| B i o g r a p h y |
Gorillaz
are a British virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn of Britpop band Blur,
and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator
of the comic book Tank Girl. The band is composed of four animated band
members: 2D (lead vocalist, keyboard), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar),
Noodle (guitar and occasional vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums and
percussion). The band's music is a collaboration between various
musicians, Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their
style is a composition of multiple musical genres, with a large number
of their influences including: dub, hip hop, alternative rock,
electronic and pop music. The band's 2001 debut album Gorillaz sold
over seven million copies and earned them an entry in the Guinness Book
of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band. It was nominated
for the Mercury Prize 2001, but the nomination was later withdrawn at
the band's request. Their second studio album, Demon Days, was released
in 2005 and included the singles "Feel Good Inc.", "Dare", "Dirty
Harry" and "Kids with Guns"/"El Mañana". Including Dennis Hopper readin
"Fire Coming out of a monkeys head" Demon Days went five times platinum
in the UK, double platinum in the United States and earned five Grammy
Award nominations for 2006 and won one of them in the Best Pop
Collaboration with Vocals category. Gorillaz have also released two
B-sides compilations and a remix album. The combined sales of Gorillaz
and Demon Days had, by 2007, exceeded 15 million albums. The band's
third studio album, titled Plastic Beach, was released in 2010.
In late 2007, Albarn and Hewlett began working on Carousel, a new Gorillaz project which eventually evolved into the band's third studio album Plastic Beach. Albarn said "I'm making this one the most pop record I've ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to try and at least present something that has got depth." The album features guest performances by Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Gruff Rhys, Mark E. Smith, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Kano, Bashy, De La Soul, Little Dragon, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, sinfonia ViVA, and The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. On 18 January 2010, it was announced that Gorillaz will be headlining the final night of the Coachella music festival on 18 April 2010. The first single from the album, "Stylo", featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def was leaked on 20 January 2010 in a Tumblr blog post by a Russian fan and then consequently made available for streaming through the band's official website as announced on Murdoc's Twitter page saying that "If anyone's going to leak my single it'll be me!". Parlophone president Miles Leonard described the song as "a dark, twisted track that sounds like the 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack on MDMA." "Stylo" was made available for download 26 January 2010. On April 22, 2010, Gorillaz and Bobby Womack performed "Stylo" on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. Plastic Beach was first released on 3 March 2010 in Japan, followed by multiple other dates for other countrie