Thomas Bangalter (French pronunciation: [tɔmɑ bɑ̃ɡaltɛʁ]; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician, record producer, DJ, and composer. He is best known as one-half of former French house music duo Daft Punk, alongside Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. He has also recorded and released music as a member of the trio Stardust, the duo Together, and as a solo artist. Bangalter's work has influenced a wide range of artists in various genres.

Bangalter owned the music label Roulé until its liquidation in 2018. Since Daft Punk's breakup in 2021, he has made more public appearances, and released music under his solo label, Alberts & Gothmaan, an anagram of his name. He has provided compositions for several films, leading the soundtrack to Irréversible, as well as several ballets, including Mythologies and Mirage. Outside of music production, his credits include film director and cinematographer. Bangalter is the son of French music composer and artist Daniel Vangarde.

Bangalter was born on 3 January 1975 in Paris. He began playing the piano at the age of 6, taking lessons from a music staff member of the Paris Opera. Bangalter has stated that his parents were strict in keeping up his practice, for which he later thanked them. His mother, Thérèse Thoreux, was a classical dancer and choreographer, as well as his aunt and uncle. His father, Daniel Bangalter, known throughout his professional career as Daniel Vangarde, was a songwriter and producer for performers such as the Gibson Brothers, Ottawan and Sheila B. Devotion. As expressed by Bangalter, "I never had any intention to do what my father was doing". Bangalter's father is French Jewish, but the family did not consider themselves religious.

Bangalter met Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo while attending the Lycée Carnot in 1987. They discovered their mutual fascination with films and music of the 1960s and 1970s, "very basic cult teenager things, from Easy Rider to the Velvet Underground." They and Laurent Brancowitz eventually joined to form an indie rock trio called Darlin', in which Bangalter performed bass guitar. Bangalter felt that "It was still maybe more a teenage thing at that time. It's like, you know, everybody wants to be in a band." A negative review from Melody Maker magazine referred to their music as "a daft punky thrash", which inspired Bangalter and de Homem-Christo's new band name.

Shortly before reaching the age of 18, the newly formed Daft Punk became interested in electronic music, which led Brancowitz to leave the group in pursuit of efforts with fellow Parisian band Phoenix. In 1993 Bangalter presented a demo of Daft Punk material to Stuart Macmillan of Slam that led to their first single "The New Wave". Daniel Vangarde provided valuable advice for the duo. "He helped us by presenting to us what the situation was with the record industry and how it worked. Knowing that, we made certain choices in order to achieve what we wanted."

Vangarde was thanked for his efforts in the liner notes of Homework. The title of the album is partially attributed to the fact that Homework was recorded in Bangalter's bedroom. As he remarked, "I had to move the bed into another room to make space for the gear." In the years following the 1997 release, Bangalter focused on his own record label, Roulé ("rolled" in French). The label released singles by Romanthony, Roy Davis Jr., and Bangalter's own solo material among others. In 1996, Bangalter was in a DJ collective known as Da Mongoloids, consisting of Armand Van Helden, Bangalter, and Junior Sanchez, under the record label Strictly Rhythm. They played DJ sets, and Van Helden released a solo song named "Spark Da Meth" under Da Mongoloids' name, crediting Bangalter as a special thanks. Bangalter's solo works were released on two vinyl-only EPs titled Trax on da Rocks in 1995 and 1998 respectively. The songs "Outrun", "Extra Dry", and "Turbo" from the EPs later appeared in the video game Midnight Club II. The track "On da Rocks" was featured in a "Da Funk" behind-the-scenes video included with D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes. Bangalter collaborated with Alan Braxe and Benjamin Diamond and in 1998 released the club hit "Music Sounds Better with You" under the name Stardust. Just as for Homework, the single was recorded in Bangalter's home studio.

Around the same time of "Music Sounds Better with You", Bangalter co-produced Bob Sinclar's second single titled "Gym Tonic". The single caused a minor dispute as it contained samples from a Jane Fonda workout tape, which led Fonda herself to refuse permission for the single to be released officially. A British act called Spacedust released a re-recorded version of the track, titled "Gym and Tonic" under East West Records to wider commercial success. "Gym and Tonic" topped the UK Singles Chart in Spacedust's native United Kingdom in October 1998 after "Music Sounds Better with You" had peaked at number two on the same chart two months earlier.

During 1998, Bangalter and de Homem-Christo collaborated with Romanthony in what would become the first of the Discovery sessions. One of the tracks produced, "One More Time" became a hit Daft Punk single in 2000. Bangalter also performed on a Yamaha CS-60 synthesizer on the track "Embuscade" in Phoenix's debut album United, which was released the same year. He also teamed up with DJ Falcon under the name Together to release their eponymous 2000 single.