Phoenix Biography

Phoenix is a French synth-rock band with members Thomas Mars, Deck d’Arcy, Laurent Brancowitz, and Christian Mazzalai.

Early Formation

Vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d’Arcy, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai were already in the band when Mazzalai’s older brother, Branco, joined the line-up as its second guitarist.

Career Beginnings

They first started by performing in bars and performing covers. They adopted the name Phoenix and released copies on their own terms. Soon after they were signed to Source Records. The group was the backing band of labelmate Air’s performances in the UK and on TV. Thanks to the exposure the single Heatwave was released.

Breakthrough

In 2000 they released the debut LP United, followed by other albums like Alphabetical in 2004 and It’s Never Been Like That in 2006. The breakthrough arrived with the critically acclaimed Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, issued in 2009. As a result, the LP won Phoenix their first Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and reached gold certification. 1901 became a number 1 hit on the Billboard’s Hot Alternative Songs chart. Following the attention, they made appearances at numerous festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza for the remainder of 2010. The band closed this period with a headlining tour. The more experimental Bankrupt! was released in 2013. It debuted at number 4 on Billboard 200 and was supported by another set of American festivals. Their upcoming album Ti Amo was announced in 2017 and is set for release on June 9th. J-Boy was released as the LP’s lead single.

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