Joseph Andrew Duplantier (born 19 October 1976) is a French-American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist of heavy metal band Gojira.

He studied art and began working as a graphic designer before co-founding the death metal band Godzilla with his younger brother Mario in 1996.

[5][6][7] His father, Dominique Duplantier, born in 1945 in Bordeaux, is a French painter and architectural drafter, a former student in history at the Faculté des Lettres (Faculty of Letters) and engraving at the Beaux-Arts de Paris.

[13][14][nb 1] In 1977, the family left Paris[16] and moved to Ondres, a small seaside town in the Landes department, in an old house with no heating system dating from the Louis XV period.

[23][26][2] He grew up in an environment where his parents listened to blues, fado, pop, Mozart, Chopin, Piaf, L. Shankar,[5] the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner,[7] Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Pink Floyd, the Police, Supertramp, and Joan Baez.

[28] In high school, at seventeen years of age, he formed his first band, called Eclipse, and embarked on jam sessions with his brother, who had a growing interest and aptitude for drumming.

[34] When he was a young man, he distinguished himself by picking up trash on a beach and scattering it in the parking lot of the mayor's office, attracting the attention of the local media in France.

[39] He has been responsible for the artworks for Gojira's albums, each representing an idea that he spontaneously designs, highlighting visual minimalism and conciseness while trying to stand out from the codes of the metal scene.

"[28] One of his first achievements was when the band reached headliner status in France and performed at the Paris' Élysée Montmartre, promoting From Mars to Sirius and then initiating their first tours overseas, notably in America.

[12] Benoit Guerin, department director of Ouest-France, echoed his view and wrote, "In France, [modern] chanson is the queen", noting that it took Gojira a significant impact on the metal music scene and decades-long experience "to benefit from media spotlights worthy of their rank in their own country".

[43] Throughout 2016 and 2017, the French press would publish after scrutiny that Gojira ended up being one of the largest exporters of music from France, leading the country's metal category.

"[11] In 2021, Fortitude increased Gojira's media exposure in France[48] and earned them global chart success[49] through the album revolving around Duplantier's committed and positive lyrics.

[13] Duplantier was also a member of a festive and theatrical band playing a fusion of musical genres called Empalot, involving his brother and friends, which toured in France from 1999 to 2004.

[58] Moreover, while working with the band on their debut album, he experienced a diametrically different studio process, as the songs composed in the morning were recorded "spontaneously" in the afternoon.

[65] Following a vocal collaboration with Car Bomb on "Third Revelation" in 2012, Duplantier decided to undertake his production activities (apart from Gojira) in 2016 for their album, Meta.

[79] Duplantier has been known for his aggressive vocals and own signature style, going from a typical death growl to an emphasis on clean singing in Gojira's latest works.

[23] He used different techniques on the From Mars to Sirius album, going from a "growling timbre" to "semi-clean" vocals in an intonation echoing post-punk singer Jaz Coleman.

[85] For their review of this album, Forbes stated that Duplantier's "vocals and lyrical writing remain at the top of his game, and they further cement him as one of the most unique sounding aggressive vocalists of all time.

[89] Duplantier paid homage to the intelligence of whales on the album and was also inspired by an idea of extraterrestrial life on the "ocean planet" Sirius C.[89] At that time, he said he has been interested in "other worlds" beyond the earth and "different realities".

[91][58][38] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters noted that he explored the metaphysical, "elemental", environmental, and spiritual themes on The Way of All Flesh, using words "often poetic" in an approach exhibiting "sincerity and complete lack of pretension".

"[38] Reviewing "Amazonia", Alec Chillingworth of Metal Hammer praised its musical style combined with the themes Duplantier drew on his lyrics and described it as Gojira's "starkest, definitive protest song".

[37][93] Lyon's Radio Metal asked him what he would do for a living if he was not in Gojira—or even if he would not have made music at all; he responded, "I would be an activist in Greenpeace or Sea Shepherd, an action that defends the planet or the animals.

[96][97] In April 2021, in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, he mentioned his intention to launch the band's own foundation to develop its activist branch.

PL490 would supplant the Fundação Nacional do Índio and the Ministry of Justice which decide on the demarcation of Indigenous peoples' lands, thus giving "the last word" to the National Congress of Brazil.

The bill ("law project" in Europe) being in a favorable environment in 2021, allows the exercise of economic activities on the lands of Indigenous peoples, the modification of their demarcation, and the prohibition of the expansion of existing reserves.

[97] An action organized by artists, including Duplantier, was undertaken during the protests in the Three Powers Plaza, in front of the Supreme Federal Court, with the intention of "putting pressure" on it and raising public awareness.

[103] Duplantier posted a video on Instagram, raising awareness about the arrest, asking his audience to join him in a "peaceful protest to demand the release of Paul Watson", in front of the parliament in Copenhagen.

[107][39] His children have been raised listening to Billie Holiday, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and metal to develop their musical sensitivity.

[39] Duplantier said he had made a long-planned move to the US because of his dual nationality, and to remain closer to his maternal family and Gojira's management, record company, and lawyer.

"[11] In 2021, he declared himself opposed to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who accelerated the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and impeded indigenous peoples' rights.