Tina Weymouth

Tina Weymouth was born as Martina Michèle Weymouth in Coronado, California on November 22, 1950, to Laura Bouchage and retired US Navy Vice Admiral Ralph Weymouth. Tina was raised in a large family and grew up with her seven siblings. Two of her siblings, Laura and Lani, collaborate with her on musical projects and her brother Yann Weymouth is an architect who is popularly known as the designer of the Salvador Dalí Museum.

Tina Weymouth married Chris Frantz in 1977, the same year when ‘Talking Heads’ released their first album. The couple has two children named Robin and Egan. The family currently resides in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Tina, at the age of twelve, joined an amateur musical group named ‘The Potomac English Hand Bell Ringers’ which was directed by Nancy Tufts. After touring with the group several times, Tina developed a real interest in singing and started learning guitar all by her. When she enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design, she met two people who would change the course of her future life: Chris Frantz and David Byrne. The three formed the band ‘Talking Heads’ together and Tina became the bassist on Chris’s request. They moved to New York City and rented an apartment for rehearsals.

Tina became a very good bassist in a matter of months and Byrne started writing some of their soon-to-be iconic songs. In 1975, their band ‘Talking Heads’ debuted in ‘The Ramones’ at New York's storied CBGB nightclub, with two of Byrne’s famous songs ‘Psycho Killer’ and ‘Warning Sign’ as well as some other covers of old songs. Their debut was a hit and the band became popular quickly among the audiences.

The subsequent year, ‘Talking Heads’ added another band member, guitarist Jerry Harrison, in a bid to expand the band and become more versatile in the punk rock genre. Soon they were offered a contract by the punk rock label Sire Record, which they gladly signed. In 1977, the band released their first album ‘Talking Heads: 77’ which was a moderate success in commercial terms and later released two more albums ‘Fear of Music’ and ‘Remain in Light’ in 1979 and 1980 respectively.

After the release of ‘Remain in Light’, the band sort of went into a hiatus following which Tina and Frantz formed their new wave band ‘Tom Tom Club’ and kept themselves busy making hits like ‘Wordy Rappinghood’ and ‘Genius of Love’.

When David Byrne made it clear that he was not interested in making another album with ‘Talking Heads’, Tina became very upset with him and publicly criticized him for not being able to fulfill his commitments. The remaining band members did come together and released their album ‘No Talking, Just Head’ under the name ‘The Heads’ in 1996. Tina later became a judge in the second annual Independent Music Awards which supports independent artists' careers.