Thomas Pablo Croquet (born 21 November 1976), known as Thomas Mars, is a French musician and the lead singer of the French

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Early life

Thomas Pablo Croquet was born on 21 November 1976 in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

, France. Croquet was originally inspired to learn English by his uncle, Horst. When Croquet was ten, he formed the band Phoenix with schoolfriends Chris Mazzalai and Deck d'Arcy. Mazzalai's older brother, Laurent Brancowitz, also joined the band after the break-up of Darlin'. Croquet says that he "destroyed every single other option that would lead me to any potential career other than music", attending college for only four days, studying economics.

Career

Croquet is the frontman for the band Phoenix, that was founded in the early 1990s. The band eventually became a full-time profession for Mars following his dropping out of college. The band pressed their first 500 singles on their own label before being signed to Paris-based label, Source Records. Croquet wrote and produced Phoenix's first charting single in France, "Too Young", which peaked at number 97. Eventually Phoenix's first studio album, ''

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

'' was released in 2000, shipping 150,000 units worldwide. The band has released six albums and won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 2010.

Personal life

In 2011, Croquet married filmmaker

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...

Palazzo Margherita Palazzo Margherita, formerly Palazzo Piombino, is a palazzo on Via Veneto in Rome. The usual name references Queen Margherita of Savoy, who lived there from 1900 to 1926. In 1885, the Boncompagni- Ludovisi family chose to sell their ancestral ...

in Bernalda. The couple met whilst producing the soundtrack to one of Coppola's films. They have two daughters together, Romy and Cosima. The German literary critic

Hellmuth Karasek Hellmuth Karasek (4 January 1934 – 29 September 2015) was a German journalist, literary critic, novelist, and the author of many books on literature and film. He was one of Germany's best-known feuilletonists. Biography Karasek was born in t ...

was his uncle. As of 2018, Croquet lived in New York with his wife and children. He traveled to Paris monthly and has a residence there since the rest of his band Phoenix lives in France.

References

1976 births Living people 20th-century French musicians 21st-century French musicians People from Versailles Grammy Award winners 21st-century French singers 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male singers {{France-musician-stub