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Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are ending Daft Punk after 28 years.
Iconic French duo, Daft Punk have allegedly split up after releasing a video titled "Epilogue" on their official social media channels. The 8-minute clip which is taken from their 2006 film Electroma shows the robot version of Thomas exploding while Guy-Man looks on. After the explosion, a graphic shows gold and silver robot gloves forming a triangle and text stating "1993 - 2021".
When asked if Daft Punk were no more, their longtime publicist Kathryn Frazier confirmed the news to Pitchfork but gave no reason for the breakup.
One of the most successful music projects of all time, Daft Punk, are responsible for some of the most well-loved tracks in dance music and were a major catalyst in the crossover success of electronic music in the late 90s.
Albums such as Homework and Discovery are frequently listed among the greatest albums of all time, which tracks such as "One More Time" and "Around The World" are widely regarded as some of the most successful singles in dance music.
Along with the Daft Punk project, the duo pioneered the French Touch explosion in the late 90s, with each member releasing a variety of French artists on their respective labels, Crydamoure and Roulé. Daft Punk also paved the way for Ed Banger Records, founded by their manager Pedro Winter, to create the Electro House sound of the mid-00s championed by Justice, SebastiAn and DJ Mehdi.
Since 2013's Random Access Memories the duo have remained largely out of the spotlight, only realising only two tracks (both collaborations with The Weeknd) in the past eight years. Aside from short outings at the 2014 and 2017 GRAMMY Awards, Daft Punk have not performed live since their ground-breaking ALIVE 2007 tour.
It is unclear at this time whether Thomas and Guy-Man have parted ways completely, or if this is simply the end of the Daft Punk project. Fans will be keeping everything crossed that the longtime collaborators have another project to introduce to the world, and new music on the way. It's worth noting that only last year Daft Punk were announced to be working on the soundtrack for Disney's upcoming Tron 2 movie.