Photo Credit: endinews.com
Legendary electronic dance music artist Daft Punk shocked the world by unexpectedly calling it quits after nearly three decades together.
In the last week of February, the French duo released a video titled Epilogue, excerpted from their 2006 film, Electroma, announcing their split. The 8-minute-long video ends with the pair walking through the desert, dressed in their iconic robot helmets, when one removes their leather jacket revealing what appears to be a bomb detonator. His partner pushes the detonator, while the other begins to walk away and 1-minute later explodes. Next, the video flashes a set of robot hands forming the shape of a triangle with the time stamp “1993-2021” printed underneath the image. This led to Daft Punk lovers everywhere to make the correct assumption that the group had announced retirement. Viewers are then brought to the image of a sunrise for the remainder of the video.
The Grammy Award winning artists have yet to comment on their breakup. Kathryn Frazier, the longtime representative of the EDM duo is simply confirming the split to major media sources, having made no further statements as to the reasons behind the split. Fans around the world are left in awe, wondering “Why?”
Formed in 1993 in Paris, the group revolutionized pop and electronic dance music for many future artists. Members Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter signed with Virgin Records and released their debut album, Homework in 1997. Their iconic hit song, Around the World came from this work.
With their “out of this world” aesthetic, the EDM influencers quickly gained popularity after the release of their second album in 2001. The sophomore record, titled Discovery, attained triple platinum and the number-two spot on the charts in France. It rose into the top ten in countries like Australia, Germany and the UK.
Hit song One More Time climbed to number-one on the Billboard dance charts and still remains a fan favorite today. Another hit single, Harder Better Faster Stronger, also from the group’s second album would earn them the award for Best Dance Recording at the 2009 Grammys. Six years later that same song would be the major influence behind Kanye West’s number-one single, Stronger. The song was well-loved, reaching the top ten in ten different countries, gaining the number one spot in four of them. The hit even gained Kanye the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.
They debuted their first science fiction musical, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, highlighting songs from their first album. The film is ranked 7.8/10 on iMDb and 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Well accomplished, the duo released their third album, Human After All in March 2005, reaching number three in France with hits like Technologic, and peaking the Billboard charts in the U.S.
Daft Punk were the pioneers to break the mold and include different genres of music into house and dance. Get Lucky debuted as their lead single off their final studio album, Random Access Memories. The song, featuring vocals by Pharrell Williams, reached the top ten in over 32 countries and has sold more than 9.3 million copies worldwide. The duo’s fourth album earned them the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
The two continued on to collaborate with R&B/Soul artist, the Weeknd. The musical space robots were featured on the tracks Starboy and I Feel It Coming. The group’s collaboration with the Weeknd would be their final one before their recent breakup.
The iconic duo’s music and influence will be missed throughout music of many different genres.
