Kavinsky, French producer behind Drive hit Nightcall, found dead at home

French electronic musician Kavinsky, best known for his haunting track Nightcall, made famous by the 2011 movie Drive and performed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has died aged 50.The producer, real name Vincent Belorgey, was discovered dead at his Paris home on Tuesday evening, the Paris prosecutor's office said.Parisian authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of death but first responders found "no suspicious elements" at Belorgey's home, the prosecutor's office stated.Part of the rich French electronic music scene spearheaded by Daft Punk and spawning 2000s contemporaries like Justice and SebastiAn, Kavinsky was hailed as one of the country's "most singular voices" in a tribute from Culture Minister Catherine Pégard."Both danceable and nostalgic, his music will continue to resonate across generations and borders," the minister wrote in a post on X.French President Emmanuel Macron also paid tribute on Facebook, calling the musician "forever a source of French pride".Born in the Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis in 1975, Belorgey originally pursued acting before his music career took off in the mid-00s.Drawing inspiration from 16-bit video games, 80s film soundtracks and a love of luxury cars, he developed a synth-heavy take on French house music.In 2006, under the pseudonym Kavinsky, Belorgey released his debut EP Teddy Boy, made entirely on a vintage Yamaha DX7. It featured Testarossa Autodrive, a single that helped develop the "synthwave" sound and coincided with the wider "blog house" and "electroclash" scenes of the 2000s.The 1986 EP followed in 2007 and Kavinsky went on tour with Justice, SebastiAn, and Daft Punk, including the latter's Nevereverland tour of Australia, featuring The Presets and Cut Copy.His anticipated 2013 full-length debut album OutRun (sharing its name with Sega's classic 1986 arcade racing game) reached the second spot on the French album charts.The record also developed Belorgey's Kavinsky alter ego: In the 80s, a young man crashes his Ferrari Testarossa and returns as a zombie in 2006 to make electronic music and haunt highways in sunglasses and fast cars.That persona inspired his 2010 song Nightcall, which achieved mainstream success for its use in Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn's 2011 thriller starring Ryan Gosling as a former stuntman-turned getaway driver.Co-produced with Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, the nocturnal tune balances stalking synth with a romantic chorus featuring singer Lovefoxxx from Brazilian band CSS. It has been streamed more than a billion times combined across Spotify and YouTube.Kavinsky explained the song was about an unrequited romance between his zombie alter-ego and a past girlfriend who had moved on with "a new boyfriend and kids," he explained in a 2011 interview."He's melancholic [and] has some regrets and now he's trying to be a good man but he can't because he's dead."Kavinsky's 2022 album Reborn, a 2024 re-release of Nightcall featuring French indie rock band Phoenix and Belgian artist Angèle, coincided with Kavinsky performing the track at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony. This version reached number three in the French charts.The Weeknd called Kavinsky an "inspiration" and news of his death "heartbreaking" on social media.The Canadian pop sensation collaborated with the French producer on 2016's Odd Look, which was a hit in France in 2013, originally featuring SebastiAn.Fellow French DJ David Guetta called him "a true icon of French electronic music" on Instagram.