David Byrne's Career of Earnest Alienation

"Spotting Byrne on two wheels has become a New York City rite of passage, like sussing out the best halal cart in midtown, or dropping something important onto the subway tracks. During the few months that Byrne and I spent together, I never saw him traverse the city via any other mode of transportation, even when the heat index was approaching hellscape and he was overdue for a meeting in Brooklyn. He simply reapplied sunscreen and pushed off."

"In 2023, he rode a custom white Budnitz single-speed directly onto the red carpet at the Met Gala while wearing a cream-colored turtleneck under a bespoke white suit by Martin Greenfield Clothiers. (The bike featured a belt drive, which prevented chain grease from smearing his pants; he had placed his parking placard for the gala in the basket.) In 2019, Byrne rode a bicycle onstage at the "Tonight Show" while promoting "David Byrne's American Utopia," a Broadway production that he wrote and starred in that year."

David Byrne remains actively engaged in creative and civic life at seventy-three, blending curiosity about existence with gestures of optimism and service. He is a constant presence on Manhattan streets, traveling by bicycle regardless of weather and owning multiple bikes, one of which he recently lent to Lorde. He has performed and promoted work while riding, including on the Tonight Show and at the Met Gala, where his bike had a belt drive and even carried his parking placard. He wrote and starred in the Broadway production American Utopia, which later became a Spike Lee–directed film. Byrne balances practicality, performance, and public-mindedness in daily life.

Read at The New Yorker