Watch David Byrne return to ‘Saturday Night Live’ for first time in 31 years

The Talking Heads frontman was joined by the cast of 'American Utopia'

David Byrne made his long-awaited return to Saturday Night Live last night, marking his first appearance in 31 years.

The Talking Heads frontman last appeared on the show in 1989 in support of his debut solo album, ‘Rei Mono’. The episode was hosted by Woody Harrelson and saw Byrne perform two songs from his debut.

Last night (February 29), Byrne returned to the New York sketch comedy show as musical guest alongside comedian John Mulaney. Joined by the cast of his critically acclaimed Broadway show, American Utopia, he performed ‘Once in a Lifetime’ and ‘Toe Jam’.

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Watch the performances below:

Elsewhere, Byrne and his band joined special guest Jake Gyllenhaal and the SNL cast in a Broadway-themed sketch about buying sushi at LaGuardia Airport – see it below.

Meanwhile, it was announced earlier this month that Spike Lee will direct the movie adaptation of Byrne’s American Utopia tour.

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The feature-length adaptation of the live show – which NME lauded as “the most ambitious and impressive live show of all time”, a quote Byrne then duly named a live EP of the tour after – will come out in 2020 and be executive produced by Byrne himself.

Reviewing Byrne’s Broadway version of the show, NME said: “The lead single from the solo album that inspired the show makes for the night’s most powerful moment. ‘Everybody’s Coming To My House’, he explains, is a song fuelled by the anxiety of a party getting out of hand. It’s as witty as it is catchy, with a few classic Byrne-isms thrown in for good measure…but when he saw it performed by a teenage choir from Detroit, it became an inclusive anthem that flips fear into joy, celebrating mankind’s differences and what we can learn from each other.

“When the 12-piece band hammer out their version, the show’s core question of the America that exists, and the America that could exist, are in the balance. We know which one we’d rather live in.”

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