Daft Punk, the helmeted, French electronic dance funksters, turned their Grammy gold into cold hard cash as sales jumped in the week following the ceremony.
Daft Punk’s catchy, funk jam of the summer Get Lucky, which featured Pharrell Williams and funk elder statesman Nile Rodgers, took home the Grammy for Record of the Year. Their album Random Access Memories took home awards for Album of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group performance and best Dance/Electronica album as well.
Historically, Grammy winner’s tend to get a boost in sales following the award show, and Daft Punk certainly profited from their victories. Random Access Memories jumped from number 39 on the Billboard chart to number 10 in the week following the show. The 30,000 copies sold were the most in a week since July of 2013. That calculates to a 300% jump in sales for the week.
While other Grammy winners such as Bruno Mars, Lorde, Kacey Musgraves and Imagine Dragons also saw sales increases, and even icon Stevie Wonder saw his album Songs in the Key of Life return to Billboard’s top 100 after a 30 year absence following his Grammy performance, but what makes the popularity of Daft Punk remarkable is there is no face to attach to the name. The two members of the group, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, appear entirely incognito, hidden behind masks, gloves and robot-like costumes. Neither has appeared out of costume in an interview or public event in over a decade.
Random Access Memories (released in 2013) is the fourth album by Daft Punk, following Homework (1997), Discovery (2001), and Human After All (2005) The near decade long absence left fans wondering if Daft Punk was hanging up their masks for good, but the success of the album has only increased their popularity. Random Access Memories features collaborations with a number of musical stars. In addition to Williams and Rodgers, the album features Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Panda Bear of Animal Collective, synth icon Giorgio Moroder, and even 1970s pop icon Paul Williams. The album has topped the charts worldwide in twenty countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Russia. It ranked number 19 on Billboard Magazine’s 2013 albums of the year chart.
Daft Punk can certainly rest on their laurels, and now can take time to rest and work on new material, but the added boost of Grammy accolades will keep Random Access Memories relevant for 2014, and album sales could help them “Get Lucky” on the charts for a while longer.