Who are Gojira, the French metal band that made history at 2024 Olympics opening ceremony?

First band of their kind to perform at the Olympic Games are a late-blooming, Godzilla-inspired, environmentally focused juggernaut of the genre

Heavy metal band Gojira perform during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. AFP

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The Olympics opening ceremony has seemingly featured every form of entertainment over the years. But on Friday, for the first time in history, it rocked hard.

To open the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the French heavy metal band Gojira broke ground for the genre, becoming the only act of its kind to perform at the ceremony.

For viewers from across the world, the performance was a standout moment in the hours-long event, which covered seemingly the full gamut of modern French culture as it toured across the capital city.

The band has since had a chance to take in the positive attention the performance has brought them, writing on their Instagram: “Paris! An unforgettable experience – a once in a lifetime experience.

“Thank you, Paris, you looked good from up there!” the band added, commenting on the fact that they performed from the windows of a historic building in the city.

The history of Gojira, the metal band of the Paris Olympics

But who are Gojira? For fans of metal music, they are familiar name, founded in 1996 and long toiling in obscurity before finally hitting the big time over the last 12 years, starting with their acclaimed fifth album L’Enfant Sauvage, released in 2012.

They build on the success of that breakthrough with 2016’s Magma, which brought them to even higher heights and was nominated for two Grammy awards, as well as 2021’s Fortitude, a more diverse recording that continued their upward trend – earning another Grammy nomination in the process.

The band has toured with popular acts of the genre including Metallica and Slipknot, as well as numerous European festival appearances and popular tours with popular but less recognisable names outside of the insular world of metal music including Obituary, Hatesphere and Machine Head.

The four-piece group is half-family affair, founded by brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier in the town of Bayonne in the South of France, along with Christian Andreu and Jean-Michel Labadie.

The name is taken from the original Japanese name for Godzilla, the giant monster who has spawned 38 films across Japan and the United States, including the Academy Award-winning Godzilla Minus One in 2023 and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire earlier this year.

Gojira’s style has been compared to bands such as Pantera, progressive and technical death metal, although their lyrics are often spiritual and philosophical and particularly environmentally- themed.

For years, the members have been involved in environmental activism, as well as human and animal rights activism.

Their lyrics and music videos have long been used to highlight issues of climate change, pollution, and deforestation.

According to Joe Duplantier, this focus began because they grew up on the coastline.

"When a boat would sink with oil, we were the first to see it, and we couldn't get in the ocean anymore because it was spoiled for almost two years," Duplantier told The Daily Iowan in 2009. "So that's probably one reason why we care, because we actually could see the effect first-hand."

What song did Gojira sing at the opening ceremony?

At the opening ceremony, Gojira sang a new, heavy metal interpretation of the classic French song Ah! Ca Ira (meaning “it’ll be fine” in English) which was originally one of the leading anthems of the French Revolution, gaining popularity back in 1790 and since becoming an unofficial anthem for revolutionaries of all kinds.

According to The New York Times, the band created their version with the help of Victor La Masne, performing with opera singer Maria Viotti.

“It was a very bloody era in French history, so it was very metal,” Duplantier told the outlet ahead of the performance. “The song’s going to be very in your face.”

He also took stock of how important a moment this was for the genre, commenting that he felt pressure to represent “the whole metal community on the world stage”.

Watch Gojira perform at the Olympics opening ceremony

The band's performance went viral around the world, with many praising the unique music and innovative staging, and the group's dynamic presence.

"Well done Paris on trying something sonically and visually different," said X user Punt Road. "The winner was metal!"

Watch the full segment below.