Who are Gojira, protagonists at the Olympics ceremony?

The opening ceremony and the traditional parade of athletes from all nations that will enliven the 33rd edition of the modern Olympics until August 11th were held in Paris last night.

The opening ceremony of an event of great importance such as the Olympics, in addition to the part dedicated to sportsmen, offers a part of the show that includes some musical proposals. Last night, two international stars, Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, performed at the opening and closing of the show.but what stole the scene and struck the imagination of those who watched the show from home was the performance of the French Gojira who from the imposing Parisian palace of the Conciergerie proposed the song of the French Revolution “Ah, Ça Ira!” accompanied by the Swiss opera singer Marina Viotti.

In front of the television, at home, many will have asked themselves, but who are these people? Gojira? This is a short profile. The metal band was formed under the name Godzilla in 1996 in Bayonne, in the south of France, on the border with the Spanish region of the Basque Country, on the initiative of the Duplantier brothers, Joe and Mario, the first on vocals and guitar, the second on drums. With them Christian Andreu on the guitar and Alexandre Cornillon on bass, soon replaced by Jean-Michel Labadie.

It comes out in 2001 “Unknown land”the first album of the Gojira. That album was followed by six others: “The link” (2003), “From Mars to Sirius” (2005), “The Way of All Flesh” (2008), “The Wild Child” (2012), “Magma” (2016) with which they obtained the nomination at the Grammy Awards in the category ‘best rock album’ and, lastly, “Fortitude”published in 2021. Below you can see the videos of “Love”taken from their first album, and “Another world”from the last one.

Among the various themes that the Gojira They address in their songs the relationship with nature and environmental problems such as global warming and pollution. The band supports the organization for the movement to defend the seas Sea Shepherd that protects aquatic animals, especially dolphins, whales and sharks.

“Ah, Ça Ira!”the song performed by the group last night, dates back to the time of the French Revolution (1789-1799) and, so legend has it, was inspired by a phrase said by the American scientist, inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin who, during his stay in Paris between 1776 and 1785, when asked about the American War of Independence, replied “ah, ça ira! ça ira!” (something like, “ah, it will be done! it will be done!”). During the French Revolution this song, which attacked the nobility and clergy, was second in diffusion only to “The Marseillaise”still the French national anthem today.