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Talking Heads Turned Down A TON of Money to Reunite

Talking Heads is always in the discussion about hopeful band reunions. Apparently, there was a serious effort to get the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band to reunite. As…

Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, David Byrne and Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads attend Stop Making Sense Q & A hosted by BAM and A24 at BAM Harvey Theater on September 13, 2023 in Brooklyn Borough of New York City, New York.
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for BAM

Talking Heads is always in the discussion about hopeful band reunions. Apparently, there was a serious effort to get the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band to reunite. As expected, it was for some very serious money.

Billboard reports that Paul Tollett tried to get Talking Heads to reunite at this year's Coachella. (Tollett is the president of festival creation powerhouse Goldenvoice.) He traveled to Toronto to meet with the band while they were at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). At that time, TIFF was honoring the 40th anniversary of Stop Making SenseDespite making the trip, Tollett "sensed there were no shows happening, so I didn't make an offer."

That offer to reunite and perform at Coachella? As much as $10 million!

As incredible as that offer was, Billboard also reported the legendary band received a reunion offer from Live Nation. The offer involved headlining six to eight different festivals. The exact festivals weren't disclosed, but the payday for this offer was $80 million. Even with that hefty offer, the band turned it down.

Talking Heads Tribute Album

News of reunion offers comes at the same time as the unveiling of Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute to Stop Making Sense.

Billboard reports the tribute album is being released to further commemorate the 40th anniversary of the iconic Talking Heads concert film. The album is a track-for-track remake of the original soundtrack album. Featuring a stacked artist lineup, the LP features covers by Paramore, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, The National, The Linda Lindas and many more. The first preview to the album can be heard below in the form of Paramore's cover of "Burning Down the House."

While the album has been confirmed, a release date for Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute to Stop Making Sense has yet to be announced.

The Who’s Live at Leeds was released on May 16, 1970, and it’s one of the greatest live albums of all time.

It saw the band adding heavier guitars to their mod-era classics and to some early rock and roll chesnuts, and it holds up to any of their studio albums. Through the ‘70s, and ever since, rock bands have been releasing live documents of their concerts, and while some of them are little more than “greatest hits” collections with crowd noise, the albums on this list are essential parts of their respective artists’ discographies.

Scroll through the gallery below and see where some of your favorites are ranked in our greatest live albums list.

40. Billy Joel - ‘Songs In The Attic’ (1981)

Billy-Joel_Songs-from-the-Attic_Columbia_Legacy.jpgColumbia/Legacy

39. Yes - “Yessongs’ (1973)

Yes_yessongs_Atlantic.jpgAtlantic

38. The Kinks - ‘One For The Road’ (1980)

kinks_one-for-the-road_Arista.jpgArista

37. Thin Lizzy - ‘Live And Dangerous’ (1978)

thin-lizzy_dangerous_Mercury.jpgMercury

36. Rush - ‘Exit… Stage Left’ (1981)

rush_exit_Mercury.jpgMercury

35. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - ‘The Live Anthology’ (2009)

Petty_live_Reprise.jpgReprise

34. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - ‘Live Rust’ (1979)

neil-young_live-rust_Reprise.jpgReprise

33. Lynyrd Skynyrd - ‘One More From The Road’ (1976)

skynyrd_one-more_MCA.jpgMCA

32. Janis Joplin - ‘The Woodstock Experience’ (1998)

Janis-Joplin_woodstock_Sony-Legacy.jpg

31. Ozzy Osbourne - ‘Randy Rhoads Tribute’ (1987)

ozzy-Osbourne_randy_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

30. The Runaways - ‘Live In Japan’ (1977)

runaways_japan_Mercury.jpgMercury

29. Queen - ‘Live Killers’ (1979)

Queen_LiveKil_CoverAr_3000DPI300RGB1000003004-scaled.jpgUMG

28. Iron Maiden - ‘Live After Death’ (1985)

iron-maiden_live_EMI.jpgEMI

27. The Rolling Stones - ‘Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out’ (1970)

TheRoll_GetYerY_CoverAr_3000DPI300RGB1000036131-scaled.jpgUMG

26. Otis Redding - ‘Live In Europe’ (1967)

otis-redding_live_Volt_Atco.jpgVolt/Atco

25. The Yardbirds - ‘Five Live Yardbirds’ (1964)

yardbirds_Five-Live-Yardbirds_Columbia.jpgColumbia

24. Pearl Jam - ‘October 31st, 2009 – The Spectrum, Philadelphia’ (2009)

Image-from-iOS-35.jpgPearl Jam

23. David Bowie - ‘Live Santa Monica ‘72’ (2008)

David-Bowie_Santa-Monica_Rhino_Parlophone.jpgRhino/Parlophone

22. AC/DC - ‘If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It’ (1978)

ACDC_If-you-want-blood_Atlantic.jpgAtlantic

21. Nirvana - ‘Live At Reading’ (2009)

Nirvana_reading_Geffen.jpgGeffen

20. Talking Heads - ‘Stop Making Sense’ (1984)

talking-heads_stop-making-sense_Sire_Warner-Bros.jpgSire/Warner Bros.

19. Johnny Cash - ‘At Folsom Prison’ (1968)

Johnny-Cash_at-folsom_Columbia.jpgColumbia

18. Elton John - ‘11-17-70’ (1971)

Elton-John_11_17_70_Mercury.jpgMercury

17. Bob Dylan - ‘The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Live 1966, ‘The Royal Albert Hall’ Concert’ (1998)

Dylan_Bootleg_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

16. Cheap Trick - ‘At Budokan’ (1979)

Cheap-Trick_At-Budokan_Epic.jpgEpic

15. Bruce Springsteen - ‘Hammersmith Odeon, London ‘75’ (2006)

Springsteen_Hammersmith_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

14. Deep Purple - ‘Made In Japan’ (1973)

Deep-Purple_Made-in-Japan_Warner-Bros.jpgWarner Bros.

13. U2 - ‘Under A Blood Red Sky’ (1983)

U2_UnderAB_CoverAr_3000DPI300RGB1000016102-scaled.jpgUMG

12. Aretha Franklin - ‘Live At Fillmore West’ (1971)

aretha_Live-At-Fillmore-West_Atlantic.jpgAtlantic

11. Motorhead - ‘No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith’ (1981)

motorhead_no-sleep_Mercury.jpgMercury

10. Bob Marley & The Wailers - ‘Live!’ (1975)

bob-marley_live_Island-Records.jpgIsland Records

9. Peter Frampton - ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ (1976)

frampton_alive_AM.jpgA&M

8. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - ‘Live Bullet’ (1976)

bob-seger_live-bullet_Capitol.jpgCapitol

7. KISS - ‘Alive’ (1975)

Kiss_Alive_CoverAr_4000DPI300RGB1000147351-scaled.jpgUMG

6. Santana - ‘The Woodstock Experience’ (2009)

santana_woodstock_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

5. The Allman Brothers Band - ‘At Fillmore East’ (1971)

allman-brothers_fillmore-east_Capricorn.jpgCapricorn

4. James Brown - ‘Live At The Apollo, 1962’ (1963)

james-brown_apollo_Polydor.jpgPolydor

3. Jimi Hendrix - ‘Live At Monterey’ (1986)

hendriix_Monterey_Sony-Legacy.jpgSony/Legacy

2. Led Zeppelin - ‘How The West Was Won’ (2003)

led-zeppelin_how-the-west_Atlantic_Swan-Song.jpgAtlantic/Swan Song

1.The Who - ‘Live At Leeds’ (1970)

the-who_live-at-leeds_MCA.jpgMCA
Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights