Gorillaz

British virtual bandTemplate:SHORTDESC:British virtual band

* Alternative rock
* art pop
* electronic
* hip hop
* trip hop
* Parlophone
* Virgin
* Warner

**Gorillaz** are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London, England. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Russel Hobbs (drums). Their universe is presented in music videos, interviews, comic strips and short cartoons. Gorillaz' music often features collaborations with a wide range of featured artists, with Albarn as the only permanent musical contributor.

With Gorillaz, Albarn departed from the distinct Britpop of his band Blur, exploring a variety of musical styles including hip hop, electronic music and world music through an "eccentrically postmodern" approach. The band's 2001 debut album *Gorillaz*, which featured dub, Latin and punk influences, went triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in Europe, with sales driven by the success of the album's lead single "Clint Eastwood". Their second studio album, *Demon Days* (2005), went six times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US and spawned the successful lead single "Feel Good Inc.".

The band's third album, *Plastic Beach* (2010), featured environmentalist themes, a synth-pop approach and an expanded roster of featured artists. Their fourth album, *The Fall* (2010), was recorded on the road during the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour and released on 25 December 2010. During 2015, Remi Kabaka Jr. became a music producer for the band after more than 10 years providing the voice of Russel and was credited as such alongside Albarn and Hewlett in the official 2019 documentary *Gorillaz: Reject False Icons*. The band's fifth album, *Humanz*, was released after a seven-year hiatus on 28 April 2017. Their sixth album, *The Now Now* (2018), featured stripped-down production and a greater musical focus on Albarn. Gorillaz' started a new project in 2020, *Song Machine*, a music-based web series with episodes that consist of standalone singles and accompanying music videos featuring different guests each episode, resulting in their seventh album, *Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez* (2020). In 2023, the band will release its eighth studio album, *Cracker Island*.

Gorillaz has presented itself live in a variety of different ways throughout the band's history, such as hiding the touring band from the audience's view in the early years of the project, projecting animated band members on stage via computer graphics and traditional live touring featuring a fully visible live band. The band have sold over 27 million records worldwide and are cited by *Guinness World Records* as the world's "Most Successful Virtual Band". They have won a Grammy Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, an NME Award and three MTV Europe Music Awards. They have also been nominated for 11 Brit Awards and won Best British Group at the 2018 Brit Awards.

## History

### Creation (1998–2000)

File:Damon Albarn Performing.jpgFile:Jamie Hewlett in 2014 signing copies of "The Cream of Tank Girl" at a Tank Girl lecture at the British Library- 2014-07-03 08-13.jpg
Musician Damon Albarn and comic artist Jamie Hewlett met in 1990 when guitarist Graham Coxon, a fan of Hewlett's work, asked him to interview Blur, which Albarn and Coxon had recently formed. The interview was published in *Deadline* magazine, home of Hewlett's comic strip *Tank Girl*. Hewlett initially thought Albarn was "arsey, a wanker;" and despite becoming acquaintances with the band, they often did not get on, especially after Hewlett began seeing Coxon's ex-girlfriend Jane Olliver. Despite this, Albarn and Hewlett started sharing a flat on Westbourne Grove in London in 1997. Hewlett had recently broken up with Olliver and Albarn was at the end of his highly publicised relationship with Justine Frischmann of Elastica.

The idea to create Gorillaz came about when Albarn and Hewlett were watching MTV. Hewlett said, "If you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell – there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a virtual band, something that would be a comment on that." Albarn recalled the idea similarly, saying "This was the beginning of the boy band sort of explosion... and it just felt so manufactured. And we were like, well let's make a manufactured band but make it kind of interesting." The band originally identified themselves as "**Gorilla**" and the first song they recorded was "Ghost Train", which was later released as a B-side on their single "Rock the House". The band's visual style is thought to have evolved from *The 16s*, a rejected comic strip Hewlett conceived with *Tank Girl* co-creator Alan Martin.

Although not released under the Gorillaz name, Albarn has said that "one of the first ever Gorillaz tunes" was Blur's 1997 single "On Your Own", which was released for their fifth studio album *Blur*.

### *Gorillaz* (2001–02)

From 1998 to 2000, Albarn recorded for Gorillaz' self-titled debut album at his newly opened Studio 13 in London as well as at Geejam Studios in Jamaica. The sessions resulted in the band's first release, the EP *Tomorrow Comes Today*, released on 27 November 2000. This EP consisted mostly of tracks which later appeared on the album, and it also included the band's first music video for "Tomorrow Comes Today", which introduced the virtual band members for the first time.

With *Gorillaz*, Albarn began to branch out into other genres which he had not explored with Blur, such as hip-hop, dub and Latin music, a process he described as liberating: "One of the reasons I began Gorillaz is I had a lot of rhythms I never thought I could use with Blur. A lot of that stuff never really seemed to manifest itself in the music we made together as Blur." Albarn originally began work on the album by himself, however eventually invited American hip-hop producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura to serve as producer on the album, explaining "I called Dan the Automator in after I'd done more than half of it and felt it would benefit from having somebody else's focus. So I just rang him and asked whether he was interested in helping me finish it off." Nakamura and Albarn had recently collaborated on *Deltron 3030*, the debut album by the hip-hop supergroup of the same name featuring rapper Del the Funky Homosapien and DJ Kid Koala, both of whom Nakamura recruited to assist in finishing Gorillaz material. Del featured on two tracks on the album, including the lead single "Clint Eastwood", while Kid Koala contributed turntables to various tracks. The album featured additional collaborations with Ibrahim Ferrer of Buena Vista Social Club, Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, representing a pattern of collaboration with a wide range of artists which later became a staple of Gorillaz as a project.

 File:Dan the Automator 2015.jpg  *Gorillaz* was released on 26 March 2001 and was a major commercial success, debuting at #3 on the UK Albums Chart and #14 on the US Billboard 200, going on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide, powered by the success of the "Clint Eastwood" single. The album was promoted with the singles "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000" and "Rock the House", in addition to the previously released "Tomorrow Comes Today", with each single featuring a music video directed by Hewlett starring the virtual members. Hewlett also helmed the design of the band's website, which was presented as an interactive tour of the band's fictional "Kong Studios" home and recording studio, featuring interactive games and explorative elements. Following the release of the album, the band embarked on a brief tour of Europe, Japan and the United States to support the album in which a touring band featuring Albarn played completely obscured behind a giant screen on which Hewlett's accompanying visuals were projected. The virtual band member's voice actors were also present at some shows and spoke live to the audience to give the impression that the fictional band was present on stage. In later interviews, Albarn described the band's first tour as difficult due to the limitations imposed by the band playing behind a screen: "For someone who had just spent the last ten years out front being a frontman [with Blur], it was a really weird experience. And I have to say, some nights I just wanted to get a knife and just cut [the screen] and stick my head through." The album was followed by the B-sides compilation *G-Sides* released in December 2001.

On 7 December 2001, the band released the single "911" a collaboration with hip hop group D12 (without Eminem) and singer Terry Hall of the Specials about the September 11 attacks. At the 2002 Brit Awards the virtual members of Gorillaz "performed" for the first time, appearing in 3D animation on four large screens along with rap accompaniment by Phi Life Cypher, a production which reportedly cost £300,000 to create. The band were nominated for four Brit Awards, including Best British Group, Best British Album and British Breakthrough Act, but did not win any awards.

On 1 July 2002, a remix album titled *Laika Come Home* was released, containing most of the tracks from *Gorillaz* remixed in dub and reggae style by the DJ group Spacemonkeyz. On 18 November 2002, the band released the DVD *Phase One: Celebrity Take Down*, which contained all of the band's released visual content up to that point along with other extras.

After the success of the debut album, Albarn and Hewlett briefly explored the possibility of creating a Gorillaz theatrical film, but Hewlett claimed the duo later lost interest: "We lost all interest in doing it as soon as we started meeting with studios and talking to these Hollywood executive types, we just weren't on the same page. We said, fuck it, we'll sit on the idea until we can do it ourselves, and maybe even raise the money ourselves."

### *Demon Days* (2005–06)

Albarn spent the majority of 2003 on tour with Blur in support of their newly released album *Think Tank*; however, upon completion of the tour, he decided to return to Gorillaz, reuniting with Hewlett to prepare for a second album. Hewlett explained that the duo chose to continue Gorillaz to prove that the project was not "a gimmick": "If you do it again, it's no longer a gimmick, and if it works then we've proved a point." The result was *Demon Days*, released on 11 May 2005. The album was another major commercial success, debuting at No. 1 on the UK Albums Charts and #6 on the US Billboard 200, and has since gone six times platinum in the UK, double platinum in the United States, and triple platinum in Australia, outperforming sales of the first album and becoming the band's most successful album to date. The album's success was partially driven by the success of the lead single "Feel Good Inc." featuring hip-hop group De La Soul, which topped *Billboard'*s Alternative Songs chart in the U.S. for eight consecutive weeks and was featured in a commercial for Apple's iPod. The album was also supported by the later singles "Dare", "Dirty Harry", and the double A-side "Kids with Guns" / "El Mañana".

   *Demon Days* found the band taking a darker tone, partially influenced by a train journey Albarn had taken with his family through impoverished rural China. Albarn described the album as a concept album: "The whole album kind of tells the story of the night — staying up during the night — but it's also an allegory. It's what we're living in basically, the world in a state of night." Believing that the album needed "a slightly different approach" compared to the first album, Albarn enlisted American producer Brian Burton, better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, to produce the album, whom Albarn praised as "one of the best young producers in the world" after hearing his 2004 mashup album *The Grey Album*. Burton felt he and Albarn had a high degree of affinity with each other, stating in an interview on the creation of the album: "We never had any arguments. We even have that finish-each-other's-sentences thing happening. There are a lot of the same influences between us, like Ennio Morricone and psychedelic pop-rock, but he has 10 years on me, so I have some catching up to do. Where he can school me on new wave and punk of the late ’70s/early ’80s, I can school him on a lot of hip-hop. We’re very competitive and pushed each other." Similar to the first album, *Demon Days* features collaborations with several different artists, including Bootie Brown, Shaun Ryder, Ike Turner, MF Doom (who was recording with Danger Mouse as Danger Doom at the time) and Martina Topley-Bird, among others.

 File:De La Soul Demon Days Live.jpg   The band chose to forgo traditional live touring in support of *Demon Days*, instead limiting live performance during the album cycle to a five night residency in November 2005 at the Manchester Opera House billed as Demon Days Live. The concerts saw the band performing the album in full each night with most featured artists from the album present. Unlike the debut album's tour, the touring band was visible on stage in view of the audience but obscured by lighting in such a way that only their silhouettes were visible, with a screen above the band displaying Hewlett's visuals alongside each song. The residency was later repeated in April 2006 at New York City's Apollo Theater and the Manchester performances were later released on DVD as *Demon Days: Live at the Manchester Opera House*.

The virtual Gorillaz members "performed" at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2005 and again at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2006, appearing to perform on stage via Musion Eyeliner technology. Albarn later expressed disappointment at the execution of the performance, citing the low volume level required so as to not disturb the technology: "That was tough... They started and it was so quiet cause they've got this piece of film that you've got to pull over the stage so any bass frequencies would just mess up the illusion completely." At the Grammys, the band won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Feel Good Inc.", which was also nominated for Record of the Year. Albarn and Hewlett explored the idea of producing a full "live holographic tour" featuring the virtual Gorillaz appearing on stage with Munsion Eyeliner technology after the Grammys performance, but the tour was ultimately never realised due to the tremendous expense and logistical issues that would have resulted.

In October 2006, the band released the book *Rise of the Ogre*. Presented as an autobiography of the band ostensibly written by the fictional members and expanding on the band's fictional backstory and universe, the book was actually written by official Gorillaz script writer and live drummer Cass Browne and featured new artwork by Hewlett. Later the same month, the band released another DVD, *Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades*, compiling much of the band's visual content from the album cycle. A second B-sides compilation, *D-Sides* was released in November 2007, featuring B-sides and remixes associated with *Demon Days* as well as unreleased tracks from the sessions for the album. In 2008, the documentary film *Bananaz* was released. Directed by Ceri Levy, the film documents the behind-the-scenes history of the band from 2000 to 2006.

### *Plastic Beach* and *The Fall* (2010–13)

Albarn and Hewlett's next project together was the opera *Monkey: Journey to the West* based on the classical Chinese novel *Journey to the West*, which premiered at the 2007 Manchester International Festival. While not officially a Gorillaz project, Albarn mentioned in an interview that the project was "Gorillaz, really but we can't call it that for legal reasons".

After completing work on *Monkey* in late 2007, Albarn and Hewlett began working on a new Gorillaz project entitled *Carousel*, described by Albarn as being about "the mystical aspects of Britain". Hewlett described *Carousel* in a 2008 interview as "even bigger and more difficult than *Monkey*... It's sort of like a film but not with one narrative story. There's many stories, told around a bigger story, set to music, and done in live action, animation, all different styles. Originally it was a film but now we think it's a film and it's a stage thing as well. Damon's written around 70 songs for it, and I’ve got great plans for the visuals." The *Carousel* concept was eventually dropped with Albarn and Hewlett's work evolving into the third Gorillaz studio album *Plastic Beach*.Drawing upon environmentalist themes, *Plastic Beach* was inspired by the idea of a "secret floating island deep in the South Pacific... made up of the detritus, debris and washed up remnants of humanity" inspired by marine pollution such as plastic that Albarn had found in a beach near one of his homes in Devon as well as the Great Pacific garbage patch. Unlike previous Gorillaz albums, Albarn made the decision to produce *Plastic Beach* by himself, with no co-producer. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and 2009 in London, New York City and Syria although production of the album was briefly interrupted so that Albarn could join Blur for a reunion tour in the summer of 2009, with Albarn explaining "there's no way you can do that and that [Blur and Gorillaz] at the same time." *Plastic Beach* saw Gorillaz move into a more electronic pop sound, with Albarn describing the album as "the most pop record I've ever made" and saying that he took special care to make the album's lyrics and melodies clear and focused compared to previous albums. *Plastic Beach* also featured the largest cast of collaborators featured yet on a Gorillaz album, fulfilling Albarn's goal of "work[ing] with an incredibly eclectic, surprising cast of people" including artists such as Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Little Dragon, Lou Reed and Gruff Rhys among others, and also included orchestral contributions from Sinfonia Viva and the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra. Albarn explained the expanded roster of featured artists represented his and Hewlett's new vision of Gorillaz as a project, explaining in a July 2008 interview that "Gorillaz now to us is not like four animated characters any more – it's more like an organisation of people doing new projects... That's my ideal model."

 File:Gorillaz live 2010.jpg  Released on 3 March 2010, *Plastic Beach* debuted at #2 on both the UK Albums Chart and the US *Billboard* 200 chart, the band's highest placing debut chart position. The album was supported by the lead single "Stylo" featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack released in January 2010 and the later singles "On Melancholy Hill" and "Rhinestone Eyes". To promote the album, the band embarked on the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour, the band's first world tour and also their first live performances in which the touring band performed fully in view of the audience on stage with no visual obstructions. The tour, which featured many of the collaborative artists from *Plastic Beach* and saw the touring band wearing naval attire, was later described by Albarn as having been extremely costly to produce, with the band barely breaking even on the shows, saying "I loved doing it, but economically it was a fucking disaster." The tour was preceded by headline performances at several international music festivals, including the Coachella and Glastonbury festivals. On 21 November 2010, while still on tour, the band released the non-album single "Doncamatic" featuring British singer Daley.

During the North American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach tour in the fall of 2010, Albarn continued recording Gorillaz songs entirely on his iPad. The recordings were later released as the album *The Fall*, first released digitally on Christmas Day 2010 and later given a physical release on 19 April 2011. *The Fall* is also co-produced by Stephen Sedgwick, the mixer engineer of the band. Albarn said the album served as a diary of the American leg of the tour, explaining that the tracks were presented exactly as they were on the day they were written and recorded with no additional production or overdubs: "I literally made it on the road. I didn't write it before, I didn't prepare it. I just did it day by day as a kind of diary of my experience in America. If I left it until the New Year to release it then the cynics out there would say, 'Oh well, it's been tampered with', but if I put it out now they'd know that I haven't done anything because I've been on tour ever since." The band later released a "Gorillaz edition" of the Korg iElectribe music production app for iPad, featuring many of the same samples and sounds used by Albarn to create *The Fall*.

On 23 February 2012, Gorillaz released "DoYaThing", a single to promote a Gorillaz-branded collection of Converse shoes which were released shortly after. The song was a part of Converse's "Three Artists, One Song" project, with the two additional collaborators being James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and André 3000 of Outkast. Two different edits of the song were released: a four-and-a-half minute radio edit released on Converse's website and the full 13-minute version of the song released on the Gorillaz website. Hewlett returned to direct the single's music video, featuring fictionalized animated versions of Murphy and André interacting with the Gorillaz' virtual members. The song received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise given to André 3000's contributions to the track.

In April 2012, Albarn told *The Guardian* that he and Hewlett had fallen out and that future Gorillaz projects were "unlikely". Tension between the two had been building, partly due to a belief held by Hewlett that his contributions to Gorillaz were being minimised. Speaking to *The Guardian* in April 2017, Hewlett explained: "Damon had half the Clash on stage, and Bobby Womack and Mos Def and De La Soul, and fucking Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and Bashy and everyone else. It was the greatest band ever. And the screen on stage behind them seemed to get smaller every day. I'd say, ‘Have we got a new screen?’ and the tour manager was like, ‘No, it's the same screen.’ Because it seemed to me like it was getting smaller." Albarn gave his side of the story in a separate interview, saying "I think we were at a cross purposes somewhat on that last record [*Plastic Beach*], which is a shame. It was one of those things, the music and the videos weren't working as well together, but I felt we'd made a really good record and I was into it." On 25 April 2012, in an interview with Metro, Albarn was more optimistic about Gorillaz' future, saying that once he had worked out his differences with Hewlett, he was sure that they would make another record. In June 2013, Hewlett confirmed that he and Albarn planned to someday continue Gorillaz and record a follow-up album to *Plastic Beach*, saying "We'll come back to it when the time is right."

### Hiatus and *Humanz* (2014–17)

Following the release of *DoYaThing* and the publicization of Albarn and Hewlett's fall-out in 2012, Gorillaz entered a multiyear hiatus. During the hiatus, Albarn released a solo album, *Everyday Robots*, scored stage productions and continued to record and tour with Blur, while Hewlett held art exhibitions and attempted to create a film project which was ultimately never realized. While on tour in support of *Everyday Robots* in 2014, Albarn signaled openness to returning to Gorillaz, telling *The National Post* that he "wouldn't mind having another stab at a Gorillaz record". Two months later he reported that he had "been writing quite a lot of songs on the road for Gorillaz". and at the end of 2014 confirmed in an interview with *The Sydney Morning Herald* that he was planning to record another Gorillaz album. Speaking about his relationship with Hewlett, Albarn said that the pair's well-publicised fall-out had helped their relationship in the long term. Hewlett described the moment when he and Albarn agreed to continue Gorillaz at an afterparty after one of Albarn's solo shows in 2014: "We'd had a bit to drink, and he said, 'Do you want to do another one?' And I said, 'Do you?' and he said, 'Do you?' And I said, 'Yeah, sure.' I started work on it straight away, learning to draw the characters again. I played around by myself for eight months while he was performing with Blur in 2015."

 File:Twilight Tone.jpg  Recording sessions for the band's fifth studio album *Humanz* began in late 2015 and continued through 2016, taking place in London, New York City, Paris and Jamaica. Albarn enlisted American hip-hop and house producer Anthony Khan, known by his stage name the Twilite Tone, to co-produce the album. Albarn chose Khan from a list of possible producers compiled by Parlophone, the band's record label after Albarn and Khan spoke via Skype. *Humanz* was also co-produced by Remi Kabaka Jr., a friend of Albarn's who had worked with him in the non-profit musical organization Africa Express and also has been the voice actor for the Gorillaz virtual band member Russel Hobbs since 2000. In conceptualizing the album, Albarn and Khan envisioned *Humanz* as being the soundtrack for "a party for the end of the world", with Albarn specifically imagining a future in which Donald Trump won the 2016 U.S. presidential election as context for the album's narrative (Trump becoming president was still considered an unlikely event at the time of recording), explaining "Let's use that as a kind of dark fantasy for this record, let's imagine the night Donald Trump wins the election and how we're all going to feel that night." Khan stated that "The idea of Donald Trump being president allowed us to create a narrative together. I suggested that the album should be about joy, pain and urgency. That was to be our state of mind before we even touched a keyboard or an MPC. Especially in American music, dare I say black music, there's a way of communicating joy that at the same time allows you to feel the struggle the person has been through. And the urgency is there because something needs to be done. So that was the mantra. I wanted to blend Damon, a Briton, with the joy and pain and struggle that African-American music can express." *Humanz* again featured a large cast of featured artists, including Popcaan, Vince Staples, DRAM, Jehnny Beth, Pusha T, Peven Everett, Danny Brown, Grace Jones and Mavis Staples, among others. The first track from the album released publicly was "Hallelujah Money" featuring Benjamin Clementine, released on 20 January 2017 with an accompanying video featuring Clementine. While not an official single, Albarn explained that the band chose to release the track on the day of Trump's inauguration because "It was meant to be something sung at the imaginary inauguration of Donald Trump, which turned out to be the real inauguration of Donald Trump, so we released it because we had imagined that happening and it did happen."

 File:Gorillaz, Brixton Academy, London (34377484273).jpg  *Humanz* was released on 28 April 2017, the band's first new studio album in 7 years. Featuring a "modern-sounding urban hip-hop/R&B sensibility", the album debuted at #2 on both the UK Album charts and the US *Billboard* 200. *Humanz* received generally positive reviews from critics, although received some criticism from fans and critics for what was perceived as a diminished presence from Albarn in contrast to the abundance of featured artists. The album was released in both standard and deluxe editions, with the deluxe edition featuring an additional 6 bonus tracks and was promoted by the lead single "Saturnz Barz" featuring Popcaan and the later single "Strobelite" featuring Peven Everett. The Hewlett-directed music video for "Saturnz Barz" made use of YouTube's 360-degree video format and reportedly cost $800,000 to create.

The band embarked on the Humanz Tour to support the album from the summer of 2017 to early 2018. Like the band's previous tour, the Humanz Tour featured the touring band in full view of the audience with a large screen behind them displaying Hewlett-created visuals and featured several of the different collaborative artists from the band's history. The tour was preceded by a handful of European warm-up shows, including the first Demon Dayz Festival held on 10 June 2017 at the Dreamland Margate theme park, a Gorillaz curated music festival which was later repeated in Los Angeles in October 2018. On 8 June 2017 the band released the non-album single "Sleeping Powder" with an accompanying music video and on 3 November 2017 a "Super Deluxe" version of *Humanz*, featuring an additional 14 unreleased tracks from the album's sessions, including alternative versions of previously released songs as well as the single "Garage Palace" featuring Little Simz.

### *The Now Now* (2018–19)

Albarn continued recording while on the road during the Humanz Tour, and mentioned in an interview with *Q Magazine* in September 2017 that he was planning on releasing the material as a future Gorillaz album. Comparing the production of the album to *The Fall*, which was also recorded while the band was on tour, Albarn mentioned that "It will be a more complete record than *The Fall*, but hopefully have that spontaneity." Albarn signaled his desire to complete and release the album quickly, adding that "I really like the idea of making new music and playing it live almost simultaneously" and "If we're going to do more Gorillaz we don't want to wait seven years because, y'know, we're getting on a bit now. The band later debuted a new song "Idaho", which was later included on the album, at a concert in Seattle on 30 September 2017 with Albarn saying it had been written in the days prior.

During a break in the Humanz Tour in February 2018, Albarn returned to London where he worked with producer James Ford, known for his work with Arctic Monkeys and Florence and the Machine, and Kabaka Jr. to finish the newly written material, resulting in the band's sixth studio album *The Now Now* released on 29 June 2018. Featuring "simple, mostly upbeat songs" and 1980s new wave influences, the album was noted for its distinctly small list of featured artists compared to previous Gorillaz work, with only two tracks featuring any outside artists (the album's lead single "Humility" featuring George Benson and "Hollywood" featuring Snoop Dogg and Jamie Principle). Albarn mentioned that the few numbers of featured artists was partially due to the album's quick production, which in turn was a result of Albarn wanting to finish the album before the band's touring schedule resumed: "We've been very lucky to be offered all the festivals this year on the back of the last record [*Humanz*]... but I didn't want to do that unless I had something new to work with, so the only option was to make another record really quickly and not have lots of guests on it, because that takes a long time to organize; just do it all myself, really." Albarn also explained that with *The Now Now* he sought to make a Gorillaz album "where I'm just singing for once" and that the album is "pretty much just me singing, very sort of in the world of 2-D."

 File:Gorillaz @ Barclays Center, Brooklyn, 10-13-2018.jpg   In the fictional Gorillaz storyline, the band introduced Ace from Cartoon Network's animated series *The Powerpuff Girls* as a temporary bassist of the band during *The Now Now* album cycle, filling in for the imprisoned Murdoc Niccals. Explaining the crossover in an interview with the BBC, Albarn said "We were massive fans of *The Powerpuff Girls* when they came out, the energy of that cartoon was really cool, and we kind of know the creator of it (Craig McCracken). It was a very organic thing."

The band's remaining 2018 live dates were billed as The Now Now Tour to support the album, and included a performance in Tokyo on 22 June 2018 billed as "The Now Now World Premiere" in which the band played the full album live for the first and only time, a performance which was later broadcast by Boiler Room. On 16 December 2019, the documentary *Gorillaz: Reject False Icons* was screened worldwide on a one-day theatrical release. Filmed and directed by Hewlett's son Denholm, the documentary showcases a behind-the-scenes look at the production of *Humanz* and *The Now Now* as well as the album's associated tours. One week after the film's theatrical release, a "Director's Cut" version of the film featuring additional footage was released on the official Gorillaz YouTube channel in three parts. In the credits for *Reject False Icons*, Kabaka Jr. was listed as an official member of the band (labeled as "A&R/Producer") alongside Albarn and Hewlett for the first time.

### *Song Machine* project and *Meanwhile EP* (2020–2021)

 File:Gorillaz family.jpg
On 29 January 2020, the band announced its new project, *Song Machine*. Eschewing the typical album format of releasing music, Song Machine is instead a web series that sees the band releasing one new song a month as "episodes" to the series, with 11 episodes releasing to comprise the first "season". Elaborating on the idea behind *Song Machine* in a radio interview shortly after the announcement of the project, Albarn explained that "We no longer kind of see ourselves as constrained to making albums. We can now make episodes and seasons." Each episode features previously unannounced guest musicians on new Gorillaz material, with the first being "Momentary Bliss", which was released on 31 January and features both British rapper Slowthai and the Kent-based punk rock duo Slaves.

Upon the premiere of "Momentary Bliss", Albarn revealed that the group had been in the studio with Schoolboy Q and Sampa the Great among others, although he did say that these songs were likely to be saved for future episodes of *Song Machine*. The group also teased a possible collaboration with Australian band Tame Impala on Instagram.

On 27 February, the band released the second episode of *Song Machine* entitled "Désolé". The song features Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara. The third episode, "Aries", released on 9 April and featured Peter Hook and Georgia. The fourth track "How Far?" featuring Tony Allen and Skepta was released 2 May. This song was released without an accompanying music video as a tribute to Allen, who died on 30 April.

On 26 May, Gorillaz announced the release of a new book titled *Gorillaz Almanac*. The book comes in three editions: standard, deluxe and super deluxe, all of which were set to release on 23 October but has since been delayed to 22 DecemberTemplate:Update inline with a physical release of season one of *Song Machine* included with each copy.

On 9 June, the band released "Friday 13th", the fourth episode of *Song Machine*. The track features French-British rapper Octavian.

On 20 July, the band released "Pac-Man", the fifth episode of *Song Machine*, in honour of Pac-Man's 40th anniversary. The track features American rapper Schoolboy Q.

On 9 September, the band released "Strange Timez", the sixth episode of *Song Machine*. The track features Robert Smith, from the Cure. Gorillaz also announced the title and tracklist for *Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez*, released on 23 October 2020, featuring further guest appearances from Elton John, 6lack, JPEGMafia, Kano, Roxani Arias, Moonchild Sanelly and Chai, among others.

On 1 October, the band released "The Pink Phantom", the seventh episode of *Song Machine*. The track features Elton John and American R&B recording artist 6lack.

Before the release of *Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez*, Gorillaz started a radio show on Apple Music called *Song Machine Radio* where each virtual character has a turn to invite special guests and play some of their favourite tunes.

A few days from the release of *Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez*, Albarn confirmed that the band already has a song for Season Two of *Song Machine* prepared for release, and also mentioned that the second part of the project will be released earlier than expected.

On 5 November, the band released "The Valley of the Pagans", the eighth episode of *Song Machine*. The track features American singer Beck. The music video is somewhat notorious for being the first major studio production filmed in *Grand Theft Auto V*. The video ends with a reference to previous album, *Plastic Beach*. For unknown reasons, the music video on the official Gorillaz YouTube channel was set to private just a few days after its initial premiere. On 9 March 2021, Gorillaz uploaded an alternative version of the music video to their official YouTube channel, which does not feature any gameplay from *Grand Theft Auto V*.

On 24 December, the band released "The Lost Chord", the ninth and final episode of the first season of *Song Machine*. The track features British musician Leee John.

On 26 March 2021, the band celebrated its debut album's 20th anniversary with oncoming reissues of their catalog and teases of non-fungible tokens; due to its impact on climate change, the latter was met with criticism by various sources and fans—some noting that the act contradicts the environmental themes of *Plastic Beach*. No non-fungible tokens have since released. The band also announced a boxset, the *G Collection,* containing six of their studio albums—excluding *The Fall*—for Record Store Day.

On 10 August 2021, Gorillaz debuted three new songs, "Meanwhile" (featuring British rapper Jelani Blackman), "Jimmy Jimmy" (featuring British rapper AJ Tracey), and "Déjà Vu" (featuring Jamaican-British singer Alicaì Harley), during a free concert at The O2 Arena in London, England exclusively for National Health Service employees and their families. They then performed them again at the subsequent concert open to the public the next day (both of which served as the first live audience concerts of the Song Machine Tour). These three songs were announced to be tracks from a new EP entitled *Meanwhile*, with the cover originally published on TikTok.

### World Tour and *Cracker Island* (2022–present)

On 17 September 2021, Albarn revealed that he had recorded a new Gorillaz song with Bad Bunny while in Jamaica, and, at the time, said it would be the first single for a new album, influenced by Latin America, releasing in 2022. The concept for the album would later change, with the song being announced at a later date. On 31 August 2022 the name of this song was revealed to be "Tormenta".

Throughout 2022, Gorillaz went on a world tour in South America, Europe, Australia, and North America, where they debuted new material. In June 2022, the band began teasing the release of new material, with promotional displays and websites surfacing encouraging fans to sign up to be a part of "The Last Cult". The band released a new single regularly performed on tour called "Cracker Island", featuring Thundercat and produced with Greg Kurstin, on 22 June, with the music video being released on 28 July. Their scheduled performance at the first Splendour in the Grass festival in Queensland, Australia on 22 July was cancelled owing to torrential rain. In July 2022, they played at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre as part of Illuminate Adelaide, supported by Moonchild Sanelly. In August 2022, the band performed a new song "New Gold" featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown at All Points East in London. The single was then teased on the band's social media with links to pre-save the song on streaming services. On 31 August, the band released "New Gold" as their second single for their upcoming album, announced on the same day to be titled *Cracker Island*, set to be released on 24 February 2023. The album, produced with Kurstin, also features appearances from Stevie Nicks, Bad Bunny, Beck, and Adeleye Omotayo.

## Style and legacy

Template:Self-published

Writers and critics have variously described Gorillaz as art pop, alternative rock, hip hop, electronic, trip hop, pop, dark pop, alternative hip hop, rap rock, indie rock, bedroom pop, dance-rock, new wave, funk, worldbeat, and experimental rock. The band's aesthetic and general approach has been described as postmodern. According to AllMusic, Gorillaz blend Britpop and hip-hop, while *The Guardian* described the band as "a sort of dub/hip-hop/lo-fi indie/world music hybrid". According to *PopMatters*, the band's early work foreshadowed "the melding of hip-hop, rock, and electronic elements in pop music" that grew in significance in the next decade.

"[Influencing] to us, is the greatest achievement of Gorillaz. It's that we know that a very large percentage of our audience are kids, who go on gorillaz.com, who go on gorillaz-unofficial.com, and through seeing the cartoons and hearing the tune, buying the record, are finding out about this stuff that they knew nothing about. So they're learning about Vlad The Impaler, or Ronald Searle, or The Specials... so it's like an education. They really get into it. And they discover it, the music we grew up on."

- Jamie Hewlett,

Gorillaz’ main musical influences include Massive Attack, the Specials, Big Audio Dynamite, Public Image Ltd, Tom Tom Club, Fun Boy Three, Unkle, A Tribe Called Quest, and fellow collaborators De La Soul, as well as The Human League, The Kinks, XTC, Simple Minds, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Ween, Portishead, Beck, Wire, Fela Kuti, Sly and the Family Stone, Earth Wind and Fire, Augustus Pablo, Zapp, and DJ Kool Herc. Gorillaz’ primary visual influences include Hanna-Barbera, *Looney Tunes*, *Mad* magazine, *The Simpsons*, *2000 AD*, and *Métal hurlant* (*Heavy Metal*). Furthermore, Hewlett has also cited European artists such as Carl Giles, Ronald Searle, Moebius, Tanino Liberatore, Mike McMahon, and Brendan McCarthy. The idea for Gorillaz was inspired by the many cartoon bands that came before them in the 1960s such as the Banana Splits, the Archies, Josie and the Pussycats, and Alvin and the Chipmunks, and real bands with fictional stage personas like ABC (circa *How to Be a ... Zillionaire!*) and Silicon Teens.

Musical artists who have been influenced by Gorillaz include Major Lazer, Dethklok, Rat Boy, Chromeo, Flume, Foster the People, The 1975, 5 Seconds of Summer, Awolnation, Paramore, Grimes, Kesha, A.G. Cook, Finneas, Oliver Tree, Flatbush Zombies, Vic Mensa, IDK, Trippie Redd, The Internet, ASAP Rocky, Lupe Fiasco, Brockhampton, Odd Future and Billie Eilish, who was joined by Albarn to sing her song, *Getting Older*, and Gorillaz' song, "Feel Good Inc." with Posdnuos of De La Soul. Gorillaz have also influenced animated series such as *The Amazing World of Gumball*, *Glitch Techs*, *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, *Motorcity*, *Tron: Uprising*, *Teen Titans*, and *Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts*, as well as video games like *Borderlands*, *Sunset Overdrive*, *No Straight Roads*, *Battlefield*, and *League of Legends*.

Gorillaz have collaborated with a number of brands, including Motorola, O2, Internet Explorer 9, Converse, and Jaguar Cars. They have also been featured in fashion magazines such as *Maxim*, *Nylon*, and *Numéro*. The band's use of the internet and digital media for promotion as early as 2000 has been touched on in retrospective reviews for being ahead of its time. *Dazed* magazine has summarised Gorillaz's impact as "completely reinvent[ing] the notion of what a band could be".

## Band members

* Murdoc Niccals – bass, drum machine (1998–present; hiatus 2018)
* 2-D – vocals, keyboards, melodica, rhythm guitar, piano, synthesizers (1998–present)
* Noodle – lead guitar, keyboards, vocals (1998–2006; 2010–present)
* Russel Hobbs – drums, percussion, drum machine (1998–2006; 2012–present)
* Paula Cracker – lead guitar (1998)
* Cyborg Noodle – lead guitar, backing vocals (2008–10)
* Ace – bass (2018)

### Touring members

* Mike Smith – keyboards
* Cass Browne – drums
* Darren Galea – turntables
* Simon Katz – guitar
* Junior Dan – bass (2001)
 2005–06*(Demon Days Live)* | * Damon Albarn – lead vocals, piano, melodica
* Mike Smith – keyboards
* Cass Browne – drums
* Darren Galea – turntables
* Simon Tong – guitar
* Karl Vanden Bossche – percussion
* Simon Jones – rhythm guitar
 2010*(Escape to Plastic Beach Tour)* | * Damon Albarn – lead vocals, piano, melodica, acoustic guitar
* Mike Smith – keyboards
* Cass Browne – drums, percussion
* Simon Tong – lead guitar (replaced Jeff Wootton on some dates)
* Mick Jones – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
* Paul Simonon – bass guitar, backing vocals
* Jesse Hackett – keyboards
* Jeff Wootton – lead guitar
 2017–18*(Humanz Tour and The Now Now Tour)* | * Damon Albarn – lead vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
* Mike Smith – keyboards, backing vocals
* Karl Vanden Bossche – electronic drums, percussion
* Jesse Hackett – keyboards
* Jeff Wootton – lead guitar
* Gabriel Wallace – drums
 2020–22*(Song Machine Tour and World Tour 2022)* | * Damon Albarn – lead vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
* Mike Smith – keyboards, backing vocals
* Karl Vanden Bossche – electronic drums, percussion
* Jesse Hackett – keyboards
* Jeff Wootton – lead guitar
* Seye Adelekan – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
* Remi Kabaka Jr. – percussion
* Femi Koleoso – drums

## Discography

**Studio albums**

* *Gorillaz* (2001)
* *Demon Days* (2005)
* *Plastic Beach* (2010)
* *The Fall* (2010)
* *Humanz* (2017)
* *The Now Now* (2018)
* *Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez* (2020)
* *Cracker Island* (2023)

## Tours

* Gorillaz Live (2001–2002)
* Demon Days Live (2005–2006)
* Escape to Plastic Beach Tour (2010)
* Humanz Tour (2017–2018)
* The Now Now Tour (2018)
* Song Machine Tour (2021)
* World Tour 2022 (2022)

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Template:Cite magazine
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3. ↑ Gold & Platinum – Gorillaz – Demon Days. Recording Industry Association of America.
4. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"EMI Music earns 54 Grammy nominations". EMI. 8 December 2005. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
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6. ↑ Duncan, Conrad (26 June 2018). Album Review: Gorillaz – The Now Now.
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8. ↑ Gorillaz Announce New Album Humanz Featuring Grace Jones, Danny Brown, Mavis Staples, More.
9. ↑ Milton, Jamie (2017-03-06). From holograms to headliners – how Gorillaz's inventive live shows have transformed (en-GB).
10. ↑ Gorillaz: D-Sides.
11. ↑ Rock On The Net: Gorillaz Rock on the Net
12. ↑ "Brit Awards 2018: The winners and nominees". BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2018
13. ↑ Gorillaz BRITS ProfileTemplate:Webarchive BRIT Awards Ltd
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19. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Where Tank Girl meets Snoopy". BBC. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
20. ↑ Gorillaz's Damon Albarn interview (part 2). Australian Broadcasting Corporation (23 March 2010).
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Template:Cite AV media notes
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24. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
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26. ↑ BPI Awards - bpi.
27. ↑ Template:Cite journal
28. ↑ Gorillaz Share the Secret Behind Their Animations, Friction & New Album - YouTube.
29. ↑ Brown, Cass; Gorillaz (2 November 2006). *Rise of the Ogre*. United States: Penguin. p. 99. ISBN 1-59448-931-9.
30. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Brits get underway". *BBC News*. 20 February 2002. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
31. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"Brit Awards 2002: The nominations". *BBC News*. 14 January 2002. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
32. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Grant, Kieran (23 February 2002). "Gorillaz come out of the mist". *Canadian Online Explorer*. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
33. ↑ NME Album Reviews – Space Monkeys vs. Gorillaz: Laika Come Home. *NME* (12 September 2005).
34. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Mitchum, Rob (5 February 2003). "Phase One: Celebrity Take Down DVD". *Pitchfork*. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
35. ↑ Template:Cite journal
36. ↑ Website Suspended - Pickaweb. Gorillaz-unofficial.com.
37. ↑ Gorillaz RIAA certifications. Recording Industry Association of America.
38. ↑ ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2006 Albums. Australian Recording Industry Association (2006).
39. ↑ Artist Profile – Gorillaz. EMI (2006).
40. ↑ Gorillaz Feel Good Inc. Apple iPod + iTunes - mai 2005 - YouTube.
41. ↑ New Damon interview in Notion magazine - talks Gorillaz.
42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Veikko's Blur Page - Damon talks about "Demon Days" and his future projects.
43. ↑ New Danger Mouse interview (talks about working with Gorillaz) in LA Weekly.
44. ↑ Template:Cite AV media notes
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47. ↑ GORILLAZ TAKING UP RESIDENCY AT NEW YORK'S APOLLO THEATER. MTV (1 March 2006).
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50. ↑ Kaufman, Gil. Madonna's Oddest Collab Yet: Singer To Perform At Grammys With Gorillaz. MTV.
51. ↑ YouTube.
52. ↑ 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (28 November 2017).
53. ↑ Gorillaz playing Apollo Theater | Demon Days Live.
54. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Roberts, Jo (3 December 2010). "Gorillaz face the music". *The Sydney Morning Herald*. Fairfax Media.
55. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"D-Sides Confirmed". *fans.gorillaz.com*. 18 September 2007. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
56. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"D-Sides Deluxe Preview". *fans.gorillaz.com*. 20 October 2007. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2007.
57. ↑ Bananaz: Dir. Ceri Levy (19 April 2009).
58. ↑ Jamie Hewlett : The Gorillaz-Unofficial 2008 Interview Template:Webarchive
59. ↑ Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett Name Next Project - 'Carousel' - Glide Magazine.
60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 60.2 60.3 Morley, Paul (28 November 2009). Audio: Paul Morley interviews Blur's Damon Albarn.
61. ↑ Gorillaz Reveal Full Album Details (20 January 2010).
62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 Template:Cite AV media notes
63. ↑ The Production Of Gorillaz Album Plastic Beach Music Essay (4 April 2020).
64. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
65. ↑ News – BREAKING NEWS! Brand new Gorillaz single to be played on Zane Lowe show & Youtube tonight!. Gorillaz.com (5 October 2010).
66. ↑ Damon Albarn reveals Gorillaz' free Christmas album details. *NME News* (16 December 2010).
67. ↑ The Fall: Amazon.co.uk: Music.
68. ↑ Template:Cite AV media notes
69. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Michaels, Sean (10 December 2010). "Gorillaz to release new album free on Christmas Day". *The Guardian*. London: Guardian News and Media Limited 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
70. ↑ GorillazUnofficial 100% unofficial. 100% Gorillaz. Gorillaz-unofficial.com.
71. ↑ KORG iELECTRIBE Gorillaz Edition for iPad on the iTunes App Store. iTunes Store (26 May 2011).
72. ↑ GorillazUnofficial 100% unofficial. 100% Gorillaz. Gorillaz-unofficial.com.
73. ↑ 'DoYaThing': Gorillaz, Andre 3000 and James Murphy Release Collaboration For Converse (AUDIO). *HuffPost* (23 February 2012).
74. ↑ Frank, Brendan (24 February 2012). Track review Gorillaz DoYaThing feat. Andre 3000 and James Murphy. Beats Per Minute.
75. ↑ 75.0 75.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Harris, John (7 April 2012). "Damon Albarn: Gorillaz, heroin and the last days of Blur". *The Guardian*. London/Manchester: Guardian News and Media. p. 1. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
76. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Sawyer, Miranda (30 April 2017). "Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett: 'We fight over everything'". *The Guardian*. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
77. ↑ Williams, Andrew (24 April 2012). Damon Albarn: Blur and Gorillaz aren't finished yet | Metro News. *Metro*.
78. ↑ Guardian music (24 June 2013). Blur and Gorillaz will both make new albums, says Albarn collaborator. *The Guardian*.
79. ↑ Blur and Gorillaz Will Release New Albums, Gorillaz' Jamie Hewlett Says. *Pitchfork* (24 June 2013).
80. ↑ Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (Gorillaz) interview for M6, May 2017 - YouTube.
81. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Dekel, Jonathan (29 April 2014). "'I don't take Britpop seriously and no one should': Damon Albarn does a rare bit of looking back on his first solo record, Everyday Robots". *National Post*. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014.
82. ↑ Xu, Tina (15 June 2014). Damon Albarn Hypes Up New Gorillaz Tracks. Fuse.
83. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
84. ↑ New Gorillaz album will be released in 2016, says Jamie Hewlett. *NME* (12 October 2015).
85. ↑ Brown, Lane. Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher on Their Gorillaz Team-Up.
86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 86.2 86.3 Inside Track: Gorillaz 'Charger' (July 2017).
87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 Gorillaz – HUMANZ (2LP Vinyl) – Album on Imgur (2017-04-22).
88. ↑ Gorillaz Interview (Damon Albarn, Twilite Tone, de la Soul) - Sway in the Morning - YouTube.
89. ↑ Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (Gorillaz) interview for M6, May 2017 - YouTube.
90. ↑ 'Humanz' review: Gorillaz new album has moments of genius, but one too many collaborators.
91. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
92. ↑ Brown, Lane. Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher on the Making of Gorillaz's 'We Got the Power'.
93. ↑ 93.0 93.1 The Gorillaz might drop a surprise album on us.
94. ↑ [1] Template:Dead link
95. ↑ Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. The Now Now - Gorillaz. AllMusic.
96. ↑ Template:Cite interview
97. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Serota, Maggie (31 May 2018). "Gorillaz — "Humility" and "Lake Zurich"". *Spin*. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
98. ↑ The Gorillaz's New Band Member is a Powerpuff Girls Character (31 May 2018).
99. ↑ Damon Albarn interview with Matt Everitt - BBC Radio 6, 2018 - YouTube.
100. ↑ Gorillaz.
101. ↑ Gorillaz Announce New Movie Reject False Icons. *Pitchfork* (21 November 2019).
102. ↑ Five Things We Learned From New Gorillaz Film Reject False Icons. *Clash* (16 December 2019).
103. ↑ GORILLAZ: REJECT FALSE ICONS | Act One - Humanz (Director's Cut). Gorillaz (December 24, 2019).
104. ↑ GORILLAZ: REJECT FALSE ICONS | Act Two - Humanz World Tour (Director's Cut). Gorillaz (December 24, 2019).
105. ↑ GORILLAZ: REJECT FALSE ICONS | Act Three - The Now Now (Director's Cut). Gorillaz (December 24, 2019).
106. ↑ Helman, Peter (28 January 2020). Gorillaz Are Teasing Something Called 'Song Machine'.
107. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
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109. ↑ GORILLAZ | Nasty Little Man.
110. ↑ Radio 1's Future Sounds with Annie Mac - Gorillaz, slowthai and Slaves - BBC Sounds (31 January 2020).
111. ↑ Richards, Will (1 February 2020). Gorillaz tease Tame Impala collaboration as 'Song Machine' project continues.
112. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
113. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
114. ↑ Yoo, Noah (2 May 2020). Gorillaz Share New Song "How Far?" With Tony Allen and Skepta: Listen.
115. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
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117. ↑ GORILLAZ: SONG MACHINE SEASON 1 EPISODE 5 'PAC-MAN' FT SCHOOLBOY Q (July 20, 2020).
118. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
119. ↑ Skinner, Tom (9 September 2020). Gorillaz team up with Robert Smith on 'Strange Timez' and share star-studded 'Song Machine' tracklist.
120. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
121. ↑ Del Real, Andrés (18 October 2020). Damon Albarn: "Nuestra mayor crisis existencial es nuestra relación con internet".
122. ↑ Gorillaz - The Valley of the Pagans ft. Beck (Episode Eight) - YouTube (5 November 2020).
123. ↑ Gorillaz - The Valley of the Pagans ft. Beck (Episode Eight) - YouTube (9 March 2021).
124. ↑ Murray, Eoin (26 March 2021). Gorillaz Celebrate 20th Anniversary of Debut Album with Reissue and NFT Teases.
125. ↑ Daly, Rhian (27 March 2021). Fans criticize Gorillaz for selling NFT after impact on climate change revealed.
126. ↑ Middleton, Ryan (7 April 2021). Record Store Day Unveils 2021 Exclusives & Drops: MF Doom, Gorillaz, Tangerine Dream.
127. ↑ Guttridge-Hewitt, Martin (11 August 2021). Gorillaz debut three new songs at free concert for NHS workers.
128. ↑ Gorillaz | ♬ Jimmy Jimmy (feat. AJ Tracey) | on TikTok.
129. ↑ Hale, Lyra (17 September 2021). Bad Bunny and Gorillaz Collaboration Has Been Confirmed — & Fans Are Here for It.
130. ↑  Cracker Island 💥 THE NEW ALBUM 💥 Out February 2023 Pre-order now 🫶 ⚡️ @thundercatmusic @stevienicks @tameimpala @bootiebrownofficial @badbunnypr @beck #crackerisland.
131. ↑ Shutler, Ali (1 May 2022). Watch Gorillaz perform new Thundercat collab as they kick off 2022 world tour.
132. ↑ Weisband, Sami (25 May 2022). Gorillaz plot first North American tour in four years for this fall.
133. ↑ Strauss, Matthew (22 June 2022). Gorillaz and Thundercat Share New Song "Cracker Island".
134. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (28 July 2022). 'Cracker Island' Music Video Ushers in New Era for Gorillaz.
135. ↑ Breihan, Tom (22 July 2022). After Three Years Away, Splendour In The Grass Festival Cancels Day One Because Of Weather.
136. ↑ Johnson, Heather Taylor (29 July 2022). Illuminate Adelaide review: Gorillaz.
137. ↑ Gorillaz Debut Tame Impala & Bootie Brown Collab "New Gold" At All Points East (en) (2022-08-20).
138. ↑ Krol, Charlotte (2022-08-31). Gorillaz announce new album 'Cracker Island', release 'New Gold' with Tame Impala and Bootie Brown (en-GB).
139. ↑ Gorillaz Announce Album, Share New Song Featuring Tame Impala (en-US) (2022-08-31).
140. ↑ The following references cite the band as art pop:

	* Wright, Danny (1 June 2017). Gorillaz review – Albarn's Demon Dayz festival brings joyful apocalypse to the pier. *The Guardian*.
	* Breihan, Tom (20 March 2017). Leaked Gorillaz Demos Support Rumored New Album Tracklist. Stereogum.
	* Template:Cite magazine
	* Template:Cite magazine
	* Boller, Jay (17 August 2012). Music: Gorillaz in our midst. *Star Tribune*.
	* Breihan, Tom (20 March 2017). Leaked Gorillaz Demos Support Rumored New Album Tracklist. *Yahoo Entertainment*. ""the return of Damon Albarn's beloved art-pop project Gorillaz""
	* Benjamin Clementine Biography. AllMusic. ""Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's art-pop project Gorillaz's fourth album, Humanz"."
141. ↑ The following references cite the band as alternative rock:

	* Gorillaz plan 'Escape to Plastic Beach' world tour. *The Independent*.
	* Hughes, William (8 October 2016). Gorillaz update us on what Russel's been up to, too. *The A.V. Club*.
	* How To Watch The Gorillaz 360° Music Video on Any VR Headset – VRScout. vrscout.com (28 March 2017).
	* New Gorillaz Music Due For Release In 2016 – Music Feeds (13 October 2015).
	* A List of Bands You're Not Allowed to Like Anymore Since "Alternative" Became a Bad Word (27 January 2017).
	* Inside the Gorillaverse: A Look at Alt-Rock's Best Cartoon Band. Metacritic.
142. ↑ The following references cite the band as hip hop:

	* Petridis, Alexis (13 May 2005). Gorillaz, Demon Days. *The Guardian*.
	* Template:Cite magazine
	* Davidson, Eric (7 June 2017). The 10 best Gorillaz collaborations with hip hop artists. District.
143. ↑ The following references describe the band as electronic or electronica:

	* Template:Cite magazine
	* Kabran, Michael (7 March 2010). Gorillaz: Plastic Beach.
	* Template:Cite magazine
144. ↑ The following references describe the band as trip hop:

	* Template:Cite magazine
	* <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Grant, Kieran (20 January 2001). "Gorillaz in his midst". Jam!. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
	* <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Lee, Lisa (1 June 2007). "Miho Hatori Uses Her Noodle". *AsianWeek*. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
145. ↑ The following references cite the band as pop:

	* Template:Cite magazine
	* Brown, Cass; Gorillaz (2 November 2006). *Rise of the Ogre*. United States: Penguin. pp. 43–7. ISBN 1-59448-931-9.
	* Template:Cite magazine
146. ↑ The following references cite the band as dark pop:

	* A 10 Album Introduction To Damon Albarn (5 October 2016).
	* Blur News – Damon talks about "Demon Days" and his future projects – Apr 7, 2005.
147. ↑ The following references cite the band as alternative hip hop or alternative rap:

	* A List of Bands You're Not Allowed to Like Anymore Since "Alternative" Became a Bad Word (27 January 2017).
	* Gorillaz Co-Creator Jamie Hewlett Preps Retrospective Art Book. *Music Times* (3 December 2014). ""In other Gorillaz news, Damon Albarn recently revealed plans to revive the beloved alternative hip-hop outfit, telling *The Sydney Morning Herald* that he intends on releasing a new Gorillaz album in 2016.""
148. ↑ The following references cite the band as rap rock:

	* Template:Cite magazine
	* Palmer, Sean (8 May 2017). Gorillaz in the midst of rap-rock | The Queanbeyan Age.
149. ↑ 10 Best Gorillaz Songs.
150. ↑ Gorillaz's 'The Now Now" Rises From a Personal Place of Ennui for Damon Albarn (3 July 2018).
151. ↑ "The Singles Collection 2001–2011". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 November 2014
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159. ↑ Gorillaz's Damon Albarn talks to the Doctor (Part 1) (22 March 2010).
160. ↑ Rachel, Daniel (2014). *The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters*. St. Martin's Publishing Group. pp. 387. ISBN 978-1250051295.
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174. ↑ JAMIE HEWLETT Graphic Artist (1968– ) Designer of the Year 2006. Design Museum. "Q. What or who inspires you? A. Jack Davis, Ronald Searle, Liberatore, Moebius, Tony Hart."
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176. ↑ Interview: Jamie Hewlett (Gorillaz) – Sex, Tanks & Kangaroos. Glasgow University Magazine.
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186. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Daly, Rhian (27 November 2018). "Matty Healy says 'Music For Cars' era is The 1975's 'Gorillaz moment'". *NME*.
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217. ↑ Gorillaz O2 Priority walk advert (HD).
218. ↑ Murdoc's tour of Gorillaz.com & IE9.
219. ↑ Converse x Gorillaz Chuck Taylor Fall 2012 Sneaker Collection (26 July 2012).
220. ↑ Panasonic Jaguar Racing | Noodle Announced as Global Ambassador.
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## External links

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