Gorillaz is the most successful virtual band ever, fronted by four wildly
talented but totally disparate characters: pretty-but-vacant singer 2D, satanic
bassist Murdoc Niccals, Japanese guitar prodigy Noodle and amiable man-mountain
drummer Russel Hobbs.
Formed in 2000, their eponymous debut album was
released to wide acclaim and 5 million+ sales the following year. Gorillaz
introduced the world to the animated four-piece, with lead-off single Clint
Eastwood scoring a massive hit worldwide, and the band's astonishingly inventive
promos becoming a fixture on music television everywhere. Gorillaz.com, the
band’s online hangout, attracted anything up to half a million visitors a
month.
Second album Demon Days was launched in May 2005, and spawned the hit singles
Feel Good Inc., DARE and Dirty Harry. Demon Days was produced with the help of
Damon Albarn and Danger Mouse, and features a stellar roll-call of guests
including Ike Turner, Dennis Hopper, Neneh Cherry and De La Soul. Gorillaz were
crowned Best Group at the MTV Europe Awards 2005 and in 2006 received 5 Grammy
nominations and two Brit Awards nods. Live shows include a mindblowing
performance with Madonna at 2005’s MTV EMAs, and two rapturously-received five
night runs at the Manchester International Festival and New York’s Harlem
Apollo. Demon Days has sold 6 million albums world wide. |
Austin Wilde
