Back in 1993, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter came together to form Daft Punk. Now, 28 years later, the duo has officially broken up. Daft Punk is no more.
The band shared the news with an 8-minute video titled “Epilogue.” In the video (an excerpt from their 2006 film Electroma), the duo walks in an open field. They stop, at which point one member prompts the other to engage an explosive device on him. After the timer counts down, he blows up. A message on screen then reads, “1993-2021.”
Furthermore, the duo’s longtime publicist Kathryn Frazier confirmed the news to Pitchfork while offering no reason for the breakup.
Daft Punk leaves behind an indelible legacy. The duo, a defining act in electronic music, released their debut album, Homework, in 1997. That was followed by Discovery in 2001, Human After All in 2005, and Random Access Memories in 2013. The latter album was the group’s first No. 1 release in the US. They also released two live albums, Alive 1997 and Alive 2007, and they provided the soundtrack for the 2010 film Tron: Legacy.
The band’s highest-charting single as a lead artist in the US was “Get Lucky,” a Pharrell Williams-featuring Random Access Memories highlight that peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart in 2013. They also featured on The Weeknd’s singles “Starboy,” which topped the charts, and “I Feel It Coming,” which peaked at No. 4.
Watch the “Epilogue” video above.
This post is being updated.