Damon Albarn Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

James Blunt has recalled the time that Damon Albarn didn’t want to be photographed with him for an episode of Later… With Jools Holland.The topic arose during a discussion with actor Kathy Burke on an episode of her podcast series Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake. It heard the singer-songwriter recall the shun that he received from the Blur frontman.Recalling feeling “a little bit annoyed” about one of the passages in Blunt’s new memoir Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story, Burke asked the artist about the passage where he discussed his appearance on the Later… With Jools Holland show – namely a moment that happened off camera.“They do this sort of group photo of all the bands at the end… was it Damon Albarn who refused to be in the photograph or didn’t want you in the photograph?” she asked.“I don’t know exactly.

The Human League have announced details of a 2024 UK Arena tour.The legendary ’80s synth-pop band will tour the UK in late 2024 with their ‘Generations 2024’ tour hitting Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton, Bournemouth, Glasgow, Leeds and London.Tickets for the event will go on sale on November 3 from 10am here.Check out the full list of UK dates here:DECEMBER 5 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff 6 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham 9 – Brighton Centre, Brighton 10 – Windsor Hall (BIC), Bournemouth 12 – Ovo Hydro, Glasgow 13 – First Direct Arena, Leeds 14 – OVO Arena Wembley, LondonThe new wave band formed in 1977 and achieved huge success in the ’80s with hits including ‘Don’t You Want Me’, ‘Mirror Man’ and ‘Tell Me When.’ They won a BRIT award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982.Lead singer Philip Oakey has been the band’s consistent member since 1977 while keyboard players Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh both left the band to form Heaven 17. The group now consists of Oakey and long-serving vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Anne Sulley.The band have been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Blossoms last year who performed a rendition of ‘Don’t You Want Me’ at Truck Festival.Towards the end of their 18-track set, Blossoms treated the crowd to their own spin on the 1981 anthem ‘Don’t You Want Me’ and later shared footage of the cover on Instagram.

EXCLUSIVE: Celebrated Oregon studio Laika has brought in new talent, hiring director Pete Candeland, along with Victor Maldonado & Alfredo Torres, the Annie Award-winning duo together known as Headless, to develop new animated features. The appointments are effective immediately, though there’s no word yet on what the projects are.

Peter Hook & The Light were joined onstage by Damon Albarn for a performance of the Gorillaz song ‘Aries’ – check out footage below.The moment took place during Hook’s ongoing UK tour in which he plays both New Order’s ‘Substance’ album and Joy Division’s ‘Substance’ album in full.At the recent slot at London’s Eventim Apollo over the weekend, however, fans were in for a surprise when the Joy Division/New Order bassist brought out Albarn as a special guest.“Not long ago, I was honoured to be asked by a wonderful, very kind gentleman if I’d play with him,” Hook told the crowd on Saturday evening (October 14). “And this track is what we did, innit, Damon?”From there, the Blur and Gorillaz singer took to the stage and together they performed their 2020 track ‘Aries’.

Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman has revealed that he initially felt ‘embarrassed’ when recording a track alongside Chaka Khan.The news arrives after the band recently teamed up with the music legend to create new track ‘Tekken 2’ – the latest single from their upcoming album ‘My Big Day’.Now, after dropping the new track earlier this week (October 11), the frontman has revealed in a new interview that he was briefly left red-faced when going to record the song with Khan.Speaking with The Guardian, he recalled flying to Los Angeles to go to a recording session at an upmarket studio near her home, but soon felt a bit ‘embarrassed’ when it became clear he had no intention of using any of the impressive sound equipment.“I have this funny memory of walking in and the mixing desk was the size of an entire house,” he explained. “I’d just brought my laptop and plugged Chaka into that, but I thought it was so embarrassing that I wasn’t using all this stuff.”“[I felt daunted ] until I stepped into the room,” he added.

Bombay Bicycle Club have shared their new single ‘Tekken 2’ featuring Chaka Khan and announced a UK and Ireland tour.The track is the final song to be lifted from their forthcoming album ‘My Big Day’, following ‘Turn The World On’, the album title track, Holly Humberstone collaboration ‘Diving’, and hazy single ‘I Want To Be Your Only Pet’. You can listen to it below and view the video which premieres at 6pm BST tonight.“‘It has been a pretty crazy journey, from sitting on my sofa messing around with a keyboard and drum machine to sitting across from Chaka Khan in a fancy LA studio giving her singing directions,” said frontman Jack Steadman.“Chaka was an absolute superstar and the whole experience was so positive.

Snoop Dogg voicing one named “Dungeon Master” who specialises in video games. Celebutante and one-time pop singer Paris Hilton, meanwhile, will voice “Amber” – a mystery-solving detective.“We’ve been creating AIs that have more personality, opinions, and interests, and are a bit more fun to interact with,” a statement from Meta read on their website.

Bombay Bicycle Club have opened up about their upcoming album ‘My Big Day‘ and how it is their most collaborative LP to date.After being asked what made them want to expand their creative process during the latest episode of NME‘s In Conversation series, frontman Jack Steadman said: “I think that might be another result of me doing my solo stuff where I did collaborate on almost every song. It was really fun to not be limited by your own voice or your own style and just have complete freedom.”He continued: “It’s certainly very eclectic…from Holly Humberstone to Damon Albarn, it’s a nice mix of people and obviously the surprise is gonna blow a lot of people’s minds.”‘My Big Day’ features the likes of Humberstone, Albarn, Jay Som and Nilüfer Yanya.

Eddy Grant has shared that he felt “thrown under the bus” when he came out to accuse Gorillaz of copying his song ‘Time Warp’ on their track ‘Stylo’.The Equals member and solo star accused the band of plagiarising his 1982 song in 2010, telling NME at the time that he thought there were similarities with the keyboard section.In another statement he also described it as “pure piracy” and “an obvious infringement of my song”.Reflecting on the accusation in a recent interview with NME, Grant said: “I mean, everybody knows where that song came from. It’s just that there comes a time where you say, ‘Enough.

Blur have shed insight into the cover for their latest album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’, as has the artist and the swimmer captured in the image.The Britpop legends shared the update on their social media pages yesterday (August 21), celebrating one month since their ninth studio album was released.With the Instagram post, the band’s frontman, Damon Albarn, and drummer Dave Rowntree both shared their interpretation behind the cover, and revealed how it has a connection to one of their 1995 live performances.The post began with a brief clip of someone holding the album out, before dropping it down to reveal that they are standing in the same spot where the now-famous image was taken – the Gourock Outdoor Pool in Glasgow.“The image selected for the album’s artwork is one shot by British photographer Martin Parr of a lone swimmer on a stormy day at the Gourock Lido, Scotland, captured in 2004,” the second slide reads, also incorporating a quote from the artist himself.“It was in the summer and you have the blue of the lido but there was the grey sky so familiar in Scotland,” Parr explained, revealing the inspiration behind the photograph. “I thought this was going to be a great backdrop.

Blur have shared a new unreleased track titled ‘Sticks And Stones’ from their latest album ‘The Ballad Of Darren‘.The track follows the band’s two other releases, ‘The Rabbi’ and ‘The Swan’, released as part of the album’s deluxe edition. ‘Sticks And Stones’ will be released as a bonus track for the Japanese exclusive edition of ‘The Ballad Of Darren’.Guitarist Graham Coxon provides lead vocals on the track.

Blur‘s Damon Albarn has hit out at AI, branding it “absurd”.He criticised covers of the band’s hits featuring AI versions of Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble and Snoop Dogg.Albarn told The Sun: “It’s absurd. Anyone who has so much time to sing songs through a Michael Buble filter and put them on the internet is a fucking idiot.

Coronation Street star Georgia Taylor jokingly mocked her own holiday appearance which prompted a response from her co-star before she was seen alongside her on-screen ex who is now her real life beau.

Blur bassist Alex James played to the band's biggest-ever crowds at Wembley this summer - but he says it was nothing compared to raising five children.The 54-year-old shares Geronimo, 19, twins Artemis and Galileo, 17, and daughters Sable, 14, and 13-year-old Beatrix with his wife Claire Neate, and the whole family live on a 200-farm in Oxfordshire. As of Beatrix's birthday in June, Alex is now officially the dad of five teenagers, all of whom were at home when OK! visited his farm for a sneak peek at his life off-stage. "“Playing bass in a rock band is the easiest f*****g job in the world,” he told us.

Blur‘s Damon Albarn has shared his love for Arctic Monkeys‘ Alex Turner, saying he sings “a lot like him” on the band’s new album.Albarn and his band released new LP ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ this month, their first since 2015’s ‘The Magic Whip’.In a new interview with Musikexpress, Albarn has discussed his admiration for Turner, and how he influenced the Britpop heroes’ new album.Asked what he thinks of Turner, Albarn responded: “I think he’s great, I sing a lot like him on the new album.“You know our producer James Ford?” the frontman added. “He also worked with the Arctic Monkeys, I mentioned that to him.

Blur debuted new songs from their latest album ‘The Ballad Of Darren‘ along with a smattering of deep cuts and fan favourites at an intimate show at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith last night (Tuesday July 25). Check out footage and the setlist below.As announced earlier this month, the returning Britpop veterans took to the stage at the iconic London venue to perform their new album in its entirety, with the show also livestreamed online.The band took to the stage, backed by string quartet, with bassist Alex James lounging on a sofa and smoking as they eased into playing album opener ‘The Ballad’.

Blur have shared two new songs that are featured in the deluxe version of their latest LP ‘The Ballad Of Darren’. Listen to them below.The two new tracks, ‘The Rabbi’ and ‘The Swan’, both have that signature Blur sound with the latter being a mellow ballad and ‘The Rabbi’ being a bright, upbeat song.

Bombay Bicycle Club have teamed up with Holly Humberstone on their latest track ‘Diving’ from their forthcoming album.According to a press release, the collaboration stemmed from Humberstone asking the band’s frontman Jack Steadman to work on some writing for her own music. Knowing that Humberstone was a fan of the band, they knew who to ask when they needed someone to accompany Steadman on the track.“’Diving’ is a song about that summer you have when you’re 15, the memory of which conjures up such a unique feeling,” said Steadman.

Blur performed a special gig at the BBC Radio Theatre for Radio 2 last night (July 18) – debuting new song ‘Barbaric’, showcasing their new album ‘The Ballad Of Darren‘ and inviting Phil Daniels on-stage for ‘Parklife’. Check out photos, footage and the setlist below.Following on from playing to 90,000 fans per night at their two massive Wembley Stadium shows last week, the Britpop heroes returned to the capital to perform a much more intimate show for just 300 lucky competition winners and media.

Blur’s Dave Rowntree has shared his opinion of Labour leader Keir Starmer in a new interview with NME.The Britpop veteran was taking part in the latest installation of NME’s Does Rock N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! series when he was asked to recall key moments from throughout his career, including his work in politics.Alongside his role as the drummer for Blur, Rowntree has also had a successful career in politics throughout much of the 21st Century – even going as far as to be elected as a Labour Councillor in Norfolk in 2017.Now, following his time in the role, which came to an end in 2021, the musician revealed his thoughts on current Labour leader, Keir Starmer.“Well, the test is at General Elections,” he began, discussing how well he thinks the figurehead is faring with the public. “If he wins the General Election, he’ll be widely touted as the most visionary Labour leader of modern times and will join the incredibly small number of Labour leaders who’ve gone on to become prime minister.”“If he loses, he’ll be regarded as an idiot who wrecked the Labour Party and achieved nothing,” he continued.

Blur frontman Damon Albarn has said that he believes the “road is clear” for an Oasis reunion.Back in May this year, Albarn said that he would “put money” on his band’s ’90s Britpop rivals reuniting.His comments came as Blur themselves began their own comeback tour in their hometown of Colchester.“I can guarantee they’re going to reform,” Albarn told The Sun of the chances of the Gallaghers putting their ongoing feud to bed. “In fact, I’ve put money on it.”In a new interview with Consequence, Albarn elaborated on his previous speculation about the possibility of a reunion.“Well, of course they were gonna.

The Hives have called their recent tour mates Arctic Monkeys “the only good really popular band” in a new interview with NME.The Swedish group supported the Sheffield band on their recent UK stadium tour, with drummer Matt Helders calling them “so much fun to watch” last year.Speaking to NME for the latest interview in the In Conversation video series, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist responded to other comments from Helders, in which he cited The Hives as one of Arctic Monkeys first real inspirations. “They told us that the first week or month that they started the band, they saw The Hives and The Strokes and that was the thing that really started it off for them,” the frontman said.“We toured with them in South America about 10 years ago and had a great time, so I’m really happy they wanted us back.

Damon Albarn has revealed that he is currently working on an opera, putting Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s ‘The Magic Flute Part II’ to music for the first time.Von Goethe started writing the libretto for a sequel to Mozart’s 1791 opera in the mid-1790s, which he then published in 1807. But it was never actually completed or set to music, a task Albarn has now taken on more than 200 years later.“I’m doing an opera at the moment, using Goethe’s fragment he wrote about ‘The Magic Flute Part II’, which is fascinating”, he explained on a new episode of the Broken Record podcast. “You’ve heard of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’? Well, Goethe, who is a contemporary of Mozart, wrote ‘Part II’ of that – the sequel – but it never got put to music.

Damon Albarn has shared that he believes Arctic Monkeys are “the last great guitar band,” adding that guitar music has gone “sterile”.While appearing on the Broken Record podcast, the Blur frontman discussed the state of guitar music. Though he said he remained optimistic about the future of the genre, Albarn believed it went through a rough patch before its reinvention.“I feel like there’s a bit more excitement about guitar music again, that can’t be a bad thing because it got so sterile.

Damon Albarn has revealed he is currently in the process of working on an opera as well as new music for Gorillaz.While appearing on the Broken Record Podcast, Albarn shared he is putting Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1807’s The Magic Flute Part II to music for the first time. The 1791 original was an opera in two acts to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder.“I’m doing an opera at the moment, using Goethe’s fragment he wrote about The Magic Flute Part II, which is fascinating,” he said.He continued: “You’ve heard of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’? Well, Goethe, who is a contemporary of Mozart, wrote ‘Part II’ of that — the sequel — but it never got put to music.

Blur have wrapped up the first of their highly anticipated reunion shows at Wembley – see their full setlist below.The first of two shows at Wembley took place last night (July 8) and saw Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree turn back the clock to play an assortment of their biggest hits – including one track they haven’t played since 1994.The stunning 25-song setlist would see Blur play ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘Tender’, ‘The Universal’ and of course, ‘Song 2’. They also performed ‘Lot 105’ for the first time since 1994.They also performed ‘Under The Westway’ live for the first time since 2014.

Blur have cancelled their upcoming headline slot at a French festival due to an injury. The news comes just days ahead of their upcoming shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.The returning Britpop veterans were set to play the set at Festival Beauregard this Thursday (July 6) – but according to an update from the festival’s official Twitter page, the band will no longer be performing drummer Dave Rowntree has suffered a knee injury.“The bad news has just fallen: Blur will not be able to perform their concert in Beauregard,” the update began (translated from French).

Damon Albarn has recalled the first time he showed his bandmates the demos for Blur’s upcoming album, and admitted he only wanted Graham Coxon to be in the studio at first.The singer-songwriter was speaking as part of a new interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, when he recalled what it was like reuniting with Blur and starting work on their new album, ‘The Ballad Of Darren’.According to Albarn, he began writing the demos for the new tracks before he gathered his bandmates together, but felt reluctant to show all of them at the same time.“When I finished the demos and I felt I’d got something I’m excited about, I got everyone into a studio in January this year. I just sort of sat them down and I said, ‘Right. This is what I’ve got.

Gorillaz have cancelled their upcoming US tour dubbed ‘The Getaway’, with ticket providers citing “scheduling conflicts”.The tour was announced only last month and was set to see the Damon Albarn-fronted cartoon band play four shows in support of their eighth and most recent album ‘Cracker Island’.Now, the September gigs have been cancelled, with ticket providers sharing a statement. “Due to scheduling conflicts and circumstances beyond our control, the previously announced Gorillaz shows in September have been cancelled,” they said.“Refunds will be issued automatically at your point of purchase and will be processed as quickly as possible, there is nothing further for you to do at this time.

Bombay Bicycle Club have announced their sixth studio album ‘My Big Day’ and released its title track.Produced by the band’s vocalist/guitarist Jack Steadman, ‘My Big Day’ features collaborations with Damon Albarn, Jay Som, Nilüfer Yanya and Holly Humberstone, with a fifth special guest set to release a song with the band later this summer.Bombay Bicycle Club also shared the album’s title track alongside an accompanying music video. Directed by Jon Higgs from Everything Everything and Kit Monteith (percussionist for Foals), the video showcases a local newscast covering some heavy-hitting news.The LP has additional production from Paul Epworth on the track ‘Heaven’ and Ben Allen who co-produced ‘Turn The World On’. The band previously worked with Allen on their hit single ‘Shuffle’ back in 2011.‘My Big Day’ was mixed by Dave Fridmann who is known for his work with The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, MGMT and HAIM.