The French media Le Parisien has reported in the last few hours that Daft Punk are in negotiations to meet and perform at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, which will be held next June 2024.
Le Parisien has quoted words from Thomas Jelly, artistic director of the Olympic Games, who during a radio interview alluded to a possible Daft Punk reunion. Jelly has said that “you can’t not think of Daft Punk when you think of an example of an international and successful French group” and has declared: “I lied about Daft Punk, actually we already have them, they are not negotiating.”
Le Parisien confirms that these Olympic Games negotiations with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have existed and that the musicians are “tough at negotiations.” However, Jelly did not want to let the news of a possible reunion get out of hand, and has denied that Daft Punk are going to participate in the ceremony.
“My comments could have led to confusion and have generated a lot of expectations,” Jelly wrote in X. “I must clarify that, after negotiating their possible presence at the ceremony, the group has made the decision not to participate. “I respect your decision and apologize for the ambiguity of my comments.”
A Daft Punk reunion was highly unlikely given that it wasn’t that long ago that the group announced their split, in the winter of 2021. Currently, Thomas and Guy-Manuel are focused on promoting the 10th anniversary of ‘Random Access Memories’, his final album. The “non-percussion” version of the album will be released in November.
