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News

Daft Punk Break Up

The legendary dance duo has called it quits 28 years after forming in
Paris

By Jazz Monroe

February 22, 2021

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Daft PunkDaft Punk, photo by David Black

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Daft Punk, the Parisian duo responsible for some of the most popular
dance and pop songs ever made, have split. They broke the news with
an 8-minute video titled "Epilogue," excerpted from their 2006 film
Electroma. Asked if Daft Punk were no more, their longtime publicist
Kathryn Frazier confirmed the news to Pitchfork but gave no reason
for the breakup.

Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo formed Daft Punk in
Paris in 1993, helping to define the French touch style of house
music. Their debut album, 1997's Homework, was a dance music
landmark, featuring classic singles "Around the World" and "Da Funk."
By the release of its follow-up, Discovery, in 2001, the duo had
taken to making public appearances in the robot outfits that became
their trademark. The singles "One More Time" and "Harder, Better,
Faster, Stronger" cemented them as global superstars. Their imprint
in the popular imagination continued to deepen in subsequent years,
with records including third album Human After All, live LP Alive
2007, and the Tron: Legacy soundtrack album.

Twenty years into their career, Daft Punk blew up once more with "Get
Lucky," the lead single of their 2013 album Random Access Memories.
The ubiquitous track sold millions of copies around the world and won
two Grammys for the duo and guests Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams
, both of whom also featured on follow-up single "Lose Yourself to
Dance." Random Access Memories earned Daft Punk a further three
Grammys, including Album of the Year, and the ceremony hosted one of
the last stagings of their spectacular live show. "When you know how
a magic trick is done, it's so depressing," Bangalter told Pitchfork
in a 2013 Cover Story. "We focus on the illusion because giving away
how it's done instantly shuts down the sense of excitement and
innocence."

The year of Random Access Memories' release, Daft Punk were also
credited with co-production on several tracks from Kanye West's
Yeezus, including the formidable opening trio of "On Sight," "Black
Skinhead," and "I Am a God." They would go on to collaborate with the
Weeknd on the 2016 single "Starboy"--Daft Punk's first Billboard
singles chart topper--as well as a second hit, "I Feel It Coming."

Beyond the singles, their visual identity, interstellar mystique, and
party-music ethos inspired generations of artists across genres. LCD
Soundsystem's breakout song, "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House,"
captured the duo's paradoxical embodiment of hipster cool even as
their singles dominated airwaves. They released several batches of
incredible holiday merch. They were sampled by R&B greats Janet
Jackson and Jazmine Sullivan, parodied in Family Guy and Powerpuff
Girls, and celebrated in art galleries around the world. Watch their
farewell video below. 

This article was originally published on Monday, February 22 at 9:40
a.m. Eastern. It was last updated on February 22 at 11:37 a.m.
Eastern.

TagsBreakupDaft Punk

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