Which country is Gojira from? All you need to know about the members as metal band is set to play at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony

Gojira is a heavy metal band from France. The band specifically started in South-Western France in the French Pyrenees, also known as French Basque Country. The band was originally formed in 1986 as Godzilla by Joe Duplantier and his brother Mario Duplantier, as well as Christian Andreu and Alexandre Cornillon.

Jean-Michel Labadie replaced Cornillon in 1998. Around the same time, the band changed its name to "Gojira," which is the original Japanese word for "Godzilla," to reflect the change in how the band saw the titular fictional creature and the symbolism behind it.

The band will become the first-ever metal band to perform at the Olympics. The opening ceremony for the Olympics in France will be held in Paris and start at 7:30 pm CEST. The ceremony will be broadcast live by NBC, Peacock, and NBC Olympics, respectively. Peacock subscriptions are priced at $7.99 per month.

Gojira will perform at the ceremony alongside acts such as Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, and Aya Nakamura. The official name of this year's Olympics is the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad. Paris becomes the second city to ever host the games three times, after London.

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More on Gojira band members ahead of the band's 2024 Olympic Performance

Gojira, as mentioned above, consists of five members. Of them, Joe Duplantier is the vocalist, while his brother Mario Duplantier is the drummer. The former was born on October 19, 1976, in France, Paris, while the latter was born on June 19, 1981, in Bayonne, France, after the Duplantier family moved there from the French Capital.

It was in the French Basque Country that the two brothers first started their involvement in the heavy metal scene. Joe Duplantier formed the band Eclipse, while Mario Duplantier formed Putride. Soon after, the brothers together formed what would become Gojira and have remained with it ever since.

Christian Andreu was born on November 15, 1976, and was recruited by the Duplantier brothers at the age of 19 based on his appreciation of music such as Metallica and more.

The band's current bassist, Jean-Michel Labadie, was born on July 14, 1974, in Cambo-les-Bains, French Basque Country. The bassist joined Gojira in 1998, and the band has been his sole professional music endeavor.

Alongside these five members as well as former bassist Alexandre Cornillon, Aldrick Guadagnino briefly acted as the lead guitarist of the band during their 2022 tour.

The band started out as an independently managed entity after failing to find a label to take them on. This led to the members forming their own 'société à responsabilité limitée' (SARL) company. SARL is the French-speaking region's form of a limited liability company. The company label, Gabriel Editions, released their debut album, Terra Incognita, on March 18, 2001.

The album brought the band recognition in the French music scene. The label Boycott released its next album, The Link on April 18, 2003. Further garnering recognition, the band transitioned labels again, joining the French metal music independent label Listenable.

The band released their breakthrough album, From Mars to Sirius, as well as The Way of All Flesh via Listenable. The success of these two albums led to their signing with Roadrunner Records, with whom the band has remained ever since.

Gojira is best known for their album Magma, which was released on June 17, 2016. The album charted at number 10 on the French album chart and is gold-certified in the country.