Chris Frantz
Chris Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American drummer and record producer. He co-founded Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club with his wife, Tina Weymouth. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 as a member of Talking Heads.
Frantz was born at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and grew up in Pittsburgh, where he finished Shady Side Academy. He studied at the Rhode Island School of Design in the early 1970s, where he met David Byrne and Tina Weymouth. The Artistics, a band with Byrne, became Talking Heads in 1973. Weymouth joined the band in 1975 after moving to New York City. Frantz and Weymouth married in 1977 and have two sons.
When Talking Heads paused in 1980, Frantz and Weymouth started Tom Tom Club. In 1996, Frantz, Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison briefly reunited as The Heads for No Talking, Just Head, which featured various vocalists, including Debbie Harry.
As a producer, Frantz worked on albums for Happy Mondays (Yes Please!, 1992) and Angelfish, and produced several records for Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He and Weymouth also contributed backing vocals and percussion to Gorillaz’s self-titled debut.
Frantz is ranked No. 12 on Stylus Magazine’s list of the 50 greatest rock drummers. He hosts a monthly radio show, “Chris Frantz the Talking Head,” on WPKN in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He is connected with the Compass Point All Stars movement and influenced the modern jamband scene after Phish covered Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light.”
His memoir, Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina, was published in July 2020. In 2020 he survived a heart attack that required three stents, and in 2022 he and Weymouth were in a car crash with a drunk driver.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:15 (CET).