French producer Kavinsky dies at 50

French producer Kavinsky, born Vincent Belorgey, was found dead at his home in Paris on July 28, French newspaper Le Figaro reported. He was 50. Police have opened an inquiry into the cause of death, and sources close to the case told the paper that first responders found no suspicious elements at the scene.

Kavinsky came up through the French house scene of the 2000s, developing a synthwave and electropop sound that drew from Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who worked with him directly. His defining moment came in 2010 with 'Nightcall,' a track that reached chart positions across Europe, earned a spot on Billboard's Top 100, and became inseparable from its placement in the 2011 Ryan Gosling film Drive.

After stepping back from music for close to a decade, Belorgey returned in 2024 with his first album in more than ten years and performed alongside Belgian singer Angele at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics that summer. Just weeks before his death, he made a surprise appearance during a Prince85 set at the Stade de France, joining The Weeknd's After Hours Til Dawn Tour for a one-off cameo.

In a 2022 interview with Mixmag, Belorgey reflected on the pressure of following 'Nightcall.' He said he and his collaborators "didn't feel much pressure except for the fact that we were releasing a track with one half of Daft Punk." He added that he hoped fans would eventually "talk to me about something other than Nightcall," even while crediting Drive with changing the course of his career.

No official cause of death has been given. Sources told Le Figaro that Belorgey had complained of headaches in the days before he died and suspected he might be having a stroke, though police have not confirmed that account, and the inquiry into what happened remains open.