Kavinsky
Vincent Belorgey's French house and synthwave project, a zombie character who crashed his Ferrari Testarossa in 1986, whose 2010 song "Nightcall" opened the film Drive and closed out the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A character, a Testarossa and a zombie
Vincent Pierre Claude Belorgey was born on July 31, 1975 in Paris (Barbes, the 10th arrondissement). He learned piano at a youth center, worked on a Casio synthesizer and a Roland TR-808, grew up alongside Quentin Dupieux (Mr. Oizo), who gave him an old Apple computer to start on, and acted in films by Dupieux and others: Nonfilm (2001), Aaltra (2003), Atomik Circus (2004), Ultranova (2005) and Steak (2007), which also used his music. Kavinsky is a character who crashed his Ferrari Testarossa in 1986 and returned in 2006 as a zombie who makes electronic music; Belorgey said he made the character because putting my face on a record sleeve isn't something that suits me.
The Teddy Boy EP on Record Makers (December 2005 by Wikipedia's discography, 2006 by its prose) holds "Testarossa Autodrive", which Dupieux presented to Record Makers; it was reportedly written and recorded entirely on a Yamaha DX7. 1986 followed on March 3, 2007, and the Blazer EP on Fool's Gold on July 1, 2008. He opened Daft Punk's world tour in 2007 and toured with Justice and SebastiAn; SebastiAn's remix of "Testarossa Autodrive" is in Grand Theft Auto IV and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.
Nightcall, OutRun and Reborn
"Nightcall", with Lovefoxxx of CSS, was released in 2010 and produced with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk. Nicolas Winding Refn used it in the opening credits of Drive (2011). OutRun, named for Sega's 1986 arcade game, came out on February 22, 2013 in Germany, February 25 in France and February 26 in the US, mixed by SebastiAn in sessions made between 2006 and 2012 in Paris at Gang, CBE and Third Side studios; it reached number 2 in France, went gold there and won the 2014 Victoire for electronic album. After a gap of about seven years he returned with "Renegade" (November 19, 2021) and Reborn (March 25, 2022), co-produced with Victor le Masne and Gaspard Auge of Justice, which reached 13 in France.
He performed "Nightcall" with Angele and Phoenix at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics on August 11, 2024, and "Roadgame" at the Paralympic closing ceremony; a studio version of the Olympics "Nightcall" followed on September 20, 2024. The Weeknd, whom he joined on "Odd Look" (2013), called him an inspiration to so many, including myself. He was made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2025. Kavinsky died on July 28, 2026 in Paris, aged 50; the funeral was on August 12 at Saint-Pierre de Montmartre. French President Emmanuel Macron called him a source of French pride forever. Mixmag called him a world-building producer.
Albums
- OutRun 2013 · Record Makers / Vertigo / Mercury
His debut album, a concept record about the 1986 crash and the zombie's return, with "Nightcall" as track eight.
Songs
- Nightcall OutRun · 2010
A 2010 single with Lovefoxxx on the choruses, used in the opening credits of Drive and at the 2024 Olympics.
Sources
- Kavinsky, Wikipedia
- Kavinsky, Wikipedia (French)
- OutRun (album), Wikipedia
- Kavinsky dead at 50, Stereogum (2026-07-29)