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Music world reacts to Daft Punk’s split: “An inspiration to all”

Fans and stars of the music and entertainment world have reacted to the news that Daft Punk have split up.

It was confirmed earlier today (February 22) that the French duo had called it quits after 28 years.

An eight-minute video titled ‘Epilogue’ (taken from their 2006 film Electroma) showed the pair – Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo – walking in the desert wearing their trademark futuristic helmets. One of the pair suddenly stops and invites the other to initiate the self-destruct sequence on their suit, before walking off and exploding.

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The screen then fades to black, before a pair of robot hands reappears above the dates 1993-2021. Daft Punk’s publicist Kathryn Frazier later confirmed that the clip had officially announced their split.

Since the news broke, fans and stars alike have taken to social media to share their reactions to Daft Punk being no more.

#DaftPunk thanking me for the #music, but the feeling’s mutual. I love their artisty, conviction and most of all their #humanity. I will miss them.

Posted by Nile Rodgers on Monday, February 22, 2021

Nile Rodgers, who worked with Daft Punk on their 2013 mega-hit ‘Get Lucky’, shared a clip of the duo thanking Rodgers for his songwriting and wrote: “Daft Punk thanking me for the music, but the feeling’s mutual. I love their artistry, conviction and most of all their humanity. I will miss them.”

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A post shared by Julian Casablancas (@minorbutmajor)

The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, who previously collaborated with the duo on their 2013 single ‘Instant Crush’, shared the ‘1993-2021’ end card on Instagram with simple caption “dang…”.

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A post shared by Warren Fu (@warrenjfu)

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Music video director Warren Fu revealed that he had been involved in the ‘Epilogue’ video, writing on Instagram: “This end card is the bittersweet final piece of artwork the robots asked me to work on with them. A beautiful ending to a beautiful story.”

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A post shared by Warren Fu (@warrenjfu)

Posting on Instagram Stories, The Weeknd said he was “thankful to be part of the journey” in a series of post honouring Daft Punk.

“Thank you Daft Punk,” Apple Music’s Zane Lowe wrote. “I guess we’re going to have to figure it out for ourselves from now on.”

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A post shared by Zane Lowe (@zanelowe)

Disclosure called the legendary outfit “THE greatest to EVER do it”. “Words can’t describe the inspiration & knowledge we gained from listening to the 2 robots over the years,” they tweeted. “Wishing them nothing but good energy & positivity for the future – Thank you for everything.”

“Daft Punk left the game with a flawless legacy,” Mark Ronson added. “I would say enviable but impossibly unattainable is more appropriate.

“I remember how those gorgeous French robots got lucky and locked us out of heaven all night at the 2013 Grammys. I couldn’t even be mad for 3 minutes.”

Filmmaker Edgar Wright recalled the time Daft Punk were present during a 40th anniversary screening of Phantom Of The Paradise.

“When I hosted a 40th anniversary screening of Phantom Of The Paradise at the Cinerama dome, there were lots of superfans in the house; not least Daft Punk (sans masks),” he tweeted. “Pre-show, their manager asked politely that I not say they were present. I can now reveal they sat in G9 & G10.”

See more reactions below.

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A post shared by Kathryn Frazier (@klfbiz3)






Last year, Julian Casablancas revealed he’d been “trying to do something” with Daft Punk.

However, Casablancas had been told they weren’t “doing music right now”, with “one of them focused on video stuff and the other one kind of obsessing with ancient aliens or something”.