Chromeo is a Canadian

electro-funk Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

duo from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, formed in 2002 by musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel. Their sound draws from

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

. As of 2024, the band has released six studio albums, with three of them hitting the ''Billboard'' 200 charts. In 2018, Chromeo received their first

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

for their album '' Head over Heels''.

History

The duo met in the mid-1990s at Collège Stanislas in Montreal. Speaking on their different ethnic backgrounds, the two jokingly describe themselves as "the only successful

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

partnership since the dawn of human culture." Around the time when they were both 15, Macklovitch joined Gemayel's band. During this time, Macklovitch's younger brother

A-Trak Alain Macklovitch (born March 30, 1982), known professionally as A-Trak, is a Canadian DJ, record producer, and record executive. He came to prominence in the late 2000s as an international club DJ and remix artist, known for incorporating highl ...

(of

Duck Sauce Duck Sauce is an electronic music superduo, formed in 2009 in New York City. The duo consists of American DJ Armand van Helden and Canadian DJ A-Trak. They are best known for their 2010 single "Barbra Streisand". The duo released a mixtape ...

) started winning the

Disco Mix Club The DMC World DJ Championships is an annual DJ competition founded by the Disco Mix Club (DMC) which began in 1985. It has been described as a "pre-eminent competitive DJ event". History Competitors are each given 6 minutes to perform, with wi ...

Championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

, becoming World Champion in 1997. After the band, Dave 1 and P-Thugg started to produce

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

together. Also at this time, Tiga was working with Dave 1 at a record store and asked Dave 1 to work on a project for his label, Turbo. Dave 1 and P-Thugg signed as Chromeo and started creating music together. Reviews of their 2004 debut album, '' She's in Control'', were mostly favorable. Critics compared the sound to 1980s groups

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist, while John Oates primarily supplied electric guitar and ba ...

Zapp Zapp (also known as the Zapp Band, Zapp & Roger) is an American funk band that emerged from Dayton, Ohio, United States, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro subgenre of funk, Zapp were known for their trademark use of the talk-b ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Klymaxx Klymaxx is an American all-female pop/ R&B band from Los Angeles, California. The band's classic lineup consisted of Bernadette Cooper, Lorena Porter Shelby, Cheryl Cooley, Robbin Grider, Lynn Malsby, and Joyce "Fenderella" Irby. Klymaxx is bes ...

and

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

. "Needy Girl" became a worldwide club hit. According to Dave 1, "''She's in Control'' didn't blow up. But we had "Needy Girl", and "Needy Girl" was like a musical passport. That song went all around the world and DJs played it everywhere". The song "You're So Gangsta" was featured as the theme tune for the PC game Space Colony. In 2005, Chromeo released a mix CD of funky dance tracks on Eskimo Belgium records entitled ''Un Joli Mix Pour Toi'' (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

for: ''A Nice Mix for You''). In 2006, the group was featured in

DJ Mehdi Mehdi Favéris-Essadi (20 January 1977 – 13 September 2011), better known by his stage name DJ Mehdi, was a French-Tunisian hip hop and house music producer and DJ. He was signed to the label Ed Banger Records, founded by his friend Pedro W ...

's song "I Am Somebody". During early 2007, Chromeo supported indie rock group

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...

on their British tour. After a three-year break, they released a second album, ''

Fancy Footwork ''Fancy Footwork'' is the second studio album by Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo, released on May 8, 2007 by Turbo Recordings and Last Gang Records. The album spawned three singles: "Fancy Footwork", "Tenderoni", and "Bonafied Lovin". In the Un ...

'', which also received positive reviews. In 2008, Chromeo performed with

Daryl Hall Daryl Franklin Hohl (born October 11, 1946), known professionally as Daryl Hall, is an American rock, R&B, and soul singer. He is best known as the co-founder and principal lead vocalist of Hall & Oates, with guitarist and songwriter John Oa ...

as a part of his online series '' Live from Daryl's House''. They also performed with Hall at the 2010

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) farm i ...

in Manchester, TN. On a 2009 episode of ''

Yo Gabba Gabba! ''Yo Gabba Gabba!'' is a Children's television series, children's Musical film, musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz (producer), Scott Schultz and developed by Kay Wilson Stallings. The series is about five cos ...

'', Chromeo appeared performing original song "Nice 'N Clean". Chromeo released their third studio album, ''

Business Casual Business casual is an ambiguously defined Western dress code that is generally considered casual wear but with :wiktionary:smart#English, smart (in the sense of "well dressed") components of a proper lounge suit from traditional informal wear, ...

'', on September 14, 2010. As of 2025, the music video for the album's single "Night by Night" had received over 6.1 million views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. The band has appeared on

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

's ''

Morning Becomes Eclectic ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' (MBE) is an American three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill t ...

'', been on the cover of ''Future Magazine'', and sold out The Forum in London. At the beginning of March 2011, Chromeo sent out notice that they had recorded the "world's smallest album", entitled ''Drive Time'', which consists of 55 songs in only 183 seconds. About a week later, it was revealed that ''Drive Time'' is actually a free musical

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

Own Voice

satellite navigation A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geopositioning. A satellite navigation system with global coverage is termed global navigation satellite system (GNSS). , four global systems are ope ...

pack for

Ovi Maps Here Technologies (stylized and trade name as HERE and here) is a multinational group based in The Netherlands specialized in mapping technologies, location data, and related automotive services to individuals and companies. It is majority- ...

, made for usage with Nokia's compatible cell phones. A red vinyl 5" single consisting of regular,

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

and

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

versions of "Turn Left" and "Follow" was released to promote it, with a sticker on the shrink wrap saying that it was a numbered limited edition of 40 copies. In September 2013, the group announced their fourth studio album ''

White Women White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...

'' with a trailer video featuring the track "Over Your Shoulder". It was released May 9, 2014, in Ireland and May 12 elsewhere. Chromeo performed at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...

in April 2014. On November 2, 2017, Chromeo announced a new album called '' Head Over Heels''. The first single "Juice" was released on November 7, 2017. In December of 2018, Chromeo received their first Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in the 61st Grammy Awards for the album. On May 4, 2020, Chromeo announced the launch of its own record label, "Juliet Records" via Facebook. On June 12, 2020, the band released "Quarantine Casanova," an EP of five new tracks written and recorded under lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. 100% of the proceeds from digital downloads, physical sales, and merch will be donated to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp COVID-19 Relief Fund. On June 12, 2021, the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

'' Date Night: Chromeo Live!'' was announced for release on June 25, alongside the release of the single "Don’t Sleep (Live in Washington D.C.)". Tracks were recorded during a 2019 North America concert tour, where Chromeo performed live with a full band for the first time. Chromeo performed at the 22nd Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2023.

Members

* Dave 1 (real name David Macklovitch, born June 7, 1978) on

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

. Macklovitch was a Ph.D. candidate in French literature at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York and taught French at

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

, but suspended his studies due to the success of the band. * P-Thugg (real name Patrick Gemayel, born in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

on July 31, 1977) on

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s, bass guitar, and

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the so ...

. He moved to Canada at the age of eight.

Discography

* '' She's in Control'' (2004) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2010) * ''

'' (2014) * '' Head over Heels'' (2018) * ''

Quarantine Casanova A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

'' (2020) * ''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

'' (2024)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Chromeo 2002 establishments in Quebec Atlantic Records artists Canadian disco groups Canadian funk musical groups Canadian musical duos Canadian synth-pop groups Dance-rock musical groups Electronic music duos English-language musical groups from Quebec Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups from Montreal Nu-disco musicians Nettwerk Music Group artists V2 Records artists Male musical duos