Kavinsky Dies: French DJ Whose ‘Nightcall’ Track Opened Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’ Was 50
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- Kavinsky was found dead at his Paris home on Tuesday evening (July 28), with the Paris Prosecutors Office opening an investigation into the cause of death and stating that 'first responders found no suspicious elements at the scene.'
- Born Vincent Belorgey in Paris on July 31, 1975, Kavinsky became a key figure in the French Touch electro music scene alongside Daft Punk.
- His 'Nightcall' track — produced by Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo — achieved worldwide fame after Nicolas Winding Refn used it to open his 2011 film Drive starring Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stunt driver moonlighting as a getaway driver.
- Across his career, Kavinsky released two albums: 'OutRun' in 2013 and 'Reborn' in 2022, the latter featuring 'Nightcall' and influenced by 1980s video games, Miami Vice, and the films of Dario Argento.
- His cinema connections preceded the Drive breakout through a long collaborative friendship with Quentin Dupieux, in whose 2007 film Steak Kavinsky acted and contributed music.
- More recently, Kavinsky made a cameo in the Netflix French-language original Banger opposite Vincent Cassel as a jaded DJ, and performed at the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Why it matters: Kavinsky's 'Nightcall' became one of the defining synthwave tracks of the 2010s precisely because of its placement in Drive, and his death at 50 cuts short a French Touch-adjacent career that had only recently reactivated — 'Reborn' in 2022 and a 2024 Paralympic closing-ceremony set. The Drive connection, produced by Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, ties him directly to one of the most commercially successful electronic acts in history, amplifying the cultural weight of his loss.
