Biography
Damon Albarn, the Blur frontman, devised The Good, the Bad & the Queen as a vehicle for returning to England-focused songwriting, with London at its core—the very topic that had launched his Brit-pop prominence in the mid-1990s. The title nods to everyone living under London’s skies, serving as an apt yet clumsy label for what Albarn has repeatedly stressed is a project rather than a conventional band. Its origins trace to an earlier collaboration sparked when Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen learned of Albarn’s shout-out in the chorus of “Music Is My Radar,” a bonus cut on Blur’s 2000 compilation The Best of Blur. In 2004 Albarn traveled to Nigeria alongside former Verve guitarist Simon Tong to record with Allen and additional African musicians, yet he soon shifted focus to complete Gorillaz’s Demon Days. After those sessions ended, Albarn handed the Nigerian recordings to Gorillaz producer Danger Mouse, whose input transformed the material—despite its African roots—into music centered on London. What began as a potential solo endeavor expanded into a full band, prompting Albarn to recruit retired Clash bassist Paul Simonon, who had stepped away from music more than a decade earlier to paint. The pairing carried an undeniable resonance: the creative forces behind the quintessential London albums Parklife and London Calling were reuniting to chronicle the city once more. Although the resulting sound diverged sharply from those earlier records—emerging instead as a moody, languid set indebted to the Specials—it still carried each participant’s signature traits, ranging from Albarn’s persistent interest in music-hall traditions and concise pop structures to Simonon’s rolling bass figures, Allen’s percussive drive, and Tong’s nuanced textural shading. The group tested the material live before issuing any recordings, performing the entire album across several shows that culminated at Camden’s Roundhouse shortly before the debut single “Herculean” reached stores on the day before Halloween in 2006. “Kingdom of Doom” followed in January 2007, and the self-titled album arrived the same month on both sides of the Atlantic, drawing consistently favorable, occasionally rapturous notices. In subsequent interviews Albarn began asserting that the quartet lacked any official name, an announcement that stood at odds with the numerous 2006 reports that had already identified the outfit as The Good, the Bad & the Queen. The four musicians toured in spring 2007, appearing at events in New York and at the Coachella festival. After 2007 the project fell silent, yet its members remained in touch: Simonon and Tong contributed to Gorillaz’s 2010 album Plastic Beach, while Albarn and Allen joined Flea for the 2012 release Rocket Juice & the Moon. The original lineup reconvened for a Greenpeace anniversary concert at London’s Coronet Theatre in November 2011, and Allen and Tong also played on Albarn’s 2012 album Dr. Dee. Although Albarn floated the prospect of a new record in 2014, that project never materialized. The group resurfaced only in November 2018 with Merrie Land, a Tony Visconti-produced set that examined Britain amid the Brexit era.
Albums
Singles
