“You’re 17, it’s a normal dumb night, then someone’s screaming, ‘Get on the floor!’ I’m gonna die. This is the end of my life”: The armed hold-up that set the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne on the road to music

Wayne Coyne.

In 2020 the Flaming Lips were on a roll – literally. They’d come up with a plan to observe Covid regulations by performing in bubbles to support the launch of American Head, their second album in 18 months. Band leader Wayne Coyne told Prog its autobiographical nature included memories of an armed hold-up and dreams of living in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

---