St. Vincent Pulls David Byrne Onstage For Talking Heads Singalong At Jazz Fest in New Orleans

Longtime collaborators St. Vincent (Annie Clark) and David Byrne reunited in New Orleans on Sunday, the final day of the first weekend of Jazz Fest. Byrne joined St. Vincent for “Wild Wild Life” before Clark repaid the favor by adding to the former Talking Heads frontman’s performance of “Air” during his set.

St. Vincent and David Byrne teamed up for the collaborative 2012 album Love This Giant and an extensive tour in support of the LP. The pair have since crossed paths several times, including Clark’s appearance on Byrne's Who Is The Sky? album in 2025 and a joint performance of a Stevie Wonder cover in 2023.

Hopes were high for collaborations when the schedule came out for Jazz Fest as St. Vincent and David Byrne were set to close out the Gentilly Stage on Sunday with back-to-back sets. St. Vincent called upon David Byrne to sit-in on the penultimate song of her career-spanning set.

David Byrne led Clark and her band through “Wild Wild Life.” Talking Heads originally released the song on their 1986 album, True Stories. “Wild Wild Life” was performed regularly by Byrne and St. Vincent during their Love This Giant tour, but had not been played by either artist since 2013 before Sunday afternoon as per Setlist.FM statistics.

Later, Annie Clark emerged during David Byrne’s Gentilly Stage performance sporting one of the same blue uniforms Byrne and his band wore. Clark had a wireless electric guitar in hand as she sat-in on “Air” from Talking Heads’ iconic Fear Of Music LP.

David Byrne resumes his Who Is The Sky Tour on Tuesday, April 28 with his first of two shows at St. Louis’ Stifel Theatre. St. Vincent kicks off an orchestral tour on June 2 in Pittsburgh.

Watch audience-captured footage of David Byrne singing “Wild Wild Life” with St. Vincent at Jazz Fest below: