Thomas Mars


Thomas Pablo Croquet, known as Thomas Mars, is a French musician and the lead singer of the French indie pop band Phoenix.

Early life

Thomas Pablo Croquet was born on 21 November 1976 in Versailles, France. Croquet was originally inspired to start learning 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 was released in 2000, shipping 150,000 units worldwide.
The band has released six albums and won a Grammy Award in 2010.

Personal life

In 2011, Croquet married Sofia Coppola at Palazzo Margherita 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 was his uncle.
Croquet currently lives in New York with his wife and two children. He travels to Paris every month and has a residence there due to the rest of his band, Phoenix, currently living in France.