Damon Albarn Albarn performing at a Blur concert . Damon Albarn , ( born March 23 , 1968 in Leytonstone , London ) , is an English singer-songwriter who gained fame as the lead singer of rock band Blur . Though Blur has not disbanded , of late Albarn has been more active as a member of Gorillaz and as a solo artist . Early years Albarn 's early life was spent living in Leytonstone with his parents Hazel and Keith and his sister Jessica . He has described a very liberal and hippy-like upbringing . His family then lived in Turkey for a few months . When he turned ten , his family moved to Colchester , Essex , England due to the needs of his father 's teaching career . Albarn then attended Stanway Comprehensive School . He met future Blur guitarist Graham Coxon at school and found they both liked similar bands , such as the Jam , the Kinks , and the Human League . After finishing secondary school , Albarn moved to London to attend the East 15 Acting School , losing contact with Coxon . He concluded after one year 's stay that he was a terrible actor ( although he did star in the 1997 film Face ) and instead took up writing and performing music . Some of the songs he wrote in his early recording days later became Blur songs , such as `` Birthday '' on their debut album , Leisure . At the age of fifteen , he won an award for `` Young Composer of the Year '' . Blur In 1988 , Albarn enrolled at Goldsmiths College in New Cross , London , England ; he took a part-time course which he claims he did `` just to get on campus '' . There , he met up with Coxon once more . After recording a number of demo tapes together , the two formed `` Circus , `` at which point Coxon introduced Albarn to Alex James . With the addition of Dave Rowntree , the band began playing as `` Seymour '' . Before long the band was signed to Food Records and changed its name to Blur . Albarn and Blur gained commercial and critical success on the back of 1994s Parklife , and Albarn became one of the leading lights in the Britpop movement . However , their success also lay partly in a well documented feud with fellow Britpop band Oasis . Though at the 1995 Brit Awards Albarn had announced he thought Blur 's `` Best Band '' award should be shared with Oasis , by 1996 relations had soured . The differing styles of the bands , Oasis being gritty , working-class , and Northern , and Blur being art rock , middle-class , and Southern , coupled with their prominence within the Britpop movement , led the British media to seize upon the supposed rivalry between the bands , and Albarn , along with Alex James , exchanged insults with Oasis ' Noel and Liam Gallagher through the press . Noel Gallagher courted controversy , telling The Observer that he hoped Albarn and Alex James would `` catch AIDS and die '' . Liam Gallagher lobbed insults at Albarn 's girlfriend Justine Frischmann , claiming he wanted to have sex with her . The rivalry culminated in the so-called `` Battle of Britpop `` which saw Blur move the release date of their single `` Country House `` to coincide with the release of Oasis `` Roll With It `` . This sparked a media frenzy , with Albarn being interviewed on the BBC news . Gallagher maintains that the rivalry was conceived by the magazine NME and members of Blur 's entourage as a ploy to raise their respective profiles on the back of Oasis ' success and that since this point he has had no respect for either party . However , Albarn has suggested the roots of the feud were much more personal . Albarn is now reluctant to talk about the feud , feeling the whole affair - his own actions included - were embarrassing . In 1997 , Albarn branched out into acting , appearing in the British film Face . As of 2006 Blur has released seven full-length albums , five of which went to # 1 in the United Kingdom and all of which reached the top 15 . Albarn has written the lyrics to nearly every song released by the band since their formation . He had publicly stated he was waiting for the return of Graham Coxon , who left the band prior to the release of Think Tank , to produce more Blur material ; however , Coxon has refused to return , and Albarn stated in September 2005 that he will play guitar on the next Blur record . Albarn Quoted , `` If Coxon wo n't return then I 'll be playing guitar but it 'll just be fast , punk songs . Why do n't I get another guitarist ? Because there 's none better than Coxon. '' See the `` On Hiatus Again '' section of the main Blur article for more information . Gorillaz Albarn formed virtual cartoon rock band Gorillaz with Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett in 1999 . With a decidedly ambiguous line-up , the group has released two full-length studio albums to date . Their music has featured contributions from Danger Mouse , Simon Tong ( who also played guitar for Blur in live performances ) , Miho Hatori , Sweetie Irie , De La Soul , Bootie Brown , MF Doom , Redman , Tina Weymouth , Roots Manuva , Neneh Cherry , Rosie Wilson , Martina Topley-Bird , Dennis Hopper , Ike Turner , and Del The Funkee Homosapien among others . Gorillaz and Demon Days have done well in both the United States and the United Kingdom , as well as their respective hit singles `` Clint Eastwood `` , `` Feel Good Inc . `` , `` 19-2000 `` , `` DARE `` , `` Dirty Harry `` and `` Kids With Guns / El Mañana `` . Solo career Albarn released Mali Music in 2002 . As the name suggests , the album 's recording sessions were done in Mali , a trip he made to support Oxfam in 2000 . He has also visited Nigeria to record music with African drummer Tony Allen . Albarn says he would like to produce a Blur album in Baghdad as he `` likes the Iraqi style of music '' . He also released Democrazy in 2003 , a collection of demos he recorded while staying in hotel rooms on the U.S. portion of Blur 's tour for Think Tank . Albarn has also appeared on other unrelated works . His song `` Closet Romantic '' appeared on the soundtrack for Trainspotting alongside an early Blur recording , `` Sing `` . Fatboy Slim 's 2004 release Palookaville featured Albarn 's vocals on the song `` Put It Back Together '' . Albarn provided the voiceover intro and backing vocals in the song `` Time Keeps On Slipping '' for the rap concept album Deltron 3030 , and featured on the track `` Lovage ( Love That Lovage , Baby ) `` for the Lovage album Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By . Both albums were produced by Dan the Automator , who also produced Gorillaz ' debut album . Albarn also composed the score with collaboration by Michael Nyman for the 1999 movie `` Ravenous `` with Guy Pearce and Robert Carlyle . It is described as `` an eerie mix of symphonic orchestrations and clunky ragtime '' which went arguably well with the movie 's cannibalistic themes . The Good , the Bad and the Queen In May 2006 , it was reported that Albarn was again working with Danger Mouse , this time recording his first solo album which was tentatively titled The Good , the Bad and the Queen . However , in July 2006 , NME reported that plans to produce a solo album had been switched to forming a new band . NME also reported that the new band would be titled The Good , the Bad and the Queen , with a single called `` Herculean '' , due to be released 30th of October and an album in January 2007 . The line-up was reported to include Albarn with former Clash bassist Paul Simonon , Verve/Blur/Gorillaz guitarist Simon Tong , and drummer Tony Allen ( Fela Kuti 's band , Africa 70 ) . The band 's name was originally believed to be `` The Good , The Bad and the Queen '' it is now understood that this is the album 's name ; the band , it appears , will never have a name . Monkey : Journey To The West In October 2006 , it was announced that Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett will work together on their first major work since Gorillaz , a project for the Manchester International Festival in Manchester , UK. Monkey : Journey To The West will be a re-working of an ancient Chinese legend . Albarn will write the score , Hewlett will do the set design and costume . Written and adapted by Chen Shi-Zheng , whose credits range from classical Chinese opera to the Meryl Streep movie , Dark Matter , the show will also feature 45 Chinese circus acrobats , Shaolin monks and Chinese vocalists . It 's Albarn and Hewlett 's second collaboration with the newly-created Manchester International Festival . In November , 2005 , they staged the first-ever live performances of Demon Days Live involving many of the artists who had played on the successful Demon Days album , as a launch event for the festival . . Personal life Albarn had a long-standing relationship with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann . His involvement with her profoundly influenced his songwriting in Blur in the late 1990s . `` Beetlebum , `` opening track and chart-topping hit single from Blur , is said to be about Frischmann 's heroin addiction. 13 , Blur 's sixth album , presents strong overtones brought about by their break-up . He now lives in Bayswater , London with artist Suzi Winstanley , and their daughter Missy was born in 1999 . Albarn is outspokenly anti-war and has criticized the United States ' wars in Afghanistan and Iraq . In 2002 he took out full page advertisements in the NME challenging the need for war , along with Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack , which they paid for personally . In 2005 , Albarn , among others , criticized the London Live 8 concert for not featuring enough black artists ; this resulted in the addition of Ms. Dynamite , Snoop Dogg , and Youssou N'Dour to the programme . Albarn said he did n't want to perform in the concert because he thought it was too `` exclusive '' and may have been motivated by self-gain . In the nineties he spent a good deal of time in Reykjavík and for a time he became something of a permanent fixture in the `` Kaffibarinn `` , a bar/café of which he was part owner . All its regular patrons were full of stories of his drinking abilities , considered somewhat impressive by the local Icelanders . He currently owns a house in Grafarvogur , a suburb of Reykjavík . Trivia Albarn has on numerous occasions used the alias `` Dan Abnormal '' ( an anagram of his name ) , most famously in the title of a song on Blur 's 1995 album The Great Escape . Albarn was recently nominated as one of PETA 's Sexiest Vegetarians . November 2006 's special edition of Q Magazine to represent its anniversary are publishing 20 different version of the magazine containing a cover of a different musical legend . Damon appears on the cover of one of the 20 editions . Discography For detailed Blur and Gorillaz discographies , see their respective articles : Blur , Gorillaz . Ravenous ( movie soundtrack ) 1999 Written and performed by Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman . 101 Reykjavík ( movie soundtrack ) - 4 March 2002 Mali Music - 15 April 2002 Democrazy ( 10 '' vinyl release ) - 8 December 2003 References ^ Pierce , Ryan . Top 10 Music Rivalries : Number 5 : Blur vs . Oasis . AskMen.com . Retrieved on January 17 , 2006 . ^ Gallagher and Albarn both interviewed on Live Forever : The Rise and Fall of Britpop ; John Dower ; 2003 ^ Fearne Cotton and Russell Brand Voted 'Sexiest Vegetarians ' - PETA UK Sources and external links Wikimedia Commons has media related to : Damon Albarn Damon Albarn interview Albarn 's Mali mission - BBC News Blur biography IMDB entry on Damon Albarn Blur Damon Albarn | Alex James | Dave Rowntree Graham Coxon Blur discography Albums : Leisure | Modern Life Is Rubbish | Parklife | The Great Escape | Blur | 13 | Think Tank Compilations : The Special Collectors Edition | Live at the Budokan | The 10 Year Limited Edition Anniversary Box Set | Bustin ' + Dronin ' | Blur : The Best of Singles : See Blur Singles Related articles The Ailerons | Britpop | Fat Les | Food Records | The Good , the Bad and the Queen | Gorillaz | Stephen Street | Simon Tong | WigWam This box :   view • talk • edit Gorillaz 2D | Murdoc Niccals | Noodle | Russel Hobbs Gorillaz discography Albums and EPs : Tomorrow Comes Today | Gorillaz | G-Sides | Laika Come Home | Demon Days DVDs : Phase One : Celebrity Take Down | Demon Days Live | Phase Two : Slowboat to Hades Singles : Clint Eastwood | 19-2000 | Rock the House | 911 | Tomorrow Comes Today | Lil ' Dub Chefin ' | Feel Good Inc. | DARE | Dirty Harry | Kids With Guns / El Mañana Related articles Britpop | Blur | Damon Albarn | Jamie Hewlett | Dan the Automator | Danger Mouse | Del tha Funkee Homosapien | Zombie Flesh Eaters | Passion Pictures | Deltron 3030 | Gorillaz movie | Rise Of The Ogre Categories : Blur | 1968 births | Living people | English songwriters | English male singers | English keyboardists | English musicians | Alumni of Goldsmiths College | English vegetarians | Melodica players | Falsettos | Ivor Novello Award winners In other languages : Català | Dansk | Deutsch | Español | Français | Galego | Italiano | Nederlands | 日本語 | Polski | Português | Svenska | Türkçe Pierce , Ryan Top 10 Music Rivalries : Number 5 : Blur vs . Oasis AskMen.com http : //www.askmen.com/toys/top_10_100/121c_top_10_list.html January 17 2006 Damon Albarn 