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BIZARRE: Damon albarn | Mind Blowing Facts

“It was like panning for gold. Amongst the brown murky waters, I saw this track all shiny and glimmery, shining like a big rock of gold. It said, 'Play me, play me!”: How Gorillaz deployed some sublime music theory to build their most beloved tune

The reason Gorillaz biggest track lingers in the mind longer than others is down to its tightly-constructed arrangement

MusicRadar

“I played the songs for him, and he said, ‘No… I don’t think we can use any of that.’ I was like, ‘Right. Cheers’”: Damon Albarn rejected an entire album of Blur songs – and accidentally kickstarted guitarist Graham Coxon’s solo career

With eight solo records and four film scores under his belt, Coxon has looked back on the moment that led to his first solo record, 1998’s The Sky Is Too High

Guitar World

'Gory drugs bender': Blur bassist Alex James gives his brutal opinion of Glastonbury

Alex James admits Glastonbury is not his favourite festival in the world.

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Blur star blasts Glastonbury for being a ‘gory drugs bender’

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The Independent UK

Blur’s Alex James claims Glastonbury is ‘overrated’

Bassist accuses the BBC of giving the festival ‘hagiographic’ treatment, as he branded Glastonbury a ‘gory drugs bender’

The Independent UK

Damon Albarn backs London pie and mash shop facing closure over huge rent hikes

Blur frontman says it’s ‘outrageous’ that the traditional family-run businesses faces being shut down over rocketing costs

Evening Standard

Blur star says he went on family holiday to North Korea

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The Independent UK

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Damon Albarn says he took his daughter to North Korea on holiday

Blur frontman Damon Albarn said that he has taken his daughter on holiday to North Korea.

The Independent UK

Damon Albarn takes daughter on family holidays to North Korea

Blur frontman Damon Albarn, 57, takes his daughter, Missy Albarn, 26, on family holidays to North Korea to educate her about global politics.

BANG Premier

Gorillaz lift lid on failed film project

Gorillaz stars Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have revealed they walked away from the band's planned Netflix movie because the project was moving so slowly and they poured their "frustration" into 2023 album Cracker Island.

BANG Premier

Wolf Alice's Ellie Rowsell, Lily Allen and Olivia Dean lead nominations as The Ivors unveil 2026 shortlist

The winners will be unveiled at a star-studded ceremony on May 21 in London.

BANG Premier

“Damon’s got two sides to him. He’s that guy who plays with musicians all around the world. But he’s also got a really hard side...”: Phil Daniels on Blur, Quadrophenia and the solo album he’s recorded

Album is “a cross between Ian Dury and a sort of theatrical night out”

MusicRadar

“I was cacking it, I really didn’t know if it was going to work or not. We did Creep by Radiohead and I noticed I was crying halfway through": Alex James on Britpop Classical, Blur and the prospect of returning to Coachella

Bassist plays the Albert Hall tonight

MusicRadar

Alex James says Radiohead make him cry

Alex James has revealed he was reduced to tears performing Radiohead's Creep with an orchestra.

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MusicRadar

“I was told to take it off. I didn't want to take what he'd said to me off... Because I thought it was really interesting": Damon Albarn reveals that Lou Reed’s voice on The Mountain is a ‘replica’

His estate wouldn’t give permission

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Damon Albarn's relationship with Gorillaz's Jamie Hewlett 'deteriorated'

Damon Albarn's friendship with his longtime Gorillaz collaborator Jamie Hewlett "deteriorated" following the release of the band's 2010 album Plastic Beach and he felt as if they were on a "strange hiatus" over the last 16 years.

The Guardian - UK

I had a front row seat at the Blur v Oasis frenzy – here’s what a new play gets bang on and bafflingly wrong

In 1995, the bands tussled for No 1 – and the Britpop crown. Our writer was on the inside of the mad-for-it contest. Does The Battle accurately capture this divisive moment? And what was Noel’s problem with risotto?

BANG Premier

Damon Albarn used 'replica of Lou Reed's voice' on Gorillaz track

Damon Albarn used a "replica of Lou Reed's voice" on Gorillaz track The Plastic Guru - which features on new album The Mountain - because he wasn't allowed to feature the original recording of the late star.

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The Independent UK

Gorillaz just announced a US tour. When and where to get tickets

The Gorillaz have announced a new tour that will feature 22 dates across the U.S. and Canada, along with a headline appearance at the Shaky Knees festival.

Euronews

A winding conversation on loss: In praise of 'The Mountain' by Gorillaz

The ninth studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz is out and deals with death and grief by merging Indian classical instrumentation with the group's eclectic pop influences. It's an ambitious meditation that stands as an early highlight of 2026.

The Independent UK

Gorillaz review, The Mountain: This virtuosic musical mandala is full of joyful wisdom

5/5 The album’s posthumous contributors remind us that music can keep ghosts alive and – by spinning outtake samples of vanished voices into new forms – even serve as a kind of reincarnation

The Guardian - UK

Gorillaz: The Mountain review – a late career peak haunted by ghosts yet glowing with life

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s cartoon band mark 25 years with an album inspired by India and shaped by loss, featuring collaborators living and dead

Evening Standard

Gorillaz - The Mountain review: Life (and dazzling music) after death

5/5 After 25 years Gorillaz are making music more ambitious than ever, reaching now for the higher ground away from the apocalyptic earth

The Guardian - UK

The Battle review – Britpop bickering and 90s nostalgia in Blur v Oasis comedy

The bands that came to symbolise a divided nation compete to top the charts in John Niven’s jokey play but it is woefully short on drama

MusicRadar

“Between that and the ABBA hologram show there’s really nothing left of our ideas": Damon Albarn suggests that Gorillaz helped to lay the groundwork for the success of KPop Demon Hunters, and reflects on the "mismatch" that led to Blur's Coachella debacle

But they may yet return to the US, he says

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