Formation and early years Phoenix was conceived in the 1990s when vocalist
Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d'Arcy, and guitarist Chris Mazzalai, who were all friends in school, started playing together as a "
garage band" based out of Mars's house in
Versailles. In 1995, Laurent Brancowitz, Mazzalai's older brother, permanently joined the band on guitar after the end of
Darlin', a short-lived band that Brancowitz had formed with
Thomas Bangalter and
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who would later form electronic duo
Daft Punk. Two years later the band took on the name Phoenix and pressed 500 copies of a single on their own label, Ghettoblaster. Shortly after, they were signed to the Paris-based Source Records. Phoenix quickly became well acquainted with labelmates
Air when they acted as their backing band on several UK TV appearances.
United, Alphabetical, and Live! Thirty Days Ago (2000–2004) Phoenix began releasing singles in 1999, the first of these being "Heatwave" and "Party Time", the latter of which would eventually appear on their debut album,
United. The single "Too Young" was released on 22 May 2000, along with remixes of the track by
Zoot Woman and
Le Knight Club. "Too Young" was the band's first single to chart, reaching No. 97 in France and No. 148 in the UK. The band's debut album,
United, was released on 12 June 2000. It featured the singles "Party Time" and "Too Young", with "
If I Ever Feel Better" being announced as the third single from the album on 22 January 2001, and charting in several countries, reaching No. 12 in France and No. 4 in Italy.
United received positive reviews, although the band did not reach mainstream success. "Too Young" was included on the
soundtrack for the movie
Lost in Translation (which was directed by Mars' future wife,
Sofia Coppola), as well as in the movie
Shallow Hal. Shortly after the release of
United, Phoenix began work on a second album, recording in 2003 and 2004 and releasing the singles "Run Run Run" and "
Everything Is Everything" in 2004. The band's second album,
Alphabetical, was released on 22 March 2004 and saw the band reach more mainstream success, with both singles reaching some alternative rock airplay charts. French fashion designer
Hedi Slimane commissioned a special mix of their song "Victim of the Crime", taken from
Alphabetical, as the soundtrack to one of his runway shows for
Dior Homme. Following
Alphabetical, the band toured three continents, playing 150 dates. This tour was followed up with a live album,
Live! Thirty Days Ago, released only thirty days after the end of the tour.
''It's Never Been Like That and Kitsuné Tabloid'' (2005–2009) After their
Alphabetical tour, Phoenix spent time in Berlin during the summer of 2005, making use of
Planet Roc Studio to produce their third album. On 8 May 2006, the band released the lead single from the album, titled "Long Distance Call". American band
Paramore would go on to perform a cover of the song live on
Taratata, a French TV show. Phoenix's third studio album, titled ''
It's Never Been Like That'', was released on 15 May 2006. It was the first to feature
Thomas Hedlund on drums. To promote the release of the album, Phoenix toured the United States and Europe in 2006. The album charted in several countries, reaching even greater success than
Alphabetical, although it still did not chart in much of North America. ''It's Never Been Like That
was re-released in Mexico later that year, with the so-called "tour edition" featuring four bonus tracks recorded live in Oslo from the tour. On 11 September 2006, the track "Consolation Prizes" was announced to be the second single from It's Never Been Like That''. Phoenix curated a compilation album for French electronic music record and fashion label
Kitsuné. It was released on 23 March 2009, and includes music by
Elvis Costello,
Roxy Music,
Kiss,
Lou Reed and others.
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009–2011) In early 2009, around the time of the release of the Phoenix's compilation album for
Kitsuné, it was announced that the band would be returning with a new album titled
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which would be released on 25 May 2009. The album was recorded in Paris, and was co-produced and mixed by Philippe Zdar of
Cassius. "
1901", a tribute to early Paris, was released on 23 February 2009 on the band's website as a free download. Due to extremely positive reviews, the song was then issued as a retail single and aired for the first time on Australian radio station
Triple J. In June 2009, after the release of the album, Phoenix first appeared on the cover of the 62nd issue of
The FADER publication. As the album's popularity rapidly grew, "
Lisztomania" and "Lasso" were issued as the second and third singles from
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. in
Los Angeles, 2009. As it became apparent that "1901" was Phoenix's biggest success yet, the song was performed live on several TV shows and began to appear everywhere. "1901" was featured in the US during
Super Bowl XLV in a
Green Bay Packers montage, and was also performed on
Saturday Night Live along with "Too Young" and "Lisztomania" on 4 April. Phoenix also performed "Lisztomania" on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, "Girlfriend" on
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and "1901" on the
Late Show with David Letterman,
Jimmy Kimmel Live! and ''
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien''.
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix won
Best Alternative Music Album at the
2009 Grammy Awards on 31 January 2010. Shortly afterwards, "1901" hit No. 1 on the
Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The album was the first Phoenix album to be certified gold and appeared on numerous "Best of" lists at the end of 2010, including
Rolling Stone magazine. Vocalist
Thomas Mars, described as "more bright-eyed and youthful than ever", is more prominent in these songs, harmonising with the instruments. "Maybe they've just hit their stride," the reviewer said. Phoenix are the subject of a documentary
From a Mess to the Masses that documents their 2009–10 tour in support of
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The film was directed by Antoine Wagner and Francisco Soriano—Wagner was also responsible for directing the "Lisztomania" music video. The title of the documentary is a lyrical excerpt from "Lisztomania" and the total running time is 52 minutes.
From a Mess to the Masses premiered in Germany and France on the Arte television network on 13 October 2011.
Bankrupt! (2011–2015) On 5 April 2011, the band posted a blog update on their website entitled "Songwriting..." with
CCTV stills of the band working in a studio. The band said that the album would be a departure from the pop sounds of
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, and they were trying to create something more experimental. The same year, vocalist
Thomas Mars married American screenwriter and director
Sofia Coppola, whom he had met while producing the soundtrack to
The Virgin Suicides in 1999. On 16 January 2012, the band had completed four songs for the fifth album and it was scheduled for a late summer 2012 release, with an autumn tour. Daniel Glass, the founder of
Glassnote Records, stated in relation to the material, "It's very hard to beat
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but this could be revolutionary." The webpage was updated to display the words
Pluviôse,
Thermidor and
Vendémiaire.
Pluviôse,
Thermidor and
Vendémiaire are three of the months of the
French Republican Calendar (also known as the Revolutionary Calendar). On 16 January 2013
Bankrupt! was announced as the title of the fifth album. The cover depicts a color drawing of a peach next to a peach slice, with a pink flower and two green leaves; the track listing included song titles such as the title track, "S.O.S. in Bel Air", "Bourgeois", and "Oblique City". A schedule of the music festivals that Phoenix performed at in support of the new album was announced and headline positions were confirmed for Germany's
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park Festivals,
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and
Lollapalooza. The band also appeared at the
Beale Street Music Festival in
Memphis, Tennessee, and appeared alongside acts such as
Beyoncé and
Nine Inch Nails at the "Made in America" festival during Labor Day weekend in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. in
Chicago, 2013. On 18 February 2013, the band released "Entertainment", the first single from the album. A music video for the song, directed by Patrick Daughters, was released on 7 March 2013. On 28 March, Phoenix started their 2013 tour in
Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and performed their first concert in two years—the show's set list included "Sunskrupt!", a song that combines "Bankrupt!" and "Love Like a Sunset". Phoenix performed on American television during the next month—on 6 April, Phoenix was the musical guest on
Saturday Night Live and performed "Entertainment" and "Trying to Be Cool/Drakkar Noir"; on 18 April 2013, the band repeated the two-song set list on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!. On 22 April 2013, Phoenix played a London show at
Shepherd's Bush Empire on the day that
Bankrupt! was released. In a review of the performance, music writer Josh Holliday declared: "And along with peace, love and understanding, what the world needs now is a band we can all believe in as one. That band is Phoenix." On 6 May 2013, Phoenix were taped for the thirty-ninth season of live music television series
Austin City Limits (
ACL) at Moody Theatre in
Austin, Texas. Terry Likona, executive producer of the show, announced that Phoenix would co-headline the two-weekend
Austin City Limits Music Festival in October 2013, alongside other big acts such as
Kings of Leon,
Wilco, and
Depeche Mode. In media articles on
Bankrupt! after the album's release, Mars provided insight into the circumstances that influenced the creation of the band's fifth album: "At that time, we started talking about success and not music. I guess it was time to protect ourselves and focus on music again." Mars made reference to the period of intensive public attention that occurred in the wake of the Grammy Award-winning
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix's first record to achieve gold certification. Phoenix also used the Harrison 4032 solid-state recording console, the same console used on
Michael Jackson's
Thriller, to mix
Bankrupt!. The console was purchased on eBay and shipped to Paris.
Bankrupt! debuted at number 4 on the American
Billboard 200 albums chart and a Phoenix world tour was completed over a large part of 2013. Phoenix appeared in the 2015
Netflix special
A Very Murray Christmas, directed by Mars' wife
Sofia Coppola. The group performed a cover of
The Beach Boys' "
Alone on Christmas Day", with
Bill Murray providing backing vocals.
Ti Amo (2016–2019) In November 2016, Phoenix changed their social media themes to a
television holding screen image. They also announced a series of festival appearances in Spain and France. On 4 January 2017, it was announced that they would be in a headlining spot at
Governors Ball in
New York City the first weekend of June, which would be their first show since 2014. In March they announced two warm-up shows on 22 and 23 April in Antwerp, Belgium. On 1 March 2017, Phoenix again updated social media, teasing new music with a 30-second clip, and announcing multiple tour dates. By 24 April 2017, the band had announced that their sixth album,
Ti Amo, would be released on 9 June 2017. Three days later, on 27 April 2017, the band released the album's first single, "
J-Boy" (an acronym for "Just Because of You"). This was followed by the release of the title track, "Ti Amo", on 18 May 2017 and the single "Goodbye Soleil" on 2 June 2017, a week before the album's release. Phoenix toured worldwide to promote the release of
Ti Amo. in
London, 2017. The band performed residency shows in Paris, New York City, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Mexico City titled, "A Very Speciale Night with Phoenix". It featured exclusive merchandise, Phoenix vending machine, gelato (food selection varied at shows), discoteca after party, live music, special guests, and Phoenix sake. In 2017, Phoenix collaborated with Tatenokawa, Inc., a brewery from
Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, as a tribute for their late friend Toshiro Kuroda, a Japanese restaurateur who ran a store in Paris called Workshop Isse which offered food and
sake from Japan. This store was on the ground floor of Christian Mazzalai's apartment building, which is how he became friends with Kuroda. During the band's Japan tour while promoting
Bankrupt!, Kuroda took the band to visit sake breweries in Japan, one of which was Tatenokawa, Inc. Phoenix and Tatenokawa, Inc. created Phoenix Sake Collection, which features Tatenokawa Phoenix (also referred to as Rainbow Label) and Sparkling sake. The Sparking sake was created to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary. The collection also featured limited-edition brews: Tatenokawa Junmai Daiginjo, Kaze no Mori Junmai Daiginjo (from Nara Prefecture), and Sohomare Junmai Ginjo (from Tochigi Prefecture). The bottles were wrapped in a hand-dyed washcloth featuring illustrations of the band and sake logo. A portion of the sales were donated to the Japanese Red Cross. In 2019, Phoenix released the biography
Liberté, Egalité, Phoenix!, written by Laura Snapes.
Alpha Zulu and Olympics performance (2020–present) On 19 August 2020, the band released "Identical" for
Sofia Coppola's film
On the Rocks. It topped the
Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart in November 2020. Phoenix began recording their seventh album
Alpha Zulu during the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 at the
Musée des Arts décoratifs, a studio located within the
Louvre Palace in Paris. Brancowitz said the band "felt it would be a fantastic adventure to create something out of nothing", with Mazzalai revealing that they wrote "almost all" of
Alpha Zulu within the first 10 days. The album was inspired by Philippe Zdar of the band Cassius, who produced three of Phoenix's albums and died in 2019. On 27 May 2022, the band announced the lead single "Alpha Zulu", which was released on 1 June. "Alpha Zulu" topped the US Adult Alternative Airplay chart in August for two weeks. The next day, Phoenix released "
Tonight" featuring
Vampire Weekend's
Ezra Koenig. It was the band’s first song with a guest vocalist. It would also top the US Adult Alternative Airplay chart, this time for seven weeks. On 16 March 2023, Phoenix released a remix of "After Midnight" that featured American singer-songwriter
Clairo. Phoenix toured with
Beck on the Summer Odyssey tour throughout August and September 2023, featuring stops such as the
Kia Forum in Los Angeles, the
Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and
Madison Square Garden in New York City. On 17 November 2023, Phoenix released a remix of "Artefact" that featured Mexican singer León Larregui. On August 11, 2024, during the
2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in
Paris at Stade De France, after a "whimsical creation of the Olympic rings," the band performed "
Lisztomania" and alongside
Kavinsky and
Angèle who performed “
Nightcall”. The band also played "
If I Ever Feel Better", "Funky Squaredance" (joined by
Vannda), "Playground Love" (joined by
Air), "
Tonight" (joined by
Ezra Koenig), and "
1901". Phoenix formed the
supergroup UFOs with
Braxe + Falcon, which released their debut single "UFO" on 23 September. It was released via Domino Records and Smugglers Way, with a limited edition 12" vinyl released at select independent record stores.
Warren Fu directed the music video, which features alien spaceships and vintage photos, including images of the members of Braxe + Falcon and Phoenix as children. == Members ==