The French performers advertised the decomposition of the duo, founded in 1993. Throughout its presence, Daft Punk has released four studio albums and was awarded a Grammy seven times.
On the possibility of the closing of the project, Daft Punk published an eight-minute video on YouTube called Epilogue. The video is an excerpt from the feature film by the duo Electroma, which follows two robots trying to become human. Somewhere in the middle, the engraving 1993–2021 appears in the video.
A spokesperson for the duo did not specify if they would continue to work together under a different name. At the same time, the magazine does not eliminate that the released video may be the opening of a new project.
The Story of Daft Punk
Although in their video the group indicated the year of its creation, Bangalter and Omem-Christo began to cooperate much earlier – back in 1987. For six years, the French played mainly guitar music, and came up with the name Darlin ‘, but did not gain success.
It was in 1993 that Bangalter and Omem-Christo formed the electric duo Daft Punk, which in four years will reverberate all over the world. In 1997, the band delivered their première album “Homework”, whose hit “Around the World” was declared to be foreshadowing. The group’s fame spread very quickly around the world. The album received platinum status in many European and British Commonwealth countries. And exclusively in the USA, the achievement of the group can be called modest – the record began on the Billboard chart at 150th place. However, over time, “Homework” received gold status, selling overseas in the amount of more than 600 thousand copies.
Homework has become one of the most prominent albums in the story of electronic music. People were then influenced by the retro sound of the record, which weaved not only synthesizer beats created by the musicians themselves but also representations from disco songs of the 70s.
The band’s love for 70s disco is no coincidence. Bangalter’s father Daniel Bangalter is the author of several popular European disco songs, including the big hit “D.I.S.C.O.” group Ottawan – very successful in the USSR. The music archives that Tom had at his disposal throughout his childhood certainly affected both his suggestions and the improvement of the future Daft Punk.
The following album “Discovery” in 2001 was a true breakthrough for the group. If before the French only teased retro themes, this time the entire album is motivated by the disco of the 70s. Two of the most popular singles from the album “One More Time” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” are still listened to on many radio stations and have long accepted the status of “timeless”.
In the wake of the record’s victory, the duo, together with Japanese animators, issued the full-length anime Interstella 5555: The History of the Secret 5-Solar System, which is a video sequence for the album with a distinct plot. The film received positive reviews from critics and audiences and now holds an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
After four years, Daft Punk issued its third album Human After All in 2005. For the first time in their career, the duo decided to practically not use ready-made samples in their compositions (except for the single “Robot Rock”) but relied on their strength. Ironically, this distinct disc was the most coolly received by music experts, although the quality of the material did not fall in the least. Numerous were confused by the unexpected difference in genre, which was speculated in the reviews.
Nevertheless, in the mid-2000s, the group acquired already legendary status. In April 2006, Daft Punk became the headliner of the Coachella festival. In those years, this was an unprecedented step on the part of the organizers, since before no electronic collective had received such invitations to festivals of this level. The 2006 event had a tremendous impact on the entire electronic scene, and the previously subcultural genre instantly went mainstream.
The group published its fourth and last record back in 2013. The record “Random Access Memories” enhanced the most prosperous in the group’s discography, beginning at first place in the charts of the overpowering adulthood of countries. Faultfinders addressed rave evaluations, and “Get Lucky” shouted from every window. Already successful at that time producer and musician Pharrell Williams, performing “Get Lucky”, became one of the most popular singers in the United States and subsequently released several deafening hits on his own.
Now that the group startled the whole world with their disbandment publication, many fans are dominated by sensations. And Daft Punk’s plays are over the top on music services. However, when the wave dies down, many have yet to realize the invaluable contribution that the group has made to the development and popularization of electronic music. The reach of a predominantly avant-garde and club genre to the level of the mainstream and the opening lines in the world graphs is largely due to Daft Punk.
