A snide review of a failed indie band gave Daft Punk their name
Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo first played in a short-lived trio called Darlin', which a Melody Maker critic dismissed as a daft punky thrash. They found it funny, kept the insult, bought electronic gear with Bangalter's eighteenth-birthday money, and eventually became two helmeted robots who reshaped dance music.
The pair met in 1987 at the Lycée Carnot in Paris. Darlin', formed with Laurent Brancowitz in 1992, lasted about six months, two gigs and four songs; Brancowitz went on to Phoenix. At a 1993 rave at EuroDisney the new duo handed a demo to Stuart Macmillan of the Scottish label Soma, which led to their first single. Da Funk, recorded in 1995, became their first commercial success and brought in manager Pedro Winter. They signed with Virgin in 1996 on terms meant to protect their creative control.
Homework arrived on 20 January 1997 and was credited with reviving house music; its videos were directed by Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry among others. Discovery, in 2001, aimed to recapture a child's open-minded curiosity, reached number 2 in the UK and introduced the robot costumes, silver helmet for Bangalter and gold for Homem-Christo. Its songs became the soundtrack to Interstella 5555, an animated film made with the manga artist Leiji Matsumoto.
Human After All, written and recorded in six weeks, drew mixed reviews in 2005. The 48-date tour that followed, played from inside a giant LED pyramid, is credited with opening North America to dance music, and the resulting Alive 2007 won a Grammy. Kanye West sampled Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger for Stronger, and the duo joined him at the 2008 Grammys for their first televised live set. They then spent two years scoring Tron: Legacy with an 85-piece orchestra.
Random Access Memories, released on Columbia in 2013, won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, and its single Get Lucky reached the top 10 in 27 countries. Starboy with the Weeknd gave them their only Billboard Hot 100 number one in 2016. They split amicably in 2021 after 28 years.
Source: Daft Punk
