In May 1990, Hawtin and John Acquaviva founded the Plus 8 record label, which they named after their turntable's pitch adjust function. In 1998, Hawtin launched M-nus Records. From 2012-2015, Hawtin held the ENTER. Ibiza weekly party at Space in Ibiza. In 2016, Hawtin launched his own technology company called PLAYdifferently, and released the MODEL 1 mixer, co-designed with Andy Rigby-Jones.

Biography

Hawtin was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, and at the age of nine moved with his parents to LaSalle, Ontario, a suburb of Windsor, Ontario, where he was raised before spending time in Detroit, MI. His father worked as a robotics technician at General Motors and was a fan of electronic music, introducing his son to Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream at an early age. He has one brother, Matthew, who is a visual artist and ambient music DJ. Hawtin attended Sandwich Secondary High School in LaSalle.

He began to DJ in clubs at 17. He was mentored by Scott "Go-Go" Gordon at The Shelter in Detroit and his early style was a mix of house music and techno. With Canadian DJ John Acquaviva he formed the label Plus 8 in 1989 to release his own tracks under the name F.U.S.E. He dropped out of the University of Windsor, where he was studying film, and Plus 8 went on to release material by artists such as Speedy J and Kenny Larkin. Hawtin adopted his 'Plastikman' incarnation in 1993, releasing the single "Spastik" and parent album Sheet One, going on to release a number of albums and touring a live show for the next decade.

Career

Hawtin was among pioneers of the Minimal techno movement that emerged in the early 1990s, where he represented a "second wave" of American producers, such as Daniel Bell, Robert Hood, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin, and Mike Banks, associated with Detroit techno. In 1996, he released a series of monthly 12-inch singles, entitled Concept 1, which, alongside the work of Robert Hood and other producers, explored minimal techno. His M-nus label also pursued this direction. In 1999, the Decks, EFX & 909 mix album, the first in a series of three, included 38 tracks molded via effects and drum machines.

In 2001, Hawtin performed at Life Fest in Windsor. He spent part of 2002 and 2003 living in New York City, before opening a label in Berlin, Germany, where he focused on his M-nus label, developing the careers of DJ-producers such as Magda, Gaiser, Marc Houle, Hearttrob and Troy Pierce.

In 2006, he collaborated with choreographer Enzo Cosimi on a composition called "9.20" for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. He said, "Enzo and I are very much interested in pushing boundaries, both as artists and for our audiences. Working together for the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Games delivers the creative endeavor to not only entertain a huge audience, but to also introduce them to sights and sounds that they may have never experienced before."

In 2012, Hawtin worked with Loco Dice and Ean Golden in promoting Electronic Dance Music on a tour of North American universities entitled CNTRL: Beyond EDM, which included music production seminars, lessons in the music business, and live music performances.

In July 2015, Hawtin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music Technology by the University of Huddersfield.

Hawtin composed and scored music for the XXth Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony and 1928 silent French film Brumes d’automne.

Recordings

Hawtin has recorded under the aliases Plastikman, F.U.S.E., Concept 1, Forcept 1, Circuit Breaker, Robotman, Chrome, Spark, Xenon, R.H.X., Jack Master, Richard Michaels and UP!. He recorded and performed, with other artists, under group names such as The Hard Brothers, Hard Trax (with his brother Matthew Hawtin), 0733, Cybersonik (with Daniel Bell and John Acquaviva), Final Exposure (with Joey Beltram and Mundo Muzique), Just For Fun (with Holger Wick), Narod Niki (with Akufen, Cabanne, Dandy Jack, Daniel Bell, Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos, Robert Henke and Thomas Franzmann), Two Guys In The Basement (with John Acquaviva), Spawn (with Fred Giannelli and Daniel Bell) and States Of Mind (with Acquaviva).

Hawtin and Pete Namlook collaborated to produce the From Within series of albums which blend minimal techno and ambient. He released a mix CD Sounds of the Third Season with Sven Väth. Slices magazine launched a series of biographies in 2007 called "Pioneers of Electronic Music"; their first issue was a 60-minute biographical documentary on Hawtin. The film follows his career from his early days crossing the border to Detroit to his current life in Berlin, and contains interviews with many colleagues and family members.

2011 saw the release of Arkives 1993 - 2010, a massive box set containing everything Hawtin has released under his Plastikman moniker, as well as a new mixed set and previously unreleased material. The collection includes CDs, vinyl, digital downloads and a DVD.

In November 2013, Hawtin performed as Plastikman at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The recording of this show was included in EX album, which was released digitally on June 10, 2014, followed with a CD release on July 15, 2014 .

On December 11, 2015, Hawtin released a fifteen-track LP titled From My Mind To Yours to commemorate the 25 year anniversary of his record label Plus 8. The album consists of all new tracks from his various aliases such as Plastikman, F.U.S.E., Robotman, R.H.X., and Circuit Breaker. In its first week, it reached the top 20 in the UK dance album charts.

Other Hawtin's collaborations include an installation performance in the Grand Palais in Paris with Anish Kapoor in 2011, Not Abstract II exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in New York with German artist Andreas Gursky, and an audiovisual installation at 180 The Strand in London under his F.U.S.E. alias alongside his brother Matthew Hawtin, among others.

Entrepreneurship

In 2014, Hawtin launched ENTER. SAKE, a sake brand in USA and Europe. The same year he was awarded a title of Sake Samurai.

Hawtin's established his own music technology company, called PLAYdifferently, in 2016. The first release was the MODEL 1 mixer, co-designed with the award-winning Andy Rigby-Jones. The mixer has been adopted by DJs such as Carl Cox, Jamie Jones, Loco Dice and many others.

Hawtin co-founded Plus 8 Equities, a music technology fund along with John Acquaviva, Rishi Patel, Ben Turner and Pete Tong, where Hawtin serves as chairman. According to Billboard, the funds main goal is to advance music technology and collaborate with the startups engaged in developing new technologies able to advance music industry".

In 2019, Hawtin launched his CLOSER App, a tool for deconstructing the audio from his own live performances while toggling between multiple camera angles.

Selected discography

Albums

• F.U.S.E. : Dimension Intrusion, 1993
• Plastikman: Sheet One, 1993
• Richie Hawtin: From Within, 1994 (with Pete Namlook)
• Plastikman: Recycled Plastik, 1994
• Plastikman: Musik, 1994
• Richie Hawtin: From Within 2, 1995 (with Pete Namlook)
• Plastikman: Sickness (EP), 1997
• Richie Hawtin: From Within 3, 1997 (with Pete Namlook)
• Concept 1: 96:CD, 1998
• Concept 1: 96:VR, 1998 (remixed by Thomas Brinkmann)
• Plastikman: Consumed, 1998
• Plastikman: Artifakts [bc], 1998
• Plastikman: Closer, 2003
• Plastikman to the power of 9: Kompilation, 2010
• Plastikman: Arkives 1993 - 2010, 2010
• Plastikman: EX, 2014 (UK Dance #16)
• Richie Hawtin: From My Mind to Yours, 2015
• F.U.S.E. Computer Space (25th Anniversary Edition), 2019
• Richie Hawtin: Time Warps (EP), 2020
• Richie Hawtin: Concept 1 (Digital), 2021
• Plastikman: Musik (30th Anniversary, remastered for limited bio-vinyl edition and digital), 2024

Mixes / sets

• Richie Hawtin: Mixmag Live!, 1995 (Live DJ mix album)
• Richie Hawtin: Decks, EFX & 909, 1999 (DJ mix album)
• Richie Hawtin: DE9: Closer to the Edit, 2001 (DJ mix album)
• Richie Hawtin and Sven Väth: Sound of the Third Season, 2002 (DJ mix album)
• Richie Hawtin and Ricardo Villalobos Live at the Robert Johnson, Offenbach, Germany, 2004 (11-hour DJ set)
• Richie Hawtin: DE9 | Transitions, 2005 (DJ mix album)
• Richie Hawtin: DE9 lite: Electronic Adventures, 2006 (DJ mix album, produced with Mixmag)
• Richie Hawtin: Sounds from Can Elles, 2008 (free with DJ Magazine issue 467)
• Richie Hawtin: Mixmag presents: Richie Hawtin - New Horizons, 2012 (DJ mix album)
• Richie Hawtin: CLOSE COMBINED (GLASGOW, LONDON, TOKYO - LIVE), 2019

Music awards

DJ Awards

Hawtin has won DJ Awards' Best Techno DJ Award three times and received 17 nominations overall.

AIM Awards

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) UK the AIM promotes independent artists producing their own music globally.

DJ rankings (current)

The DJ List Ranking

The DJ List has approximately 1 million members who rate DJs in different EDM genres, these are the statistics for The DJ List as of 6 November 2015.

Top Deejays Ranking

Topdeejays is a global DJ database founded and operated by FM Agencija. It uses an algorithm that measures general social media influence of a DJ by combining their Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, SoundCloud, MySpace, Last.fm and YouTube fans, subscribers and followers TDJ calculates and applies TDJ points to in order rank artists global, national and by genre influence. These are the statistics for topdeejays as of 6 November 2015.

DJ Rankings The Official Global DJ Rankings is calculated according to an advanced algorithm, compiled to give an accurate, independent and fair ranking of all DJs. It considers the following criteria

of DJ earnings, media presence, chart data from music releases and remixes, airplay data from radio stations, public data about royalties collected from copyright associations, followers on major social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. and polling and rating data from various sites, such as dj-rating.com and djmag.com.

References

External links

• "Plastikman". Future Music. No. 76. November 1998. ISSN 0967-0378. OCLC 1032779031.

Väth is recognised for his significant influence on the underground electronic music scene both in Germany and Ibiza, holding his own night at Amnesia for 18 years and hosting after-parties at creative locations across the island. A major advocate of vinyl, he performs his extensive DJ sets using only two decks and a mixer, with his longest set lasting 30 hours.

Biography

Both of Sven Väth's parents were from East Germany. They escaped separately and met by chance in the West when they were very young, in a town near Frankfurt. They married and had three sons, including Sven, while his father was still a painter. Young at heart, his parents often went dancing, and his father wished to open an English pub, which they did. The pub featured a small dance floor, where Sven was introduced to a wide range of music, from rock’n’roll to disco.

In the summer of 1980, Väth visited Ibiza for the first time after hearing about it from the local scene in Frankfurt, where he was living at the time. Using his job seeker's allowance money, Väth hitchhiked from Barcelona and spent three months on the island, sleeping on beach chairs and distributing flyers for clubs to make ends meet. It was during that summer that he decided he wanted to become a DJ, enchanted by Ibiza and his time there. Upon returning to Germany, Sven's mother asked if he would DJ at his parents' pub. Sven gladly accepted. He was 17 at the time.

Career

Only a year later, in 1982, Sven Väth was asked to play a residency at the club Dorian Gray in Frankfurt am Main. It was there that he met Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti, which led him to get into music production. In 1985, the three came together as Off (Organisation for Fun) and produced the track ?Bad News?, which Sven brought with him to Ibiza and offered to Alfredo, Pippi, and Cesar - Ibiza's popular DJs at the time. The following year, in 1986, Off made waves with their new record, ?Electrica Salsa? from their debut album, Organisation For Fun. The track became such a hit across Europe that Sven found himself a pop sensation, performing with stars such as Vanessa Paradis and Axel Bauer at the age of 22. It sold one million copies.

Off released a series of singles and a second album, "Ask Yourself", in 1989. Their final single, "Move Your Body," was released in 1990. Münzing and Anzilotti then moved on to their new project, Snap!.

Omen

At the age of 24, in 1988, Väth opened the dance club "Omen" in Frankfurt with Michael Münzing and Mattias Martinsohn. Previously, the venue had operated under the name "Vogue," where Väth had also been a resident for a time. The newly named club soon became one of the best in Germany, as voted by *Groove Magazine*, and is regarded as one of the birthplaces of techno in Germany. A short German film, lasting twelve minutes, documents the club's preparations for another night, including interviews with people on the dance floor sharing their thoughts on Omen. Ten years later, with a heavy heart, Sven decided to close the club in 1998. The closure was partly due to issues with landlords and city authorities. At its final party, the turnout was so large that speakers were set up outside, and people danced in the street. The police did not intervene in the party, except to block car traffic.

Eye Q & Harthouse Records

Eye Q was founded in 1991 by Väth, Heinz Roth, and Matthias Hoffmann, and released two of Väth's best-known albums: Accident in Paradise (1992) (which Mixmag named one of the 50 best dance albums of all time) and The Harlequin, the Robot, and the Ballet-Dancer (1994). In 1992, Sven also founded the label Harthouse Records, under which he recorded using the alias Barbarella. He parted ways with the two labels in 1997 to focus on other projects. Both labels declared bankruptcy in 1998.

Virgin

Sven Väth signed a three-album contract with major record label Virgin Records in 1998. He released Fusion (1998), Contact (2000), and Fire (2002). With the Fusion album, Väth toured worldwide, showcasing his sound of techno, electro, and trip hop. The album was also remixed by various artists and released as a special six-record vinyl edition. Virgin also released a compilation in 2000 featuring some of Väth's best work at Eye Q Records.

Cocoon

Cocoon began in 1996 as a series of parties into which Sven poured his savings. The name originated after Sven attended a performance by La Fura dels Baus in 1994 at the Tempodrom in Berlin. The show featured props of hanging cocoons filled with water, which ultimately inspired the name for his next project, symbolising metamorphosis and change. He toured with the concept across Germany and even North America. Although the parties placed a financial strain on him and were not entirely successful, Väth decided to revive the project in 1999, beginning with the establishment of a booking agency. After the agency was set up, the events and then the record label followed.

The booking agency, established with the help of Talida Wagner, has featured many famous names on its roster, such as Ricardo Villalobos, Matt John, Dubfire and Sven Väth himself. Today, it continues to provide bookings for artists such as Tobi Neumann, Onur Özer, Raresh, and many others.

Cocoon Recordings has served as the launchpad for many of today's famous DJs' careers. Artists such as Martin Buttrich, Loco Dice, Roman Flügel, and Guy Gerber have all released tracks on Cocoon. Each year, the record label releases a compilation named after a letter of the alphabet (e.g., Cocoon Compilation A) to showcase the work of signed artists. The goal of the label was to provide aspiring producers with a platform to release their music without the need for a major label. In 2013, the label celebrated its 100th release.

Cocoon Ibiza

In the summer of 1999, Mar T of Amnesia offered Sven the opportunity to host his Cocoon parties on the one day that Amnesia was closed - Mondays. After a trial period of four parties, Cocoon parties continued for fourteen Mondays in 2000 and for the following thirteen years. The night featured a spectacular array of the world's best DJs in electronic music, with artists such as Cassy, Carl Craig, Josh Wink, Adam Beyer, and Ricardo Villalobos manning the decks. After each season, Väth releases a mix called "The Sound of the Season." Väth's Monday parties at Amnesia fostered the underground sound of Ibiza at a time when trance and commercial music were beginning to dominate the island. Each year, Cocoon's Ibiza team works on a new theme to create an exciting and distinct atmosphere for each season. Johannes Goller, a long-time friend of Sven's, has led the team since the beginning, producing each successful season. Cocoon is also known for throwing after-parties in various locations throughout Ibiza and Formentera that were often illegal, and sometimes shut down by the police. The Cocoon parties also cultivated "Cocoon Heroes" (the theme for the 12th season) such as Richie Hawtin, Loco Dice, Dubfire, and Cassy alongside Sven, all of them gathering on Mondays to play long sets in the terrace and main room of the club. Cocoon Mondays at Amnesia continued strongly until 2018. In 2018, Cocoon was moved to Pacha.

Cocoon Frankfurt

In 2004, Väth opened the club Cocoon in Frankfurt. Considered the successor to Sven's previous venture at Omen, Cocoon club also became very popular. Techno, house, and trance acts were known to perform there, with some of the better-known being Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Armin van Buuren, and Above & Beyond. Some of the resident DJs included Väth himself, DJ Karotte, Toni Rios, C-Rock, and Sidney Spaeth. The building contained two restaurants run by a celebrity chef, lounges, and distinctive architecture featuring "cocoon" niches where people could relax. In November 2012, Sven closed Cocoon club due to bankruptcy.

Personal life

Family

Sven Väth has two children. He has a daughter, born in 1989. In 1991, he met Nina Peter, a Viennese leather fashion accessories designer, at a private party at his home in Ibiza. They married in Thailand in a Buddhist ceremony in 2008, and three years later, their son Tiga was born in Vienna on 26 July 2011. Väth is good friends with the renowned Canadian DJ/producer Tiga and named his son after him. In 2012, Väth and Peter separated. Sven has two brothers, one of whom is an art director and DJ, and the other a flower shop owner.

Living

Väth spent his childhood near Frankfurt. As he grew older, he would spend his summers in Ibiza and the rest of the year in Frankfurt, between world tours. Now, Väth has a home in Ibiza, where he spends six to eight months of the year, including the summer season for his Cocoon parties at Amnesia. In 2013, he decided to move to London to re-experience its culture, art, and parties.

After many years of DJing and partying, Väth believes in taking care of the mind and body. He learned discipline from Ayurveda, which he discovered when he lived in Goa, where he met an Ayurvedic. As the constant long nights and travelling can be quite tiring, Väth tries to live as healthfully as possible. From October to January (the off-season), he strictly follows a regimen of Ayurvedic eating with no meat, sugar, or alcohol. When his daughter was born, he ceased his use of cocaine and, a few years later, quit smoking as well.

Vinyl

A staunch supporter of vinyl, Väth will only play music that has been released on vinyl in his sets. In the IMS 2013 interview, he mentioned, ?I like to go to the record store and talk to people?I’m just enjoying it so much.? He often adds that his most treasured belongings are his records. He says, "A well-manufactured record, played with a good pick-up system on a good pre-amp/mixing console, simply sounds better than any of its digital competitors. Vinyl is THE medium for everybody who sets high values on good sound." He is one of the few top 30 DJs, according to Resident Advisor, to continue using just turntables and mixers when they DJ, which he describes as his "instruments". When he heard that Technics were discontinuing the manufacture of their renowned SL-1200 turntables, he likened it to a pianist being told there would be no more grand pianos made.

Discography

Solo albums

• Accident in Paradise (Eye Q, 1992) (Warner Bros. Records, 1993, U.S.)
• The Harlequin, the Robot, and the Ballet Dancer (Eye Q, 1994) (Warner Bros. Records, 1995, U.S.)
• Touch Themes of Harlequin - Robot - Ballet-Dancer (Eye Q, 1995)
• Fusion (Virgin Records, 1998)
• Six in the Mix (The Fusion Remix Collection '99) (Virgin Records, 1999)
• Contact (Ultra Records, 2000) (also released on Virgin Records)
• Fire (Virgin Records, 2002)
• Fire Works (remixes of tracks from Fire) (Virgin Records, 2003)
• Catharsis (Virgin Records, 2022)

Collaborations and other albums

• Barbarella - The Art of Dance (Eye Q, 1992; with Ralf Hildenbeutel)
• Astral Pilot - Electro Acupuncture (Eye Q, 1995; with B-Zet)
• Der Kalte Finger (Eye Q, 1996; with B-Zet), soundtrack of the film Deathline
• Retrospective 1990-1997 (single disc version) (WEA Records, 2000)
• Retrospective 1990-1997 (two disc version) (Club Culture, 2000) (also released on Warner Music in Japan)
• Allan Gauch (Virgin Records 1997-2002)

Mix albums

• DC's Hand Picked Mix Tape
• The Sound of The First Season (One Disc Version 2000)
• The Sound of The Second Season - Noche Y Dia (Two Disc Version 2001)
• The Sound of The Third Season (With Richie Hawtin) (One Disc Version 2002)
• The Sound of The Fourth Season (Two Disc Version 2003)
• The Sound of The Fifth Season (One Disc Version 2004)
• The Sound of The Sixth Season (Two Disc Version 2005)
• The Sound of The Seventh Season (Two Disc Version 2006)
• The Sound of The Eighth Season (Two Disc Version 2007)
• The Sound of The Ninth Season (Two Disc Version 2008)
• The Sound of The Tenth Season (Two Disc Version 2009)
• The Sound of The Eleventh Season (Two Disc Version 2010)
• The Sound of The Twelfth Season (Two Disc Version 2011)
• The Sound of The Thirteenth Season (Two Disc Version 2012)
• The Sound of The Fourteenth Season (Two Disc Version 2013)
• The Sound of The Fifteenth Season (Two Disc Version 2014)
• The Sound of The Sixteenth Season (Two Disc Version 2015)
• The Sound of The Seventeenth Season (2016)
• The Sound of The 18th Season (2017)
• The Sound of The 19th Season (2018)
• The Sound of The 20th Season (2019)

Singles

• "L'Esperanza" #5 Hot Dance Club Play; #63 UK (1993)
• "Ritual of Life" (Eye Q, 1993)
• "Ballet-Fusion" (Eye Q, 1994)
• "Fusion - Scorpio's Movement" (Virgin Records, 1997)
• "Breakthrough" (Virgin Records, 1998)
• "Face It" (Virgin Records, 1998)
• "Omen A.M." (Virgin Records, 1998)
• "Schubdüse" (Virgin Records, 1998)
• "Sounds Control Your Mind" (Virgin Records, 1998)
• "Augenblick" (Virgin Records, 1999)
• "Dein Schweiß" (Virgin Records, 1999)
• "Discophon" (Virgin Records, 1999)
• "Barbarella" (remix) (Club Culture, 2000)
• "L'Esperanza" (remix) (Club Culture, 2000)
• "My Name Is Barbarella" (Code Blue, 2000)
• "Je t'aime... moi non plus" (featuring Miss Kittin) / Design Music (Virgin Records, 2001)
• "Strahlemann und Söhne" (remix) (Virgin Records, 2001)
• "Mind Games" (Virgin Records, 2002)
• "Set My Heart on Fire" (Virgin Records, 2002)
• "Komm" (Cocoon Recordings, 2005)
• "Spring Love" (Datapunk, 2006)
• "The Beauty and the Beast" (Cocoon Records, 2008)
• Mystic Voices (2022)

References

External links

• Official website
• Sven Väth on Facebook
• Sven Väth on X
• Sven Väth on Resident Advisor
• Biography of Sven Väth at DJguide.nl
• Sven Väth discography at Discogs
• Sven Väth discography at MusicBrainz
• Sven Väth Boiler Room Set

Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, techno, rock and synth-pop. They are regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music.

Daft Punk formed after Bangalter and de Homem-Christo's indie rock band, Darlin', disbanded. Their debut album, Homework, was released by Virgin Records in 1997 to positive reviews, backed by the singles "Around the World" and "Da Funk".

From 1999, Daft Punk assumed robot personas for public appearances, with helmets, outfits and gloves to disguise their identities. They made few media appearances. They were managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter, the head of Ed Banger Records. Daft Punk's second album, Discovery (2001), earned acclaim and further success, with the hit singles "One More Time", "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". It became the basis for an animated film, Interstella 5555, supervised by the Japanese artist Leiji Matsumoto.

Daft Punk's third album, Human After All (2005), received mixed reviews, though the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" were successful in the UK. Daft Punk directed an avant-garde science-fiction film, Electroma, released in 2006. They toured throughout 2006 and 2007 and released the live album Alive 2007, which won a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album; the tour is credited for broadening the appeal of dance music in North America. Daft Punk composed the score for the 2010 film Tron: Legacy.

In 2013, Daft Punk left Virgin for Columbia Records and released their fourth and final album, Random Access Memories, to acclaim. The lead single, "Get Lucky", reached the top 10 in the charts of 27 countries. Random Access Memories won five Grammy Awards in 2014, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Get Lucky". In 2016, Daft Punk gained their only number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Starboy", a collaboration with the Weeknd. Rolling Stone ranked them the 12th-greatest musical duo of all time in 2015, and included Discovery and Random Access Memories on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Daft Punk announced their split in 2021.

History

1987-1992: Early career and Darlin'

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter met in 1987 while attending the Lycée Carnot secondary school in Paris. The two became friends and recorded demos with others from the school. In 1992, they formed a band, Darlin', with Bangalter on bass, Homem-Christo on guitar, and Laurent Brancowitz on guitar and drums. The trio named themselves after the Beach Boys song "Darlin'", which they covered along with an original composition. Both tracks were released on a multi-artist EP under Duophonic Records, a label owned by the London-based band Stereolab, who invited Darlin' to open for shows in the United Kingdom.

Darlin' disbanded after around six months, having played two gigs and produced four songs. Bangalter described the project as "pretty average". Brancowitz formed another band, Phoenix. Bangalter and Homem-Christo formed Daft Punk, using electronic instruments purchased with money Bangalter received for his 18th birthday. Their name was taken from a negative review of Darlin' in Melody Maker by Dave Jennings, who dubbed their music "a daft punky thrash". The band found the review amusing. Homem-Christo said, "We struggled so long to find [the name] Darlin', and [this name] happened so quickly."

1993-1996: First performances and singles

In September 1993, Daft Punk attended a rave at EuroDisney organised by the DJ Nicky Holloway, where they met Stuart Macmillan of Slam, the co-founder of the Scottish label Soma Quality Recordings. They gave him a demo tape, which formed the basis for Daft Punk's debut single, "The New Wave", a limited release in 1994. The single also contained the final mix of "The New Wave" called "Alive", which appeared on Daft Punk's first album.

Daft Punk returned to the studio in May 1995 to record "Da Funk". After it became their first commercially successful single, they hired a manager, Pedro Winter, who regularly promoted them and other artists at his Hype nightclubs. They signed with Virgin Records in September 1996 and made a deal to license tracks through their production company, Daft Trax. Bangalter said that while they received numerous offers from record labels, they wanted to wait and ensure that they did not lose creative control. He considered the deal with Virgin more akin to a partnership.

In the mid-to-late nineties, Daft Punk performed live at various events, without the costumes they later became known for. In 1996, they made their first performance in the United States, at an Even Furthur event in Wisconsin. In addition to live original performances, they performed in clubs using vinyl records from their collection. They were known for incorporating numerous styles of music into their DJ sets.

1997-1999: Homework

Daft Punk released their debut album, Homework, in 1997. That February, the UK dance magazine Muzik published a Daft Punk cover feature and described Homework as "one of the most hyped debut albums in a long long time". According to The Village Voice, the album revived house music and departed from the Eurodance formula. The critic Alex Rayner wrote that it combined established club styles and the "burgeoning eclecticism" of big beat. In 1997, Daft Punk embarked on an international concert tour, Daftendirektour, using their home equipment for the live stage. On 25 May, they headlined the Tribal Gathering festival at Luton Hoo, England, with Orbital and Kraftwerk.

The most successful single from Homework was "Around the World". "Da Funk" was also included on The Saint film soundtrack. Daft Punk produced a series of music videos for Homework directed by Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roman Coppola and Seb Janiak. The videos were collected in 1999 as D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes.

Bangalter and Homem-Christo created their own record labels, Roulé and Crydamoure, after the release of Homework, and released solo projects by themselves and their friends. Homem-Christo released music as a member of Le Knight Club with Eric Chedeville, and Bangalter released music as a member of Together with DJ Falcon and founded the group Stardust with Alan Braxe and Benjamin Diamond. In 1998, Stardust released their only song, the chart hit "Music Sounds Better With You".

1999-2003: Discovery

Daft Punk's second album, Discovery, was released in 2001. They said it was an attempt to reconnect with the playful, open-minded attitude associated with the discovery phase of childhood. The album reached No. 2 in the UK, and its lead single, "One More Time", was a hit. The singles "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" were also successful in the UK and on the US Dance Chart, and "Face to Face" hit number one on the US club play charts.

Discovery created a new generation of Daft Punk fans. It also saw Daft Punk debut their distinctive robot costumes; they had previously worn Halloween masks or bags for promotional appearances. Discovery was later named one of the best albums of the decade by publications including Pitchfork and Resident Advisor. In 2020, Rolling Stone included it at number 236 in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2021, Pitchfork cited Discovery as the centrepiece of Daft Punk's career, "an album that transcended the robots' club roots and rippled through the decades that followed".

Daft Punk partnered with the Japanese manga artist Leiji Matsumoto to create Interstella 5555, a feature-length animation set to Discovery. The first four episodes were shown on Toonami in 2001, and the finished film was released on DVD in 2003. That December, Daft Punk released Daft Club, a compilation of Discovery remixes. In 2001, Daft Punk released a 45-minute excerpt from a Daftendirektour performance as Alive 1997.

2004-2007: Human After All and Alive 2007

In March 2005, Daft Punk released their third album, Human After All, the result of six weeks of writing and recording. Reviews were mixed, with criticism for its repetitiveness and darker mood. "Robot Rock", "Technologic", "Human After All" and "The Prime Time of Your Life" were released as singles. A Daft Punk anthology CD/DVD, Musique Vol. 1 1993-2005, was released on 4 April 2006. Daft Punk also released a remix album, Human After All: Remixes.

On 21 May 2006, Daft Punk premiered a film, Daft Punk's Electroma, at the Cannes Film Festival sidebar Director's Fortnight. The film does not include Daft Punk's music. Midnight screenings were held in Paris theaters from March 2007.

For 48 dates across 2006 and 2007, Daft Punk performed the Alive 2006/2007 world tour, performing a "megamix" of their music from a large LED-fronted pyramid. The tour was acclaimed and is credited for bringing dance music to a wider audience, especially in North America. The Guardian journalist Gabriel Szatan likened it to how the Beatles' 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show had brought British rock and roll to the American mainstream.

Daft Punk's performance in Paris was released as their second live album, Alive 2007, on 19 November 2007. The live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was released as a single, with a video by Olivier Gondry comprising audience footage of their performance in Brooklyn. In 2009, Daft Punk won Grammy Awards for Alive 2007 and its single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".

2008-2011: Tron: Legacy

In 2007, Kanye West sampled "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" in his single "Stronger". Daft Punk made a surprise appearance at the 50th Grammy Awards on 10 February 2008, and performed a reworked version of "Stronger" with West at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It was the first televised Daft Punk live performance.

In 2008, Daft Punk returned to Paris to work on new material. Winter also stepped down as their manager to focus attention on his Ed Banger Records label and his work as Busy P. He said later that Daft Punk were working with an unspecified management company in Los Angeles. Daft Punk held their Daft Arts production office at the Jim Henson Studios complex in Hollywood. Daft Punk provided new mixes for the 2009 video game DJ Hero, and appeared as playable characters.

At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Daft Punk had composed 24 tracks for the film Tron: Legacy. Daft Punk's score was arranged and orchestrated by Joseph Trapanese. The band collaborated with him for two years on the score, from pre-production to completion. The score features an 85-piece orchestra, recorded at AIR Lyndhurst Studios in London. Joseph Kosinski, director of the film, referred to the score as a mixture of orchestral and electronic elements. Daft Punk also make a cameo as disc jockey programs wearing their trademark robot helmets within the film's virtual world. The soundtrack album was released on 6 December 2010. A music video for "Derezzed" premiered on the MTV Networks on the same day the album was released. The video, which features Olivia Wilde as the character Quorra in specially shot footage, along with images of Daft Punk in Flynn's Arcade, was later made available for purchase from the iTunes Store and included in the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film. Walt Disney Records released a remix album, Tron: Legacy Reconfigured, on 5 April 2011.

In 2010, Daft Punk were admitted into the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an order of merit of France. Bangalter and Homem-Christo were individually awarded the rank of Chevalier (knight). On October of that year, Daft Punk made a surprise guest appearance during the encore of Phoenix's show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. They played a medley of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "Around the World" before the song segued into Phoenix's song "1901". They also included elements of their tracks "Rock'n Roll", "Human After All", and "Together", one of Bangalter's releases as a member of Together. They produced N.E.R.D.'s 2010 song "Hypnotize U".

2011-2015: Random Access Memories

In 2011, Soma Records released a previously unpublished Daft Punk track, "Drive", recorded while they were signed to Soma in the 1990s. It was included in a 20th-anniversary compilation of the Soma label. In October 2012, Daft Punk provided a 15-minute mix of songs by blues musician Junior Kimbrough for Hedi Slimane's Yves Saint Laurent fashion show. Daft Punk recorded their fourth studio album, Random Access Memories, with musicians including Julian Casablancas, Todd Edwards, DJ Falcon, Panda Bear, Chilly Gonzales, Paul Williams, Pharrell Williams, Chic frontman Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder. Daft Punk left Virgin for Sony Music Entertainment through the Columbia Records label.

Random Access Memories was released on 17 May 2013. The lead single, "Get Lucky", became Daft Punk's first UK number-one single and the most-streamed new song in the history of Spotify. At the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Daft Punk debuted a trailer for their single "Lose Yourself to Dance" and presented the award for "Best Female Video" alongside Rodgers and Pharrell. In December, they revealed a music video for the song "Instant Crush", directed by Warren Fu and featuring Casablancas.

At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, Random Access Memories won the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronica Album, Album of the Year and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while "Get Lucky" received the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Record of the Year. Daft Punk performed at the ceremony with Stevie Wonder, Rodgers, Pharrell, and the Random Access Memories rhythm players Nathan East, Omar Hakim, Paul Jackson, Jr. and Chris Caswell. That night, Daft Punk hosted a large Grammys afterparty at the Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, with many celebrities and no photography allowed.

Daft Punk co-produced Kanye West's sixth studio album, Yeezus (2013), creating the tracks "On Sight", "Black Skinhead", "I Am a God" and "Send It Up" with West. They provided additional vocals for Pharrell's 2014 single "Gust of Wind". On 10 March 2014, an unreleased Daft Punk song, "Computerized", leaked online. It features Jay-Z and contains "The Son of Flynn" from the Tron: Legacy soundtrack; it was once intended to be a single promoting Tron: Legacy. In April 2015, Daft Punk appeared in a short tribute to Rodgers as part of a documentary on his life, Nile Rodgers: From Disco to Daft Punk. In June, a documentary, Daft Punk Unchained, was released.

2016-2020: Final projects and appearances

Daft Punk appeared on the 2016 singles "Starboy" and "I Feel It Coming" by Canadian R&B singer the Weeknd; "Starboy" topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Daft Punk's only US number-one song, and "I Feel It Coming" reached number four. In 2017, Soma Records released a remix of "Drive" by Slam as part of a compilation featuring various artists. In February 2017, Daft Punk launched a pop-up shop in Hollywood, California, featuring memorabilia, artwork, and a display of their costumes. They also performed with the Weeknd at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on 12 February 2017.

In the years following the Starboy collaborations, Bangalter and Homem-Christo worked solo as producers appearing on several projects. On 21 June 2017, the Australian band Parcels released the song "Overnight", produced and co-written by Daft Punk. It was written after Daft Punk saw Parcels perform and invited the members to their studio. This became Daft Punk's final production together.

Between 9 April and 11 August 2019, an electronic exhibition based on Daft Punk's song "Technologic" was displayed at the Philharmonie de Paris, featuring costumes, guitars and other elements. In early 2024, W. F. Quinn Smith, who played percussion on Random Access Memories, said he had participated in experimental recording sessions for a new Daft Punk album in early 2018, but that the project was in limbo.

2021-present: Disbandment

On 22 February 2021, Daft Punk released a video on their YouTube channel titled "Epilogue". The video features a scene from their 2006 film Electroma, in which one robot explodes and the other walks away into the sunset; a title card created with Warren Fu reads "1993-2021" while an excerpt of Daft Punk's song "Touch" plays. Later that day, Daft Punk's longtime publicist, Kathryn Frazier, confirmed that they had split, but did not give a reason. The news led to a surge in Daft Punk sales, with digital album purchases rising by 2,650%. Their friend and collaborator Todd Edwards confirmed that Bangalter and Homem-Christo remained active separately. He later said they were "going in different directions", and that Homem-Christo was more drawn to hip-hop and Bangalter was interested in film. As of 2023, Bangalter and Homem-Christo still shared a studio and equipment.

On 22 February 2022, one year after their disbandment, Daft Punk announced a 25th-anniversary edition of Homework. It included a remix album, Homework (Remixes), which was also released separately. Daft Punk also broadcast a Twitch stream of their performance at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles from their 1997 Daftendirektour. The video featured previously unreleased footage of the duo without costumes. Daft Punk released behind-the-scenes "archives" from the D.A.F.T. DVD and album reissues throughout 2022.

On 12 May 2023, Daft Punk released a 10th-anniversary edition of Random Access Memories, with 35 minutes of previously unreleased outtakes and demos. "Infinity Repeating (2013 Demo)", featuring Casablancas and the Voidz, was released as a single. It was released alongside a music video and was called Daft Punk's "last song ever" in press releases. On 17 November, Daft Punk released a version of Random Access Memories with no drums or percussion.

In April 2023, Bangalter released a solo work, the orchestral ballet score Mythologies. He gave interviews about the project and allowed himself to be photographed without a mask. He cited concerns about the progress of artificial intelligence and other technology as to why Daft Punk split, saying: "As much as I love this character, the last thing I would want to be, in the world we live in, in 2023, is a robot." Bangalter said Daft Punk had wanted to not "spoil the narrative" while they were active, but now felt more comfortable revealing parts of their creative process. Reflecting on the split, Bangalter said he was "relieved and happy to look back and say: 'Okay, we didn't mess it up too much.'"

On 22 February 2024, the third anniversary of their split, Daft Punk announced a Twitch broadcast of Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. A vinyl repress of the Discovery single "Something About Us" was released on Record Store Day in April 2024. A 4K remaster of Interstella 5555 premiered in June at Tribeca Festival. The remaster was shown in global theaters for one weekend only in December.

Artistry

Musical style

Daft Punk's musical style has been described as house, French house, electronic, dance, and disco. Sean Cooper of AllMusic described it as a blend of acid house, techno, pop, indie rock, hip hop, progressive house, funk, and electro.

The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis described their approach as magpie-like, with extensive sampling. Homem-Christo described it as bricolage, the art of using found sounds to create new work. Bangalter said in 2008: "I think that sampling is always something that we've completely legitimately done. It's not something we've hidden, it's almost a partisan or ideological way of making music, sampling things and being sampled ... It's always been a way to reinterpret things?sometimes it's using [an] element from the past, or sometimes recreating them and fooling the eyes or the ears, which is just a fun thing to do."

According to Pitchfork, some fans were disappointed to discover that Daft Punk used samples. In 2007, Rapster released Discovered: A Collection of Daft Funk Samples, a compilation of tracks sampled by Daft Punk. Pitchfork wrote: "If [the compilation] proves anything, it isn't that Daft Punk are surreptitious thieves?it's that they're transformative reinterpreters, and in more than a few cases, flat-out miracle workers." Daft Punk also used vintage equipment to recreate sounds by older artists, such as the use of a Wurlitzer piano to evoke Supertramp on "Digital Love". They saw their style as retrofuturist, incorporating genres from earlier decades into what the New York Times described as "an increasingly grand vision of joyful populism".

In the early 1990s, Daft Punk drew inspiration from rock and acid house in the UK. Homem-Christo referred to Screamadelica by Primal Scream as the record that "put everything together" in terms of genre. In 2009, Bangalter named Andy Warhol as one of Daft Punk's early influences. On the Homework track "Teachers", Daft Punk list musicians who influenced them, including the funk musician George Clinton, the rapper and producer Dr Dre, and Chicago house and Detroit techno artists including Paul Johnson, Romanthony and Todd Edwards. Homem-Christo said: "Their music had a big effect on us. The sound of their productions?the compression, the sound of the kick drum and Romanthony's voice, the emotion and soul?is part of how we sound today."

Discovery integrates influences from 70s disco and 80s crooners, and featured collaborations with Romanthony and Edwards. A major inspiration was the 1999 Aphex Twin single "Windowlicker", which Bangalter said was "neither a purely club track nor a very chilled-out, down-tempo relaxation track". For the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, Daft Punk drew inspiration from Wendy Carlos, the composer of the original Tron film, as well as Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, John Carpenter, Vangelis, Philip Glass and Maurice Jarre. For Random Access Memories, Daft Punk sought a "west coast vibe", referencing acts such as Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers and the Eagles, and the French electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre.

Many Daft Punk songs feature vocals processed with effects and vocoders including Auto-Tune, a Roland SVC-350 and the Digitech Vocalist. Bangalter said: "A lot of people complain about musicians using Auto-Tune. It reminds me of the late '70s when musicians in France tried to ban the synthesiser. They said it was taking jobs away from musicians. What they didn't see was that you could use those tools in a new way instead of just for replacing the instruments that came before. People are often afraid of things that sound new."

Image

For most public and media appearances, Daft Punk wore costumes that concealed their faces. Bangalter said they wanted the focus to be on their music, and that masks allowed them to control their image while retaining their anonymity and protecting their personal lives. He said that the 1974 film Phantom of the Paradise, in which the main character prominently wears a mask, was "the foundation for a lot of what we're about artistically". Daft Punk were also fans of the 1970s band Space, who wore space suits with helmets that hid their appearance. The mystery of Daft Punk's identity and their elaborate disguises added to their popularity.

Daft Punk wore masks during promotional appearances in the 1990s. Although they allowed a camera crew to film them for a French arts program at the time, Daft Punk did not speak on screen. According to Orla Lee-Fisher, the head of marketing at Virgin Records UK, in their early career Daft Punk only consented to photographs without masks while they were DJing. In 1997, Bangalter said they had a rule to not appear in videos.

In 2001, Daft Punk began wearing robot costumes for promotional appearances and performances for Discovery, debuted in a special presentation during Cartoon Network's Toonami block. The helmets were produced by Paul Hahn of Daft Arts and the French directors Alex and Martin, with engineering by Tony Gardner and Alterian, Inc. They were capable of various LED effects. Wigs were originally attached to both helmets, but Daft Punk removed them moments before unveiling them. Bangalter said the helmets were hot but that he became used to this. Later helmets were fitted with ventilators to prevent overheating. The costumes were compared to the makeup of Kiss and the leather jacket worn by Iggy Pop.

With the release of Human After All, Daft Punk wore simplified helmets and black leather jackets and trousers designed by Hedi Slimane. Bangalter said Daft Punk did not want to repeat themselves and were interested in "developing a persona that merges fiction and reality". On the set of Electroma, Daft Punk were interviewed with their backs turned, and in 2006 they wore cloth bags over their heads during a televised interview. They said the use of cloth bags had been a spontaneous decision, reflecting their willingness to experiment with their image. Daft Punk wore their robot costumes in their performances at the 2008, 2014, and 2017 Grammy Awards. During the 2014 ceremony, they accepted their awards on stage in the outfits, with Pharrell and Paul Williams speaking on their behalf.

Daft Punk used the robot outfits to merge the characteristics of humans and machines. Bangalter said that the personas were initially the result of shyness, but that they became exciting for the audience, "the idea of being an average guy with some kind of superpower". He described it as an advanced version of glam, "where it's definitely not you". After Daft Punk's split, Bangalter likened the robot personas to a "like a Marina Abramovi? performance art installation that lasted for 20 years". He denied that the robots represented "an unquestioning embrace of digital culture", and said: "We tried to use these machines to express something extremely moving that a machine cannot feel, but a human can. We were always on the side of humanity and not on the side of technology."

Media appearances

Daft Punk's popularity has been partially attributed to their appearances in mainstream media. They appeared with Juliette Lewis in an advertisement for Gap, featuring the single "Digital Love", and were contractually obliged to appear only in Gap clothing. In 2001, Daft Punk appeared in an advertisement on Cartoon Network's Toonami timeslot, promoting the official Toonami website and the animated music videos for their album Discovery. The music videos later appeared as scenes in the feature-length film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, in which Daft Punk make a cameo appearance as their robot alter-egos. They appeared in a television advertisement wearing their Discovery-era headgear to promote Sony Ericsson's Premini mobile phone. In 2010, Daft Punk appeared in Adidas advertisements promoting a Star Wars clothing line. Daft Punk made a cameo in Tron: Legacy as nightclub DJs.

In 2011, Coca-Cola distributed limited edition bottles designed by Daft Punk. Daft Punk and Courtney Love were photographed for the "Music Project" of the fashion house Yves Saint Laurent. They appeared in their new sequined suits custom-made by Hedi Slimane, holding and playing instruments with bodies made of lucite. In 2013, Bandai released Daft Punk action figures coinciding with the release of Random Access Memories in Japan. Daft Punk made a rare public appearance at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix in May on behalf of the Lotus F1 Team, who raced in cars emblazoned with the Daft Punk logo.

Footage of Daft Punk's 2006 performance at the Coachella Festival was featured in the documentary film Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert, released on YouTube in April 2020. Daft Punk were scheduled to appear on 6 August 2013 episode of The Colbert Report to promote Random Access Memories, but this was canceled because of contractual obligations regarding their appearance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. According to Stephen Colbert, Daft Punk were unaware of the agreement and were halted by MTV executives the morning prior to the taping. In 2015, Daft Punk appeared alongside several other musicians to announce their co-ownership of the music service Tidal at its relaunch.

Eden, a 2014 French drama film, has as its protagonist a techno fan-turned-DJ-turned recovering addict. It features Daft Punk (portrayed by actors) during different stages of their careers. Daft Punk also appear in Pharrell Williams's 2024 biographical film Piece by Piece.

Legacy

Daft Punk are regarded as one of the most influential dance acts. In 2021, the chief Guardian music critic, Alexis Petridis, named them the most influential pop artists of the 21st century. In the same year, Pitchfork named them one of the most important artists of the preceding 25 years, writing: "It’s impossible to imagine contemporary electronic dance music without Daft Punk ... they helped instil a philosophy of self-reinvention that would resonate with generations of musicians across electronic music, rock, hip-hop, and beyond."

The Daft Punk collaborator Pharrell Williams said they were responsible for the rise of contemporary EDM, though Bangalter said only that other acts were using "gimmicks that at the time [Daft Punk used them] were not really gimmicks". The New York Times credited Daft Punk with helping make dance music mainstream. In 2008, Daft Punk were voted the 38th-greatest DJs in a worldwide poll by DJ Mag. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Daft Punk the 12th-greatest musical duo.

In "Losing My Edge" (2002), the first single by LCD Soundsystem, the singer, James Murphy, jokingly brags about being the first to "play Daft Punk to the rock kids". Another LCD Soundsystem single, "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House", reached No. 29 in the UK and was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. While accepting her British Dance Act award at the Brit Awards 2025, Charli XCX named Daft Punk as an influence. The French musician Madeon learnt about music production by reverse-engineering Daft Punk sounds, and cited their creative use of a cheap DigiTech pedal on Human After All as an example of their "genius, creativity and intuition [... ] They made an entire album using that pedal and it’s a cheap $50 pedal that nobody gave the time of day at the time." Baicalellia daftpunka, a species of flatworm, was named after Daft Punk in 2018 for its partial resemblance to a helmet. In February 2024, Madame Tussauds New York unveiled their wax figures of Daft Punk.

Covers and samples

Daft Punk tracks have been sampled or covered by other artists. "Technologic" was sampled by Swizz Beatz for the Busta Rhymes song "Touch It". In a later remix of "Touch It", the line "touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it, turn it, leave it, start, format it" from "Technologic" was sung by the rapper Missy Elliott. Kanye West's 2007 track "Stronger" interpolates the melody and features a vocal sample of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", and Daft Punk's robotic costumes appeared in the music video. "Daftendirekt" was sampled in the Janet Jackson song "So Much Betta" from her 2008 album Discipline.

The track "Aerodynamic" was sampled for Wiley's 2008 single "Summertime". "Veridis Quo" from Discovery was sampled for the Jazmine Sullivan 2008 song "Dream Big". "Around the World" was sampled for JoJo's 2009 song "You Take Me (Around the World)". The song "Cowboy George" by the Fall contains a clip of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". The a cappella group Pentatonix performed a medley of Daft Punk songs. As of November 2021, the video had been viewed over 355 million times. The medley won Best Arrangement, Instrumental or a Cappella at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Daft Punk's "Technologic" was also interpolated in Charli XCX's 2024 song "Guess". A remix of "Guess" featuring Billie Eilish won Song of the Year at the Brit Awards 2025, and was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. A Daft Punk medley was played at the 2017 Bastille Day parade by a French military band, in front of French President Emmanuel Macron and his guests, which included US President Donald Trump.

Discography

Studio albums

• Homework (1997)
• Discovery (2001)
• Human After All (2005)
• Random Access Memories (2013)

Concert tours

• Daftendirektour (1997)
• Alive 2007 (2006-07)

Awards and nominations

In October 2011, Daft Punk placed 28th in a "top-100 DJs of 2011" list by DJ Magazine after placing in the 44th position the year before. On 19 January 2012, Daft Punk ranked No. 2 on Mixmag's Greatest Dance Acts of All Time, with The Prodigy at No. 1 by just a few points.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Tony Gaenic, Daft Punk de A à Z, l'Étudiant, les guides MusicBook, 2002, p. 115, ISBN 978-2-84343-088-6
• Pauline Guéna, Anne-Sophie Jahn, DAFT, Éditions Grasset, 2022, p. 216, ISBN 9782246820390
• Stéphane Jourdain, French Touch, le Castor Astral, Castormusic, 2005, p. 189, ISBN 2-85920-609-4
• Philippe Poirrier, Daft Punk, la Toile et le disco. Revival culturel à l'heure du numérique, French Cultural Studies, 2015, p. 381
• Violaine Schütz, Daft Punk, l'histoire d'un succès planétaire, Scali, 2008, ISBN 978-2-35012-236-6
• Peter Shapiro, Modulations, une histoire de la musique électronique, éditions Allia, 2004, p. 340, ISBN 978-2-84485-147-5

External links

• Official website
• Daft Punk at IMDb
• Daft Punk discography at Discogs
• Daft Punk discography at MusicTea
• Daft Punk discography at MusicBrainz
• Daft Punk at AllMusic
• Daft Punk on Eurochannel