Lucie (band)

1985–1986: Formation and breakup

Lucie was founded by guitarist Robert Kodym and bassist Petr Břetislav Chovanec (P.B.CH.), who had been performing together in the band Prášek, in 1985. They added drummer Tomáš Waschinger and wrote a number of new songs, one of which was the eponymous "Lucie", which was later included on their self-titled debut album. The band was joined by Petr Franc on keyboards, and the last member became vocalist Michal Penk. Kodym, P.B.CH., and Penk all gradually left the group, however, and at this point, the early stage of Lucie ended. Kodym and P.B.CH. went on to launch the band Wanastowi Vjecy, with drummer Adolf Vitáček.

1988–1992: Early albums and hiatus

Less than a year after the band's breakup, a revival was organized, with the returning Robert Kodym and P.B.CH., David Koller on vocals and drums, and Michal Dvořák on keyboards. In 1988, Lucie played their first concert, at the Chmelnice club in Prague. In 1990, they released their self-titled, debut album. They followed it a year later with In the Sky,^[1] which won them the Anděl Award for band, album, and song ("Černí andělé") of the year.^[2] In 1992, the group issued the live double album Lucie Live! and subsequently parted ways once more.

1993–1999: Return

Lucie reunited in 1993, this time without P.B.CH., who had decided to continue on a solo path. He was replaced by the Slovak bass player Marek Minárik. A new album Černý kočky mokrý žáby, came out in 1994. This won the band four more Anděl Awards.^[2] At the end of 1996, they released the album Pohyby, which won them a Český slavík award, a feat they repeated every subsequent year until 2004.^[3]

Their next album, Větší než malé množství lásky, came out in 1998, after which they were rejoined by P.B.CH. A year later, the group released their first compilation album, Vše nejlepší 88–99.

2000–2004: New releases

In 2000, the band released the album Slunečnice and followed it with Dobrá kočzka která nemlsá in 2002. In 2003, keyboardist Michal Dvořák was fired and replaced by guitarist Tomáš Vartecký (Wanastowi Vjecy, Kollerband, Daniel Landa). The live double album Lucie v opeře came out in 2004.

2005–present: Hiatus, EvoLucie, Koller's departure

In 2005, David Koller left the band, which subsequently became inactive. In 2014, they launched a reunion tour in their most stable lineup of Koller, Kodym, P.B.CH, and Dvořák.^[4] A new studio album, EvoLucie, was released in November 2018, and the band went on the road to promote it with an indoor tour of Czechia and Slovakia.^[5]

In 2024, Koller announced on social media that he would be leaving Lucie following that year's concert activities, in order to focus on his family and solo band.^[6] The remaining members of Lucie had been working with singer Viktor Dyk since February of that year, and in October, they announced him as Koller's replacement, along with new drummer Štěpán Smetáček, who had played with the band in the 1990s and who also plays with Wanastowi Vjecy.^[6] They also stated that they were working on a new album, which would be titled R.A.D.O.S.T.^[6]