It is the end of an era for electronic music fans, as genre icons Daft Punk have officially announced that they are calling it quits and retiring after nearly three decades on the scene.
The Parisian electronic dance duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo are parting ways after performing together as Daft Punk for the last 28 years. Daft Punk, who formed in Paris way back in 1993, is largely considered to be one of the most influential performers in the electronic dance music genre and have written some of the top-rated songs in the history of pop music including ‘Around The World‘, ‘Get Lucky‘, and ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger‘. The duo is also well recognized for wearing robot-like helmets in all performances and public appearances for the better part of their career.
As of the time of this writing, no reason or explanation has been provided as to why the pair have decided to split up. The breakup has been confirmed to Pitchfork by the band’s longtime publicist, Kathryn Frazier.
The band broke the news of their split themselves in a video titled ‘Epilogue,‘ which itself is an excerpt from their film Electroma (2006). The eight-minute video features the musicians walking through the desert in their iconic robot helmets and leather jackets. The duo seems to be spacing away from one another until Bangalter pauses and waits for Homem-Christo to return to him. Once they are reunited, Bangalter strips off his jacket and reveals a switch on his back with a timer, seemingly imploring his partner to flip the switch.
Homem-Christo hesitates and then obliges, flipping the switch and starting the timer just as Bangalter begins to distance himself again. The timer beeps as it counts down until it reaches its end and Bangalter explodes amid the desert sand while Homem-Christo looks onward. The scene then cuts to a sunset while their song ‘Touch‘ from their 2013 album ‘Random Access Memories’ begins to play. A message saying “1993-2021” fades into the screen to signify the band’s fond farewell to their fans. You can check out the full video below.
Daft Punk has released a number of big albums during their nearly three decades in the music industry. Their debut album ‘Homework‘ (1997) brought hits like ‘Around The World‘ and ‘Da Funk‘ to the dance music scene along with animated music videos that played in regular rotation on Cartoon Network‘s late-night Toonami: Midnight Run animation block, which garnered the musical group a number of new fans in the geek community as well.
Their follow up album, ‘Discovery‘ (2001), was met with even greater success and introduced the world to hit singles like ‘One More Time‘ and ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,‘ which would go on to become staples of the dance music scene for years to come.
The band had continued success with their third album ‘Human After All‘ (2005) and the very well-received soundtrack to the film Tron: Legacy (2010), for which the group wrote the entire film score. The Tron Legacy (2010) soundtrack earned them a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Musical Score.’
Daft Punk’s greatest success was perhaps their 2013 album ‘Random Access Memory,‘ which would net them multiple Grammy Awards in 2014 including ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album,‘ ‘Best Pop Duo/Group Performance,‘ ‘Record Of The Year,’ and the highly coveted ‘Album Of The Year.‘ The album would become a defining moment in Daft Punk’s mark on the music industry as it would effectively become the group’s final album.
Are you sad to see Daft Punk come to an end? Or do you think it was just time? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
