Gorillaz

Gorillaz originated as a playful experiment for Damon Albarn, allowing the singer/songwriter to pursue sounds that his Brit-pop outfit Blur could never accommodate. What began as a casual collaboration with visual artist Jamie Hewlett during the final years of the 20th century eventually became Albarn’s central focus once the new millennium arrived. Their self-titled debut album achieved immediate global success upon its 2001 release, propelled largely by the brooding, sinuous single “Clint Eastwood.” The brighter follow-up track “Feel Good Inc.” climbed even higher in 2005, while its parent album Demon Days demonstrated how Albarn channeled Gorillaz into explorations of non-rock styles and broader political and social themes—an approach that expanded further on the environmentally focused Plastic Beach in 2010. Hewlett’s cartoon creations lent the project an air of playfulness that, paired with an ever-changing roster of contributors, offset Albarn’s more somber impulses. Guest musicians kept the enterprise fresh and timely, with Del the Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, Shaun Ryder, Mick Jones of the Clash, Lou Reed, James Murphy, André 3000, George Benson, and Elton John all appearing across the years, yet Albarn stayed the unchanging musical anchor, a fact underscored on the 2023 album Cracker Island, where those same guests essentially served as additional sonic layers.

The original Gorillaz roster fused Albarn’s songcraft with production from Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori, and Tom Tom Club’s Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, all framed by Jamie Hewlett’s distinctive imagery—he of the cult comic Tank Girl. Nakamura’s Deltron 3030 associates Kid Koala and Del the Funky Homosapien completed the team responsible for the four virtual members: 2-D, the endearing yet absent-minded vocalist and keyboardist; Murdoc, the eerie, possibly diabolical bassist and group mastermind; Russel, the drummer drawing equal inspiration from “Farrakhan and Chaka Khan” while occasionally inhabited by “funky phantoms” that deliver zombie-style rhymes; and Noodle, the ten-year-old Japanese guitar prodigy and martial-arts expert. Their official website displayed Hewlett’s artwork and the music in vivid detail.

Gorillaz first surfaced in late 2000 via the Tomorrow Comes Today EP, then issued the popular “Clint Eastwood” single early the following year. The full-length debut arrived in spring 2001 and quickly became a worldwide commercial triumph, earning platinum certification in the United States and surpassing seven million copies sold globally. The project’s architects moved swiftly to capitalize, releasing the B-sides collection G-Sides, the Phase One: Celebrity Takedown DVD, and the dub remix album Laika Come Home in 2002. The endeavor then paused while Albarn returned to Blur for their 2003 album Think Tank.

When Albarn resumed work on the next Gorillaz record, he enlisted Danger Mouse—the DJ behind the notorious Beatles–Jay-Z mash-up The Grey Album—alongside De La Soul, Shaun Ryder, Debbie Harry, Dennis Hopper, and Martina Topley-Bird. Although Del the Funky Homosapien and Nakamura sat this round out, the four animated characters returned on Demon Days, another Top Ten release that landed in spring 2005. The album achieved double-platinum status in America, performed even stronger in the United Kingdom, and collected multiple Grammy nominations, signaling both commercial dominance and critical recognition.

Gorillaz began developing a new project in 2007, yet it did not surface until 2010, when Plastic Beach became the band’s third studio album. While reviews were largely favorable, the accompanying tour drew greater notice once ex-Clash members Paul Simonon and Mick Jones joined the live lineup. During those shows Albarn captured material for The Fall entirely on his iPad; the album first reached fan-club members digitally on Christmas Day 2010 before receiving a full commercial release in spring 2011. Unlike earlier efforts crowded with guests, The Fall contained only four featured appearances, three of them—Bobby Womack, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon—already familiar from prior Gorillaz recordings.

Following the 2011 best-of compilation The Singles Collection 2001–2011, the next half-decade brought relative quiet, accompanied by speculation of a rift between Albarn and Hewlett. Those rumors ended in early 2015 when Hewlett shared fresh illustrations of the virtual members online. Albarn confirmed a new album later that year, and the first preview track, the politically charged “Hallelujah Money” featuring Benjamin Clementine, emerged in January 2017. The full record Humanz arrived that April, with additional contributions from Vince Staples, Popcaan, Danny Brown, Mavis Staples, Grace Jones, Jehnny Beth of Savages, and former Blur rival Noel Gallagher. Albarn later released the Humanz B-side “Garage Palace” with Little Simz. To promote Humanz the group mounted its second major world tour since 2010, during which they also began work on another album. Featuring a comparatively modest guest list, their sixth studio effort The Now Now appeared in June 2018, entering the U.K. Albums Chart at number five and the U.S. Billboard 200 at number four.

In early 2020 Gorillaz launched a conceptual series called Song Machine through successive singles and videos that included Robert Smith, Beck, Schoolboy Q, St. Vincent, Elton John, and others. Those tracks were gathered as Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez in October 2020, debuting at number two in the United Kingdom—marking the band’s fifth Top Three album—and number 12 in the United States. The brief Meanwhile EP followed in 2021. Albarn soon set the Song Machine idea aside and, after recording “Tormenta” with Bad Bunny, focused on Cracker Island, co-produced by Albarn, Greg Kurstin, and Remi Kabaka. The resulting album, crisp and melody-driven, highlighted Gorillaz’s rhythmic and songwriting strengths while incorporating Thundercat, Stevie Nicks, Tame Impala, and Beck; it earned a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album.