Music legend David Byrne candidly discussed the possibility that he may be on the autism spectrum, revealing that he leans on music and performing to help with his social skills.
While appearing on the Tuesday, November 4, episode of "The Louis Theroux Podcast," the Talking Heads icon, 73, recalled the first time he considered that he may be autistic. "That might have been in the ‘90s or something, there were articles in magazines and things like that about this idea of spectrum," he said.
"There’s fairly severe autism where people don’t talk at all and it’s very, very difficult for them to communicate. And then there’s milder and milder, and until it’s on the very mild side," Byrne explained. "It tends to be people who can be very focused on an idea, maybe have difficulty in social situations and things like that."
Recalling the time he first he considered the idea, Byrne shared, "I said, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve recognized that.' I’ve never thought of it as a disability, but I can see that there’s a part of me that is like that."
Autism spectrum disorder "is a condition related to brain development that affects how people see others and socialize with them. This causes problems in communication and getting along with others socially," according to The Mayo Clinic. "The condition also includes limited and repeated patterns of behavior. The term 'spectrum' in autism spectrum disorder refers to the wide range of symptoms and the severity of these symptoms."
Also during the interview, Byrne opened up about the challenges he's faced as someone who may be on the spectrum. He even pointed out that the topic is explored on the song "She Explains Things to Me," which is featured on his 2025 album, Who Is the Sky?
"I've had the experience where someone will say, 'Well, I clearly said no,' and then I’ll replay the conversation and the word ‘no’ was not there, but they expected their facial expression or the nuances of what they were saying to be read and clearly interpreted as a 'no,'" Byrne told Theroux. "This isn't me trying to do something inappropriate. I wasn’t able to read that."
Byrne went on to share that he feels he's become "a lot better at that now than I was in the past."
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"I’m a lot more comfortable with people now than I was in the past. So it changes," he said. "I’ll give music credit for that, too."
Byrne concluded the topic by stating that "making music, working with other people on music" and "playing together with musicians on stage" is a very "ecstatic, transcendent kind of social thing" for him. "And I thought, 'Okay, over the years, time passes and you kind of change after a bit,'" he said.
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