Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn is a musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-founder, lead vocalist, instrumentalist, and songwriter of the virtual band Gorillaz.

After spending long periods touring the U.S., Albarn's songwriting became increasingly influenced by British bands from the 1960s. The result was "Modern Life Is Rubbish", "Parklife" and "The Great Escape". All three albums received critical acclaim while Blur gained mass popularity in the UK, aided by a Britpop rivalry with Oasis.

Albarn formed the virtual band Gorillaz in 1998 with comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. Drawing influences from hip hop, dub, pop, trip hop, and world music, Gorillaz released their self-titled debut album in 2001 to worldwide success.

Albarn's other projects include two supergroups: The Good, the Bad & the Queen and Rocket Juice & the Moon, working with the non-profit organization Africa Express, which he co-founded, and composing film soundtracks. He has also scored stage productions. His debut solo studio album "Everyday Robots" was released in 2014.

In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked Albarn number 18 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". In 2016, Albarn received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 New Year Honors for services to music.