release | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Like a Girl I Want You to Keep Coming | "Song for the Trees (or) I Know Sometimes the World Is Wrong" |
| 1990 | Red Hot + Blue | "Don't Fence Me In" |
| 1993 | Caged/Uncaged: A Rock/Experimental Homage to John Cage | "Cage and the Long Island Expressway" and "Enlightened Whistler" |
| 1994 | Beat the Retreat: Songs by Richard Thompson | "Just the Motion", originally by Richard Thompson |
| 1995 | Afro-Peruvian Classics: The Soul of Black Peru | "Maria Lando" |
| 1996 | Red Hot + Rio | "Waters of March" with Marisa Monte |
| Offbeat: A Red Hot Soundtrip | "It Goes Back" | |
| 1997 | Red Hot + Latin | "Yolonda Niguas" with Café Tacuba |
| 1998 | Red Hot + Lisbon | "Dreamworld: Marco de Canavezes" with Caetano Veloso |
| 2000 | Mantra Mix | "Ain't Got So Far to Go" |
| 2002 | The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol. 1 | "Pocket Monster" |
| 2004 | The Wired CD | "My Fair Lady" |
| 2007 | Plum | "Ex-Guru", originally by The Fiery Furnaces |
| The Simpsons: Testify | "Everybody Hates Ned Flanders" medley | |
| 2009 | Dark Was the Night | "Knotty Pine", with Dirty Projectors |
| 2022 | Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono [15] | "Who Has Seen the Wind?" |
| Year | Artist | Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Dinosaur | "Kiss Me Again" single | Guitar |
| 1980 | Love of Life Orchestra | "Extended Nicities" single | Guitar |
| Robert Fripp | God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners | Vocals on "Under Heavy Manners"; credited as Absalam el Habib | |
| 1984 | The Staple Singers | "Slippery People" single | Guitar, Talking Heads cover version |
| 1986 | Philip Glass | Song from Liquid Days | Lyrics on "Liquid Days" and "Open the Kingdom" |
| 1988 | Tom Tom Club | Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom | Vocals on "Femme Fatale" |
| "Femme Fatale" (Marshall Jefferson remix) | Vocals | ||
| 1990 | Margareth Menezes | Elegibô | Vocals and production on "Canto pra Subir" and "Abra a Boca" |
| Bernie Worrell | Funk of Ages | Co-writing and vocals on "Sing" | |
| 1992 | Richard Thompson | An Acoustic Evening | Recorded live at St. Ann & The Holy Trinity, Brooklyn Heights, March 24, 1992. (Red Phantom: RPCD 1100) |
| Balanescu Quartet | Byrne/Moran/Lurie/Torke | Composition on "High Life for Strings" | |
| Tom Zé | Brazil Classics, Vol. 5: The Hips of Tradition | Vocals and guitar on "Jingle do Disco", released on Luaka Bop | |
| 1994 | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Sweet Revenge | Lyrics on "Psychedelic Afternoon" |
| 1995 | Selena | Dreaming of You | Vocals, co-writing, and production on "God's Child (Baila Conmigo)" |
| 1996 | Café Tacuba | Avalanche de Exitos | Vocals on "No Controles" |
| 2000 | Peret and Carol C | Tributo a Peret | Vocals on "Si Fulano" |
| 2001 | Vinicius Cantuária | Vinicius | Lyrics and vocals on "Rio" |
| 2002 | X-Press 2 | Muzikizum | Co-writing and vocals on "Lazy", later rearranged and released on Grown Backwards |
| 2004 | 10,000 Maniacs | Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings | Vocals "Let the Mystery Be", originally recorded for 1993's MTV Unplugged , along with cover versions of "Dallas" and "Jolene" |
| Thievery Corporation | The Cosmic Game | Lyrics and vocals on "The Heart's a Lonely Hunter" | |
| 2005 | Fischerspooner | Odyssey | Lyrics on "Get Confused" |
| 2006 | Forro in the Dark | Bonfires of São João | Vocals on "Asa Branca" and "I Wish (Bundle of Contradictions)" |
| La Portuaria | La Portuaria | Lyrics and vocals on "Hoy no le temo a la muerte" | |
| 2007 | Baby Elephant | Turn My Teeth Up! | Vocals on "How Does the Brainwave?" |
| Marisa Monte | Universo Ao Meu Redor | Vocals on "State of Liberty" | |
| David Shrigley | Worried Noodles | Vocals on "For You" | |
| Paul Van Dyk | In Between | Vocals on "Fall with Me" | |
| 2008 | The BPA and Dizzee Rascal | I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat | Vocals on "Toe Jam" |
| 2009 | N.A.S.A. | The Spirit of Apollo | Vocals on "The People Tree" and "Money" |
| Brazilian Girls | "I'm Losing Myself" | Vocals | |
| 2010 | If By Yes | "Salt on Sea Glass" | Vocals on "Eliza" |
| Maximum Balloon | Maximum Balloon | Vocals on "Apartment Wrestling" | |
| 2011 | Arcade Fire | The Suburbs (Deluxe Edition) | Vocals on "Speaking in Tongues" |
| 2013 | Jun Miyake | Lost Memory Theatre - act-1 | Vocals on "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" |
| Ryuichi Sakamoto | "Psychedelic Afternoon" | Re-recording of a 1994 collaboration; new lyrics and vocals | |
| 2014 | Anna Calvi | Strange Weather | Vocals on "I'm the Man, That Will Find You (Connan Mockasin)" and "Strange Weather (Keren Ann)" |
| 2016 | De La Soul | And the Anonymous Nobody... | Co-writing and vocals on "Snoopies" |
| 2022 | Montaigne | "Always Be You" single | Vocals |
| "Gravity" single | Vocals | ||
| 2022 | Son Lux | Everything Everywhere All At Once soundtrack | Co-writing and vocals on "This Is a Life" |
| Year | Artist | Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | The B-52's | Mesopotamia | — |
| 1983 | Fun Boy Three | Waiting | — |
| 1986 | Various artists | Something Wild | Co-produced, also co-write and sang on "Loco de Amor" |
| 1990 | Margareth Menezes | Elegibô | "Canto pra Subir" and "Abra a Boca" also performs vocals |
| 1995 | Selena | Dreaming of You | "God's Child (Baila Conmigo)" also performs vocals and co-wrote |
Byrne has released a handful of books, including Arboretum, a collection of sketches of some of his favorite trees, and The New Sins, a work about sin in the 21st century. He has also made several public art installations, speaking engagements on art and technology, and PowerPoint presentations. In addition to a recording career as a solo artist, he also founded the record Label Luaka Bop and Todo Mundo.