Gorillaz

Name	Gorillaz
Landscape	Yes
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Essex, UK
Genre	Alternative hip hop, alternative rock
Years active	1998–present
Associated acts	Blur, The Good, the Bad & the Queen
Label	Parlophone, Virgin, EMI
Url
Current members	Damon AlbarnJamie Hewlett

Gorillaz is a British musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of the Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters. This band is composed of four animated members: 2D (lead vocalist, keyboard, and melodica), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar and drum machine), Noodle (guitar, keyboard, and occasional vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). Their fictional universe is explored through the band's website and music videos, as well as a number of other media, such as short cartoons. The music is a collaboration between various musicians, Albarn being the only permanent musical contributor. Their style is a composition of multiple musical genres, with a large number of influences including: dub, hip hop, alternative rock, electronic and pop music.

The band's 2001 debut album Gorillaz sold over seven million copies and earned them an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize 2001, but the nomination was later withdrawn at the band's request. Their second studio album, Demon Days, released in 2005, went five times platinum in the UK, double platinum in the United States, earned five Grammy Award nominations for 2006 and won one of them in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category. Gorillaz have also released two B-sides compilations and a remix album. The combined sales of Gorillaz and Demon Days had, by 2007, exceeded 20 million albums. The band's third studio album, Plastic Beach, was released in March 2010. Their latest album, The Fall, was released in December 2010 as a free download for sub-division members, then in April 2011 as a physical release.

History

Formation and early years (1998–1999)

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett created Gorillaz in 1998 when they were living together in a flat on Westbourne Grove. The idea to create the band came about when the two were watching MTV, "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 cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that," Hewlett said. The band originally identified themselves as "Gorilla", and the first song they recorded was "Ghost Train", later released as a B-side on their single "Rock the House" and the B-side compilation G Sides. The trio of musicians behind Gorillaz' first incarnation included Damon Albarn, Del the Funkee Homosapien and Dan the Automator, who had previously worked together on the track "Time Keeps on Slipping" for Deltron 3030's eponymous debut album. The song can be seen as the genesis of the musical style that continued into Gorillaz' first album.

Phase One: Celebrity Take Down (2000–2003)

The band's first release was the EP Tomorrow Comes Today, released in 2000. The band's first single, "Clint Eastwood", was released on 5 March 2001. It was produced by Hip-Hop producer Dan the Automator and originally featured Luton-based rap group Phi Life Cypher, however the version that appears on the album features American rapper Del tha Funkee Homosapien known on the album as Del tha' Ghost Rapper who is a spirit in the band's drummer Russel Hobbs, however the Phi Life Cypher version of Clint Eastwood appears on the B-Side album G-Sides, the Live performance has seen the likes of Snoop Dogg, Phi Life Cypher, Eslam Jawaad, Bashy & Kano perform the rap in the absence of Del. Later that same month, their first full-length album, the self-titled Gorillaz, was released, producing four singles: "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000", "Tomorrow Comes Today", and "Rock the House". "19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)" became popular after being featured in both an Ice Breakers commercial, as well as in EA Sports' FIFA Football 2002. Around this time, a half-hour TV mockumentary entitled Charts of Darkness was released. It follows Channel 4 news reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy attempting to track down Albarn and Hewlett after they were placed in an insane asylum.

The end of the year brought the song "911", a collaboration between Gorillaz and rap artists D12 (without Eminem) and Terry Hall about the September 11 attacks. Meanwhile G Sides, a compilation of the B-sides from the Tomorrow Comes Today EP and first three singles, was released in Japan on 12 December 2001 and quickly followed with international releases in early 2002. The new year also saw the band perform at the 2002 BRIT Awards, appearing in 3D animation on four large screens along with rap accompaniment by Phi Life Cypher. The band was nominated for six awards at the event, including Best British Group, Best British Album and Best British Newcomer, but left the award show empty-handed. Finally, Laika Come Home, a dub remix album, containing most of the tracks from Gorillaz reworked by Spacemonkeyz, was released in June 2002. The single to follow, "Lil' Dub Chefin'", contained an original track by the Spacemonkeyz titled "Spacemonkeyz Theme".

In November 2002, a DVD titled was released, giving the phase its name. The DVD contains the four Phase One promos, the abandoned video for "5/4", the Charts of Darkness documentary, the five Gorilla Bitez (short vignettes), a tour of the website by the MEL 9000 server and more. The DVD's menu was designed much like the band's website and depicts an abandoned Kong Studios. Rumors were circulating at this time that the Gorillaz team were busy preparing a film, but at an EMI interview, they later revealed that plans for the film were abandoned. Haruka Kuroda, who voices the character Noodle, told the fan website Gorillaz-Unofficial that Jamie Hewlett rejected many scripts before giving up on the film. Hewlett later explained why the film was abandoned, "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."

Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades (2004–2007)

On 8 December 2004, the band's website reopened with an exclusive video entitled "Rock It". Along with the music video, there was an announcement of a new album on the way, which would be produced by Danger Mouse. A talent contest entitled Search for a Star was also launched on 15 December 2004, allowing fans to send in a minute-long clip of video or audio or an image file. A viral marketing project named Reject False Icons was formed criticising modern pop figures.

The first single from the album was "Feel Good Inc.", released as an EP in Japan and as a CD single in Europe and Australia. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at #22, several weeks before the CD single was released due to the single being released as a 7" vinyl in April, and new charts regulations included sales at online music stores, where the song had been available since 22 March. "Feel Good Inc." managed to reach #2 in the UK Singles Chart the week it was released, being the band's highest ever positioned single up to that point in time. The single stayed in the top ten for eight consecutive weeks. In the United States, it peaked at #14. The song also garnered a Record of the Year nomination for the 2006 Grammy Awards later that year. It was later included in the popular PlayStation 2 title SingStar, a game where players attempt to sing along karaoke style. It was also recently included on Activision´s Guitar Hero 5 and was released as downloadable content on Harmonix and MTV Games' Rock Band.

The album Demon Days was released on 11 May 2005 in Japan, 23 May in the United Kingdom and Australia, and on 24 May in the United States. The album debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, but fell as low as #29 in just seven weeks. However, as the music video for the second single "DARE" started getting played on MTV and other music channels, Demon Days rose up to the top 10 again. "DARE" was released on 29 August 2005 in the UK, where it debuted at #1. A Japanese EP followed on 7 September. "DARE" eventually reached #87 in the United States, also becoming a Top 10 hit on the Modern Rock listings. Shortly afterwards, Gorillaz contributed an exclusive track entitled "Hong Kong" to the charity compilation released on 10 September 2005.

The third single off Demon Days was "Dirty Harry", which had already been released as a promotional single earlier that year. It was released in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2005. On its first week, it charted at #6. The release of the single raised the album once again back up to the top 10. The fourth and final single was the double A-side, "Kids with Guns"/"El Mañana". It was released in the UK on 10 April 2006. Unlike its Top 10 predecessors, "Kids With Guns" / "El Mañana" reached #27 upon its release in the UK. A week later, the single had fallen out of the Top 40 in the UK (see 2006 in British music). By the end of 2005, Demon Days had sold over a million copies in the UK, making it the UK's fifth best selling album of 2005. Demon Days has since gone five times platinum in the UK, and has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.

Plans were unveiled for Gorillaz to go on a holographic world tour in 2007 and 2008. The cartoon members would be shown as holograms on stage using Musion Eyeliner technology, giving them a life-like appearance on stage. The holograms were first used at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards on 3 November 2005 and again at the 2006 Grammy Awards on 8 February 2006 with the addition of a virtual Madonna, where the band played a pre-recorded version of "Feel Good Inc." However, the tour was eventually called off due to budget issues. Jamie Hewlett has stated that "...it was extremely expensive, extremely difficult, a million and one things can go wrong, every second that the thing's playing."

In 2005, a set of Gorillaz figures were released by Kidrobot to coincide with the release of Demon Days. Two variations of the set were released, known as the Red and Black editions, and a limited edition Noodle from the music video for "DARE" was also released. Three new sets of Gorillaz vinyl figures were released in 2006. The Basic set was released on 16 October 2006 and the 2-tone and White edition sets were released on 2 November 2006.

On 21 September 2006, the main lobby of Kong Studios was destroyed by Murdoc for the money he had invested in it, as revealed in the game Escape to Plastic Beach. and a teaser clip for Slowboat to Hades appeared and could be played on a TV screen. The DVD was released on 30 October in the United Kingdom, and 31 October in the United States. The official Gorillaz illustrated autobiography, titled Rise of the Ogre, was released on 31 October 2006 in the United Kingdom, and 2 November in the United States. D-Sides, a compilation of B-side and remixes, was released on 19 November 2007 in the UK and on 20 November 2007 in the US.

Hopes for a Gorillaz film were revived in 2006 when Hewlett stated that they would be producing the film on their own. American film producer and Weinstein Company co-chairman, Harvey Weinstein, was also said to be collaborating with Albarn and Hewlett. In a September 2006 interview with Uncut magazine, Albarn was reported saying "[Gorillaz] has been a fantastic journey which isn't over, because we're making a film. We've got Terry Gilliam involved. But as far as being in a big band and putting pop music out there, it's finished. We won't be doing that any more." In an interview with the Gorillaz-Unofficial fansite, Jamie Hewlett and Cass Browne revealed that in the film the band members will act as other characters presenting a new story, instead of playing themselves. Hewlett also said that the film's soundtrack will be the next Gorillaz album. "The soundtrack will be the third album. Damon will do the soundtrack, which will be the soundtrack, which will be the third album." As of April 2007, Cass Browne is still finishing the script and Albarn has said that he hopes production of the film will begin in September 2007. No further news was heard about the film until February 2008 when, in an interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Hewlett said "Ultimately we didn't think that feel we're in a position to make the kind of movie we want to make with Gorillaz at the moment. [...] But I'd still like to make a full, lavishly-animated Gorillaz movie someday."

On 24 October 2007, the official Gorillaz fansite announced that a documentary film about the Gorillaz, titled Bananaz, would be released. The film, directed by Ceri Levy, documents the previous seven years of the band. The film was released online on the Babelgum website on 20 April 2009 followed by the DVD release on 1 June 2009. Gorillaz also appeared on the Martina Topley-Bird song Soldier Boy along with rapper Roots Manuva, the song interpolates certain elements from the Gorillaz demo "Snakes & Ladders" which also features Roots Manuva & Martina Topley-Bird.

Plastic Beach and The Fall (2009–present)

In late 2007, Albarn and Hewlett began working on Carousel, a new Gorillaz project which eventually evolved into the band's third studio album Plastic Beach.

Albarn said "I'm making this the biggest and most pop record I've ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to try and at least present something that has got depth."

On 18 January 2010, it was announced that Gorillaz would be headlining the final night of the Coachella music festival on 18 April 2010. The first single from the album, "Stylo", featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def was made available for download 26 January 2010. Further singles from the album include "On Melancholy Hill", "Superfast Jellyfish" and "Rhinestone Eyes", as well as "White Flag", which was released exclusively for Record Store Day 2010.

Plastic Beach was first released on 3 March 2010 in Japan, followed by multiple other dates for other countries. The album received positive reviews from critics. To fit the Plastic Beach theme, the Gorillaz website was dramatically altered and changed. A virtual tour of the Plastic Beach was added, including a new Gorillaz game titled 'Escape to the Plastic Beach'. Several 'Shorts' of each band member was included in the follow-up to the albums release, to give fans an understanding of the fictional band members' story before their arrival to the island. A Windows 7 theme was also released. An international tour was announced in mid-2010 to promote the album, however it was only in the UK and Ireland. Later, in early July 2010, they announced their first world tour, titled the "Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour." The UK tour was merged with the world tour, and the UK dates were cancelled or rescheduled to fit the new schedule.

On 5 October 2010, Gorillaz announced their new single "Doncamatic" featuring Daley. It premiered later that same day on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show. The single was released on 22 November 2010.

On 8 December 2010 Albarn confirmed via an interview that a Gorillaz album recorded on the American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach tour will be released to download for free exclusively to paying fan club members from the Gorillaz website on Christmas Day, 25 December 2010. On 15 December 2010, Albarn confirmed whilst interviewed on Triple J that the new album would be titled The Fall as it was recorded on their American tour in October. The official video for "Phoner to Arizona" was also released on Gorillaz' official website for free on December 24, 2010. It was announced that Gorillaz would be performing on March 16, 2011 at the MTV Woodie awards. They were also been nominated for the Best Video Woodie for "Stylo" at the MTV woodie awards.

Gorillaz is also planning to release a digital single of the tracks "Revolving Doors" and "Amarillo" from their new album The Fall on 14 March 2011. Photos were released of frontman Damon Albarn & USA rapper Pharrell Williams recording with an iPad, Omnichord & Korg Donca Matic when on Gorillaz' Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour, Albarn said in an interview that he does not know when the track will be released.

On April 18, 2011 Gorillaz announced the release of their own version of the iPad app iElectribe, by Korg - which features many loops & samples taken from The Fall as well as other samples,this new Gorillaz version not only features a Gorillaz designed and styled interface, but is also 'customized to generate Gorillaz samples from their fourth album "The Fall"' and includes 128 new sounds created by Gorillaz and 64 ready-to-use pre-programmed patterns from Gorillaz, Stephen Sedgwick (Gorillaz' engineer) and Korg. There have been noted problems with the app's availability outside of the United Kingdom). The app was based on KORG'S ELECTRIBE: R device app.

Band members

Fictional band members

Stuart "2D" Pot – lead vocals, keyboards, melodica, rhythm guitar (1998–present)

Murdoc Niccals – bass guitar and drum machine (1998–Present)

Noodle – lead guitar, backing vocals (2000–Present)

Russel Hobbs – drums, percussion (1998–2006)

Cyborg Noodle – lead guitar (2010–present)

Former members

Paula Cracker – lead guitar (1998–2000)

Actual members

In the half-hour TV mockumentary Charts of Darkness, it was explicitly stated that Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were behind the project. Albarn said "There could be fifty [people] here, but there's two". The first album featured the voice of Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto as Noodle, most notably on the song "19-2000", and Tina Weymouth formerly of Talking Heads. Phil Cornwell provides the voice of Murdoc. The band's music videos (with the exception of "Rock It" and "Tomorrow Comes Today") are created by Passion Pictures. The live band's current lineup includes half of The Clash (Mick Jones and Paul Simonon).

Damon Albarn – vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar, melodica (1998–present)

Jamie Hewlett – illustration, visuals, FX (1998–present)

Mike Smith – keyboards (1998 – present)

Cass Browne – drums, percussion (1998 – present)

Live members –

Live performances

, New York in April 2006]] Between 1 November and 5 November 2005, there was a Gorillaz festival at the Manchester Opera House. The event was filmed by an EMI film crew for a DVD release, Demon Days Live, in late March 2006. It was later announced that an American version of the event would take place from 2 April to 6 April 2006 at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem. Within an hour of release tickets were sold out. The 6 April show was filmed for a live webcast at MSN Video. Palladia (then known as MHD) also broadcasted an Apollo Theater show in HDTV on 31 December 2006.

A world tour was planned using the hologram technology described above. These will both feature the full Gorillaz production, including video animation, artwork and film. On 22 March they were announced for Roskilde Festival. On 22 April, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett appeared on. Gorillaz kicked off their first ever world tour on 20 July at Byblos, Lebanon. The tour took them across America in October, Europe in November, and finally through Australia, New Zealand, and one date in Asia in December.

On 25 July 2010, Gorillaz performed a concert at the Citadel of Damascus in Syria.

The Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour officially kicked off in Montreal, Canada on 3 October to rave reviews.

During the Gorillaz show at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand on 21 December 2010, Damon Albarn announced that it would be their final live show with the Plastic Beach line up.

Gorillaz are to appear as part of the line up for London's 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on July 12, 2012, alongside Coldplay, Muse and The Rolling Stones, according to few if any sources besides Last.fm.

Discography

Studio albums

Gorillaz (2001)

Demon Days (2005)

Plastic Beach (2010)

The Fall (2010)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Category:2000s music groups Category:2010s music groups Category:Animated musical groups Category:Bands with fictional stage personas Category:British alternative rock groups Category:British hip hop groups Category:English dance music groups Category:English rock music groups Category:Fictional musical groups Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musical groups established in 1998 Category:Parlophone artists Category:Virgin Records artists Category:World record holders