Talking Heads Musicians' Close Call: 'Incredibly, We Walked Away'

Husband and wife musicians Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz survived a head-on crash
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2022 10:25 AM CDT
Talking Heads Bandmates: We Were Hit by Drunk Driver
Talking Heads band members, from left, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison receive honorary degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI, on May 30, 2015.   (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

This is likely not the wild, wild life they hoped to experience. Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, the married couple perhaps best known as the bassist and drummer, respectively, for new wave group Talking Heads, were in a head-on collision two weeks ago, and Weymouth, 71, is still recovering from her injuries, Frantz revealed in a Sunday Facebook post. Frantz writes he was driving on US Route 1 (he doesn't specify where) on March 13 when "we were struck head on by a drunk driver who was driving on the wrong side of the road."

"Incredibly, we walked away from the collision," Frantz, 70, notes, posting a pic of their smashed-up vehicle. He says his wife of nearly 45 years suffered a fractured sternum and three broken ribs, and that although she's in "a lot of pain," he's confident she'll recover. "I give thanks to our guardian angels and to the Ford Motor Company for building a car that protected us from getting killed," he added.

A spokesperson for Weymouth tells Pitchfork that she was "a bit banged up ... but is resting and doing well. With the type of injury she had, rest is a key part of the recovery process. Chris is taking good care of her." The Guardian notes the couple were also founding members of funk and new wave band Tom Tom Club, formed in 1981 as a side project to their Talking Heads gig with frontman David Byrne and guitarist Jerry Harrison. Frantz wrote about their personal and professional relationship in his 2020 memoir Remain in Love. (More Talking Heads stories.)

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