• 1996-

  Thomas MarsVocals

  Deck D'ArcyBass

  Christian MazzalaiGuitar

  Laurent BrancowitzGuitar
• Phoenix don't have a permanent drummer or keyboard player. They use session and touring musicians to fill those roles, although members of the group often play keyboards on their recordings.
• Phoenix formed in Paris but sing in English and have a very American sound, which owes to their influences: singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, and innovators like Michael Jackson and Prince. They had no interest in traditional French music.
• All four members, along with their manager, lived together in Paris for three years leading up to their debut album, United, in 2000. Friends since childhood, they agreed that if they hadn't succeeded in music by the time they were 35, they'd pack it in and get proper jobs. Luckily, they didn't have to: The album got some attention in France, and their next two expanded their reach. When they put out their fourth album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix in 2009, they went international with the hits "1901" and "Lisztomania."
• The have a connection to another famous French outfit: Daft Punk. When his first band split, Laurent Brancowitz joined his younger brother, Christian Mazzalai, in Phoenix. The remaining members of that first band, Darlin' - Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel de Honem-Christo - went on to form the massively popular electronica duo. The members of Phoenix and Daft Punk remain good friends.
• Phoenix provided the song "Too Young" for the 2003 Sofia Coppola film Lost in Translation, and also appeared as a lute-playing band in the Coppola's next film, Marie Antoinette (2006), which stars Kirsten Dunst and Fantastic Planet drummer Jason Swartzman.
  
  Along the way, Coppola and Thomas Mars started dating; their daughter Romy was born in 2006 and daughter Cosima in 2010. They got married in 2011.
• Phoenix cut their teeth on the tour circuit in France playing Hank Williams and Prince covers to drunken French bar audiences. They also had a gig backing the atmospheric French duo Air on their live dates.
• In 2006, while traveling to play the V Festival in Canada, the band had a harrowing experience. As they were traveling to the small island where the festival is held, their boat, which was carrying the band and their equipment, started to take on water. They addressed the situation by discussing which way to swim and whether or not they should take off their clothes so they wouldn't be weighed down. Help eventually came in the form of another boat.
• Phoenix employed family and friends on their 2000 debut album, United. It features contributions by Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk, Phillips Zdar or Cassius and even Deck D'Arcy's mother. She and her chorale society provided backing vocals on the track, "Funky Squaredance."
• Their first three albums were on major labels but they went indie for their breakthrough Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, releasing it in Europe on their own label, Loyaute, and in America on the small independent label Glassnote. Being free from a major label allowed them complete creative freedom.
• Phoenix played a raucous set at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Before the performance, Tom Cruise rappelled into the stadium to receive the Olympic flag on behalf of Los Angeles, host of the 2028 games. This was a thrill for Phoenix, who are big fans of Cruise's movie Risky Business.

Comments

More Songfacts:

Slow HandThe Pointer Sisters

"Slow Hand" was a #1 Country hit for Conway Twitty in 1982, a year after The Pointer Sisters recorded it.

The OneMemphis Bleek

Rapper Memphis Bleek's 2005 album track "The One" is notable for featuring a then-unknown Rihanna on the hook. It was the Barbadian singer's first-ever major-label appearance.

Here Comes Your ManPixies

"Here Comes Your Man" is the closest the Pixies came to a hit in America. It was rumored to be about a drug dealer, but Black Francis says it's just a story about some hobos who travel by train and die in an earthquake.

VoodooGodsmack

The line, "I feel the snakebite enter my veins," led many to believe the Godsmack song "Voodoo" is about drugs, but it's really about Wiccan ritual, inspired in part by the Wes Craven movie The Serpent and the Rainbow.

Strawberry Letter 23The Brothers Johnson

"Strawberry Letter 23" by The Brothers Johnson was written by Shuggie Otis, whose girlfriend would send him letters written on strawberry-scented paper.

VogueMadonna

Every film star mentioned in Madonna's "Vogue" has since died. The last was Lauren Bacall, who passed away in 2014.

Editor's Picks

Sarah BrightmanSongwriter Interviews

One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

90210 to Buffy to Glee: How Songs Transformed TVSong Writing

Shows like Dawson's Creek, Grey's Anatomy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed the way songs were heard on TV, and produced some hits in the process.

Van Dyke ParksSongwriter Interviews

U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.