Damon Albarn

Damon-Albarn_1022x464_acf_cropped

Damon Albarn wrote the song The Bravest Man of the Universe with Bobby Womack and Richard Russell. The ISO performed it in the summer 2012 in front of the world largest windtunnel at NASA Ames Research Center, CA, USA. The song was then sent to the International Space Station in the summer 2015.

More about Damon Albarn:

Damon Albarn, OBE  is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is the lead singer of the alternative rock band Blur as well as co-founder, vocalist, instrumentalist and principal songwriter of the virtual band Gorillaz.

Raised in Leytonstone, East London and around Colchester, Essex, Albarn attended the Stanway School, where he met Graham Coxon and eventually formed Blur, whose debut album Leisure was released in 1991 to mixed reviews. After spending long periods of time touring the United States, Albarn’s songwriting became increasingly influenced by British bands from the 1960s. The result of these influences came in the form of Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). All three albums received widespread critical acclaim while Blur gained mass popularity in the UK, aided by a rivalry shared with Oasis. Subsequent albums such as Blur (1997), 13 (1999), Think Tank (2003) and The Magic Whip (2015) contained influences from lo-fi, electronic and hip hop music. Albarn was voted the fourth-greatest frontman of all time in a 2010 UK poll for Q music magazine.

Along with Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett, Albarn formed the “virtual band” Gorillaz in 1998. Drawing influences from alternative rock, trip hop, hip hop, electronica, dub, reggae and pop music, the band released their self-titled debut album in 2001; it was hugely successful worldwide. Although Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, the albums feature many collaborations from a wide range of artists. Gorillaz are cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Most Successful Virtual Band”. Other projects include working with African musicians in aid of the charity Oxfam, writing and performing lead vocals on The Good, the Bad & the Queen as part of an unnamed supergroup featuring Tony Allen, Paul Simonon and Simon Tong and composing film soundtracks. He has also ventured into the world of opera with Dr Dee and Monkey: Journey to the West. He is also a Chelsea F.C. fan and frequently attends their games at Stamford Bridge.

Albarn’s debut solo studio album Everyday Robots—co-produced by XL Recordings CEO Richard Russell—was released on 28 April 2014 and featured collaborations with Brian Eno, Natasha Khan and the Leytonstone City Pentecostal Mission Church Choir as well as sampling several rants by Lord Buckley.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to music.