Damon Albarn

**Damon Albarn**, OBE (/ˈdeɪmən ˈælbɑːrn/; born 23 March 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the lead singer of the British rock band Blur and co-founder, vocalist, instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the virtual band Gorillaz. Albarn is also part of two supergroups, one usually known as The Good, the Bad & the Queen, although it is stated that they are officially unnamed, and another named Rocket Juice & the Moon.

Raised in Leytonstone, East London and around Colchester, Essex, Albarn attended the Stanway School, where he met Graham Coxon and eventually formed Blur, whose debut album *Leisure* was released in 1991 to mixed reviews. After spending long periods of time touring the US, Albarn's songwriting became increasingly influenced by British bands from the 1960s. The result of these influences came in the form of *Modern Life Is Rubbish* (1993), *Parklife* (1994) and *The Great Escape* (1995). All three albums received critical acclaim while Blur gained mass popularity in the UK, aided by a Britpop rivalry with Oasis. Subsequent albums such as *Blur* (1997), *13* (1999), *Think Tank* (2003) and *The Magic Whip* (2015) contained influences from lo-fi, electronic and hip hop music.

Along with *Tank Girl* creator Jamie Hewlett, Albarn formed the "virtual band" Gorillaz in 1998. Drawing influences from alternative rock, trip hop, hip hop, electronica, dub, reggae and pop music, the band released their self-titled debut album in 2001 to worldwide success. Although Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, the albums feature collaborations from a wide range of artists. Gorillaz are cited by the *Guinness Book of World Records* as the "Most Successful Virtual Band". Other projects include working with African musicians in aid of the charity Oxfam, writing and performing lead vocals on *The Good, the Bad & the Queen* as part of an unnamed supergroup and composing film soundtracks. He has also ventured into the world of opera with *Dr Dee* and *Monkey: Journey to the West*. His debut solo studio album *Everyday Robots*—co-produced by XL RecordingsCEO Richard Russell—was released on 28 April 2014 and featured collaborations with Brian Eno, Natasha Khan and the Leytonstone City Pentecostal Mission Church Choir as well as sampling several rants by Lord Buckley.

In 2008, *The Daily Telegraph* ranked Albarn number 18 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". In a 2010 UK poll for *Q*magazine Albarn was voted the fourth-greatest frontman of all time. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to music.

## Life

Albarn was born on 23 March 1968, is the eldest child of artist Keith Albarn and his wife Hazel, *née* Dring. Their daughter Jessica, born in 1971, also went on to become an artist and gave a son Jack Walmsley. Hazel Albarn, originally from Lincolnshire, was a theatrical set designer for Joan Littlewood's theatre company at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London, and was working on the satirical play *Mrs Wilson's Diary* just before Damon was born. Keith Albarn, originally from Nottinghamshire, was briefly the manager of Soft Machine and once a guest on BBC's *Late Night Line-Up*. He was head of The School of Art and Design at Colchester Institute.

Damon's paternal grandfather Edward, an architect, had been a conscientious objector during the Second World War and was involved in a farming community in Lincolnshire, becoming a peace activist. In 2002 Edward Albarn died; Damon stated in an interview that Edward did not want to live any longer and decided to go on a hunger strike. In 1968, at the age of 6 months, Albarn was a "testing expert" for designs for educational aids and toys for children including fiberglass furniture and play-structures fancifully called "The Kissmequiosk". "The Apollo Cumfycraft" and "The Tailendcharlie" produced by his father's company "Keith Albarn & Partners Ltd" under the trade-name of "Playlearn, Ltd."

When Damon and Jessica were growing up, their family moved to Leytonstone, East London. The household was described as "bohemian" and their upbringing as "liberal". Damon and Jessica were also raised in the Quaker religion. Albarn agreed with his parents' views, later claiming, "I always thought my parents were absolutely dead right. I went against the grain in a weird way – by continually following them." His parents primarily listened to blues, Indian ragas and African music. When Albarn was nine years old, his family took a holiday trip to Turkey for three months before settling in Aldham, Essex, an area described by Albarn as "one of those burgeoning Thatcher experiments where they were building loads of small estates". The population of the area was predominantly white as opposed to the ethnically mixed part of London which he had become used to. He described himself as "not really fitting in with the politics of the place."

Albarn was interested in music from an early age, attending an Osmonds concert at the age of six. He started playing guitar, piano and violin in his youth and was interested in composing music, one of his compositions winning a heat in the nationwide Young Composer of the Year competition. Damon and Jessica both attended a primary school nearby which, according to Damon, was burnt down seven times over a period of 18 months by one of the teachers. After both siblings failed their eleven-plus exams, they started attending Stanway Comprehensive School, where Damon described himself as being "really unpopular" and "[irritating to] a lot of people". However, he developed an interest in drama and started acting in various school productions. It was at Stanway where he would meet future Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, who recalls seeing him act and feeling that he was a "confident performer" as well as a "show off". Albarn's first words directed at Coxon were "Your brogues are crap, mate. Look, mine are the proper sort" as he was showing off his leather shoes, fashionable footwear at the time influenced by the Mod Revival. Nevertheless, the pair went on to become good friends, due to their shared passion for music, particularly bands such as The Jam, The Beatles, The Human League, XTC and Madness.

He studied acting at the East 15 Acting School in Debden, but left after the first year. On leaving drama school he entered a production and management contract with Marijke Bergkamp and Graeme Holdaway, owners of the Beat Factory recording studio, where the members of Blur, then known as Seymour, did their first recordings. His first band was the synthpop group, Two's a Crowd. Before Blur, he played with The Aftermath and Real Lives.

## Personality

Damon is an enthusiastic really bouncy person when performing with blur.  He's more reserved in interviews, and lets his personality shine on stage.

## Images

→ see also Damon Albarn/Gallery#Images and Category:Images of Damon Albarn

Photoshoots
Public appearancesMay 10, 2012
Concert pictures201020122015
Magazine scans
## Videos

→ see also Damon Albarn/Gallery#Videos and Category:Videos of Damon Albarn