A Look Back on Daft Punk: History, Legacy, and Music

On February 22, 2021, the electro house band Daft Punk announced its disbandment after 28 years of being together. Many fans were devastated by this news; many grew up with Daft Punk always there. The group’s music – both beautiful and catchy – is something that arguably shaped a lot of the culture of the 2000s, and without the band we wouldn’t have a lot of current musicians in the same form that we do now.

Daft Punk’s legacy is an important one to both music and culture, so here’s a brief summary of the band’s story.

1987-1992: Darlin’

In 1987, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter met while attending the same school in Paris. Quickly they became friends and began recording music together with other students they knew around the school under the band name Darlin’. Although they only released one EP, which wasn’t well-received, the duo wanted to continue making music, but felt they wanted to focus more on an electronic sound.

1993-1996: Daft Punk is Born

In 1993, Homem-Christo and Bangalter attended a rave at EuroDisney, where they met Stuart MacMillan. After giving him a demo tape, they soon released their new single, “Alive,” which helped the band become an underground success. Soon after the group would release Da Funk, which was a massive commercial success and helped propel the band to becoming a household name. They would often perform live at club venues and became a highly sought-after group for live performances.

1997: Homework

In 1997, Daft Punk would finally release their first album, “Homework.” This release cemented the band’s status as one that would be around for a long time and not just a one-hit-wonder. The album featured both previous singles, “Alive” and “Da Funk,” as well as many new songs, such as “Around the World” and “Homework,” and was a massive success. Soon Daft Punk was airing music videos on MTV, being featured in film soundtracks, and being asked what was next.

2001: Discovery

Although recording for “Discovery” began in 1998, it wasn’t released until 2001, but well worth the wait as fans got what was arguably Daft Punk’s most defining album. “Discovery” is an album I am personally very biased toward; it was released on the year I was born, and as a result I essentially grew up hearing this my entire life. It’s a beautiful album with some of the band’s most iconic songs, such as “Digital Love,” the chart-topper “One More Time” and the group’s most popular track to this day, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” This album also marked the first time people began to see Daft Punk perform in their iconic robot costumes, a creative decision by the duo to make fans pay more attention to the music than the artist performing it. “Homework” may have cemented Daft Punk as a staying band, but “Discovery” cemented them as one of the greatest to ever live.

2003: Interstella 5555 and Daft Club

In 2003 Daft Punk added onto “Discovery” with two companion projects. The fist of these projects was “Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem,” a film with a story completely told through visuals and the music from “Discovery.” It’s a perfect visualization of the album that tells a simple yet poignant story of the evils of the record industry. The visuals are beautiful, and the music is as great as always. The group’s other companion project was “Daft Club,” an album of remixes of the songs from “Discovery.” Although it isn’t incredibly ambitious, the project was well received and loved by most fans.

2005: Human After All

“Human After All” hit store shelves in 2005 after a reported six weeks straight of Homem-Christo and Bangalter writing and recording music. At the time, this record received mixed reviews (mainly due to its darker tone compared to the previous two albums), but has since been held in the same regard as the band’s other works. Songs such as “Robot Rock” and “Technologic” are often considered some of the best songs in the group’s catalogue.

2006-2007: Alive

Across 2006 and 2007, Daft Punk performed 48 shows on a tour called “Alive.” To this day, many regard this tour as one of the greatest tours any band has ever done. The venues, effects and music were stunning, the crowds were wild and excited, and of course, the band was great. The concert has a filmed version, which you can view, entitled “Alive 2007,” which won a Grammy for the album release of the same name. As a result of this tour, Daft Punk was considered mainstream, and it was nearly impossible to avoid hearing about them at this time.

2008: Stronger

Despite no album releases in 2008, the year was still an important one for Daft Punk as they helped produce and were featured on and sampled in Kanye West’s new single “Stronger,” which helped assure the band an even wider audience reaching into the rap genre. This single song helped secure Daft Punk another appearance at The Grammys, a cameo appearance in the video game DJ Hero, and a deal with Disney that would only make their name even more known.

2009: Tron

In 2009, Disney announced that its new sequel to the cult classic 1980s sci-fi film “Tron,” entitled “Tron: Legacy,” would include a soundtrack completely of brand comprised of new songs by Daft Punk made specifically for the film. Although the movie itself received mixed reviews, the soundtrack went on to gain a reputation as one of the greatest film soundtracks of all time. The album (released in 2010) is composed of 24 brand new tracks, which were also remixed on an album known simply as “Tron: Legacy Reconfigured.”

2013: Random Access Memories

In 2013, Daft Punk gave life back to music with the release of “Random Access Memories,” an album of incredible ambition that went on to be named Album of the Year by The Grammys and included a #1 single, the endlessly catchy “Get Lucky.” Often considered Daft Punk’s most ambitious album, R.A.M. is also one of the group’s most emotional projects. It’s an album with incredible talent and love put into it, and unbeknownst to anyone, it would be the band’s last. In the same year, Daft Punk also produced Kanye West’s “Yeezus,” which is considered one of the rapper’s most ambitious and experimental releases to this day.

2016: The Weeknd

In 2016, Canadian R&B singer The Weeknd released his album “Starboy,” which featured two tracks produced by Daft Punk. The title track, being the more successful of the two, brought a lot of success onto the artist. It’s safe to say the popularity of both The Weeknd and Daft Punk grew due to the collaboration on this track, but sadly this would be the last time Daft Punk basked in the spotlight.

2021: Epilogue

On February 22, 2021, the official Daft Punk YouTube channel released a video simply entitled “Epilogue.” The video features the duo walking into the desert and one self-destructing before showing a title card that simply reads “1993-2021.” Even now we have no reason given for this retirement and are only left to speculate on why it happened. At least we can hold onto the memories and look back on the legacy with a smile, knowing Daft Punk made its mark on music history.