David Byrne is in the midst of his 2025 North American tour in support of new album Who Is the Sky?, and during his stop at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, he busted out a cover of Paramore’s 2017 hit “Hard Times.”
Consider his rendition “Byrne-ified.” Backed by the members of his band, who sing, dance, and play a variety of different instruments while completely mobile throughout the show, Byrne provided a typically-zany attitude to the cover; he and his instrumentalists added soaring harmonies, saxophone lines, and choreographed movements to their version of “Hard Times.” Check it out below.
Byrne has been covering “Hard Times” throughout his extensive 2025 North American tour, which continues through December. Get tickets to see him here.
Byrne and Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams have now collaborated multiple times; Paramore initially offered their cover of Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House” for the 2024 Stop Making Sense tribute album, Williams recently guested on Who Is the Sky? track “What Is The Reason For It?,” and the pair have an upcoming collaborative song titled “Open The Door” that they recorded for the Netflix adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits.