Damon Albarn Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Lily Moayeri Gorillaz used their tour stop in Los Angeles not only to play a packed show at the city’s Kia Forum but also to hold a special advance listening session for their new album, the provocatively titled “Cracker Island,” set for release on February 24, 2023. Gorillaz albums are always filled with guests, and the Damon Albarn-helmed group reeled in a grip of musical stars to join them on stage at the Forum on Friday night: Namely Beck, Tame Impala and Thundercat, who are among the features on “Cracker Island” — along with Stevie Nicks and Bad Bunny, both of whom were on tour elsewhere (more about the latter shortly). Beck, dressed like the best man at a wedding circa 1977, turned up once for “The Valley of the Pagans” from his 2020 collaboration with the group, and again for the first-ever unveiling of his song from “Cracker Island,”  “Possession Island.” Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker sang alongside Albarn on the already-released single, “New Gold,” accompanied by Bootie Brown, and Thundercat smoothly slid on stage for their rendition of the album’s title track.

Robbie Williams has compared his musical and songwriting approach to that of Morrissey and Elton John in a new interview.The pop star is set to release his latest album ‘XXV’ on Friday (September 9), which contains re-recorded and orchestrated versions of songs from across his career.Speaking to NME, Williams spoke about the lack of credit he receives as a songwriter despite penning numerous hits over the last three decades. “If you break down the maths of what I’m doing musically on a song, I do the same thing that Morrissey does,” he said.“I’m not saying in any way, shape or form that I’m as good as or better than Morrissey, I’m just saying: I do the same thing.

Robbie Williams has hit out at Damon Albarn over his inaccurate past claim that Taylor Swift “doesn’t write her own songs”.Back in January, the Blur and Gorillaz frontman said that Swift’s “co-writing” approach to making music was at odds with his “traditionalist” view of songwriting during an interview with the LA Times.The journalist then put it to Albarn that Swift is “an excellent songwriter”, to which he responded: “She doesn’t write her own songs.” Albarn said he believed co-writing “doesn’t count”.Swift subsequently hit back, tweeting: “I write ALL my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging.

Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall have announced details of their debut album as The WAEVE – check out new single ‘Can I Call You’ below, and watch our video interview with the duo above.The former Blur guitarist-turned-solo star and the former Pipettes member-turned-Mark Ronson collaborator and singer-songwriter first emerged as a new project back in April with the track ‘Something Pretty‘, before playing a debut London show and appearing at The Great Escape.They’ve now revealed full details of their self-titled debut album, which has been produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine, Foals) and is due for release in February 2023 via Transgressive Records.To mark the launch of the album Coxon invited NME into his house to interview The WAEVE, where they told us about their collaborative journey since they started work on the record over a year and a half ago.Asked if they’d consider themselves to be a “supergroup”, Dougall replied: “Don’t you need more than two people to be a supergroup? It’s a very strong line-up!”Coxon agreed: “I’m not sure! Those kinds of bands are put together in a different situation. The way we came together was very different.

In August, Gorillaz premiered a brand new song called "New Gold" at London’s All Points East Festival. The track features Bootie Brown of The Pharcyde and Australian psychedelic rock stars Tame Impala, and quickly got fans of the virtual band very hyped.

Gorillaz have shared details of their new album ‘Cracker Island’ alongside the release of latest single ‘New Gold’ featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown.‘Cracker Island’ is released on February 24, 2023 via Parlophone (pre-order here) and marks the follow-up to 2020’s ‘Song Machine, Season One – Strange Timez‘.The virtual band, headed up by Damon Albarn, has a host of collaborators on their eighth studio album including Stevie Nicks, Bad Bunny, Beck, Thundercat, Adeleye Omotayond and the aforementioned Tame Impala and Bootie Brown.It’s produced by eight-time Grammy Award-winning producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Greg Kurstin along with Gorillaz and Remi Kabaka Jr.Today (August 31) the band have also shared ‘New Gold’, which follows on from first single ‘Cracker Island‘. Gorillaz debuted the track live at their headline All Points East show in London on August 19 with both Kevin Parker of Tame Impala and Bootie Brown joining the band onstage.“It’s kind of a mad song, to be honest with you,” Albarn told the crowd at the time.Press material about Gorillaz’s new album states: “Originally based at Kong Studios in West London, the group of musical misfits – Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D – have relocated to Silverlake, California as they recruit new members to join The Last Cult in search of the one truth to fix the world.

Slaves’ Isaac Holman has shared an emotional post about mental health online.Holman shared a picture of him mid-gig at a festival smiling and seemingly happy.However, he revealed in the post that behind the scenes, he was “unwell” and had to get taken to perform at gigs by his parents due to the debilitating nature of his illness.“This is what mental illness can look like,” Holman wrote. “At this point in my life I was so unwell I couldn’t be without my parents.

Gorillaz were the headline act at London festival All Points East on Friday (August 19). They topped a line-up that included appearances from Idles, Pusha-T, Yves Tumor, and Turnstile, all of whom you can imagine working with Damon Albarn in some capacity (if they haven't already).

Gorillaz headlined London’s All Points East last night (August 19) and debuted a new collaboration with Tame Impala and Bootie Brown – watch them play ‘New Gold’ below.The band played the Victoria Park festival to kick off the second part of their 2022 European tour, and were supported by IDLES, Turnstile, Yves Tumor, Self Esteem, Femi Kuti, Obongjayar, NewDad, Remi Wolf, Gabriels, Ibeyi, Nia Archives and Willow Kayne.During their headline set, they brought out a bounty of special guests including De La Soul, Happy Mondays‘ Shaun Ryder, Popcaan, Moonchild Sanelly and Mos Def.Half way through the set, they then debuted a brand new song called ‘New Gold’, featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown.

Gorillaz at All Points East festival this weekend have been unveiled.The animated band will play All Points East at this year’s Victoria Park on August 19 alongside the likes of IDLES, Yves Tumor, Self Esteem, Femi Kuti, Obongjayar, NewDad, Remi Wolf, Gabriels, Turnstile, Ibeyi, Nia Archives and Willow Kayne. You can buy your tickets here.Also joining Gorillaz and the other acts are Kills Birds, Knucks and Ibibio Sound Machine.Gorillaz will appear on the East Stage at 8:55pm, following Turnstile (6.45pm), Pusha T (5.30pm), Femi Kuti (4.25pm), Obongjayar (3.20pm) and Ibibio Sound Machine (2.15pm).The headline set by Gorillaz will most likely hear the virtual band, fronted by Blur‘s Damon Albarn, play their classic hits.

Gorillaz co-creator and animator Jamie Hewlett has announced a new art book called Phoo Action: Silver Jubilee.Hewlett, who founded the cartoon band along with Damon Albarn in 1998, will release the 368-page hardcover title in late November via Z2 Comics. It’s priced at £41.56, and is available to pre-order here.The book contains an oral history of Phoo Action, the TV pilot that was created by Hewlett and Mat Wakeham.

Gorillaz have shared the official video for their latest single ‘Cracker Island’.Released last month, the Thundercat-featuring track marked the experimental cartoon band’s first new music since last summer’s ‘Meanwhile’ EP. It’s said to signal “a new dawn” for the Damon Albarn-led project.Yesterday (July 28) Gorillaz dropped a psychedelic visual for ‘Cracker Island’ that begins with 2-D – Albarn’s animated alter-ego – being carted off to hospital in the back of a police car.Handcuffed to a chair in the A&E waiting room, the worse for wear character has an hallucinatory vision of a hologram-style Thundercat who sings and plays guitar on the seat beside him.The LA artist later takes over a hospital ward before a ghostly figure stalks the hallways.

Foals have shared the new video for their latest single ‘Life Is Yours’ – check it out below.The song appears on the Oxford band’s acclaimed seventh album of the same name, which came out last month.Arriving today (July 28), the official visuals for the title track – which see the group perform in a circular configuration – is described as “quite unlike any Foals live experience you have witnessed before”.The core trio – comprising Yannis Philippakis, Jack Bevan and Jimmy Smith – are joined in the studio space by their touring band members (Kit Monteith, Jack Freeman and Joe Price) as different coloured lights cast their silhouettes onto the walls.As ‘Life Is Yours’ breaks down, the camera cuts and lighting effects become more intense. A final, birds eye view of Foals in their unique set up concludes the video.

Gorillaz formed, saying that he had hoped to launch his own “cartoon band”.The reclusive singer-songwriter was the only constant member of Felt, who released 10 studio albums between 1982 and 1989. However, he doesn’t appear on the group’s penultimate LP ‘Train Above The City’ (1988).Lawrence went on to launch glam-rock-inspired outfit Denim (they dropped two albums in the 1990s) before forming Mozart Estate (fka Go-Kart Mozart) in ’99.Despite having never achieved commercial success, Lawrence counts Jarvis Cocker and Charlie Brooker as some of his famous fans (Demin bagged a support slot with Pulp in the mid-’90s).During a new interview with The Guardian, Lawrence spoke about Denim’s initial decision to not play gigs as he believed “live music was over” at that time.

Damon Albarn – will play a one-off headline show this September.The cross-cultural outfit will perform on September 3 at London Southend Airport as part of Southend City Festival.We’re coming back for the first show in 3 years. ❤️ Please do join us x pic.twitter.com/lkH3FfYqHK— Africa Express (@africaexpress) July 14, 2022The festival, taking place between September 2 and 4, will see a slew of music big names, local talent and up-and-comers perform.

Billie Eilish will make history as she takes to the Pyramid Stage to headline the first major night of Glastonbury festival. No pressure, eh?The 20-year-old Grammy and Brit-Award winner will become the youngest ever solo headliner when she performs alongside her brother and co-writer Finneas O’Connell. The US pop star made her Worthy Farm debut in 2019 when she performed on the Other Stage and treated crowds to a string of tracks such as Bad Guy and You Should See Me In A Crown.

Billie Eilish will make history when she takes to the Pyramid Stage tonight as Glastonbury Festival’s youngest ever solo headliner.The Grammy-winning singer, 20, will perform alongside her brother and co-writer Finneas O’Connell.The US pop star made her Glastonbury debut in 2019 when she performed on the Other Stage and treated crowds to a string of tracks such as Bad Guy and You Should See Me In A Crown. In the weeks leading up to Glastonbury, Eilish has played a string of UK and European tour dates and also hosted a climate event, Overheated, at London’s O2 Arena.

Blur‘s Graham Coxon has announced details of his autobiography, Verse, Chorus, Monster!.The memoir is described as “an intimate, honest reflection on music, fame, addiction and art by one of Britain’s most iconic musicians.” It will be published on October 6 this year via Faber.A press release for the book reads: “Among the noise and clamour of the Britpop era, Blur co-founder Graham Coxon managed to carve out a niche to become one of the most innovative and respected guitarists of his generation – but it wasn’t always easy.“Graham grew up as an Army kid, moving frequently in his early years from West Germany to Derbyshire and Winchester before settling in Colchester, Essex. A shy child, he had a thing for eating soil and drawing intense visions; his anxiety was tempered by painting and a growing love of music.”It adds: “These twin passions grew into obsessions, and as he honed his artistic skill at school, Goldsmiths and beyond, his band with school friend Damon Albarn, fellow art student Alex James, and a drummer called Dave Rowntree began to get noticed.“But there are things they don’t tell you before you get famous.

Gorillaz have alerted fans to an incoming new single, ‘Cracker Island’, taking to social media to make the announcement.The experimental animated outfit – featuring Blur legend Damon Albarn – shared the news today (June 8), posting a short clip that featured each cartoon “member” of Gorillaz – 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel – alongside the caption “Cracker Island is coming…” and the hashtag #thelastcult.Later, they posted two images – one of 2D and one of the group together – with the caption: “2D is the chosen one…”Though it’s not yet known when ‘Cracker Island’ will drop, a pre-save link for the single can be found here. The track has been performed live during Gorillaz’ current world tour, notably with the inclusion of guest vocals from Thundercat.

The Sun in March: 'Rafferty’s band Outer Stella Overdrive quietly announced his departure last week and will carry on without him.  'He thinks he has what it takes to be a solo artist and his first track will be coming in the next few weeks.

One Direction heart-throb Harry Styles. Read more: Harry Styles dons pyjamas to read Cbeebies Bedtime Story Just like the pop star, Luca has got a dazzling array of tattoos all over his body.

Liam Gallagher heads up tonight’s episode of Later… With Jools Holland – watch him play unreleased track ‘World’s In Need’ below.The long-running and prestigious BBC show returned last week (May 14) for a new season, with all the musical guests in the same room for the first time since lockdown. Leading the first episode was Wet Leg, who performed ‘Wet Dream’ and ‘Ur Mum’.Also on tonight’s episode will be Oumou Sangaré, Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul and Sinead O’Brien.

Flume is set to return to his native Australia this coming November in support of his forthcoming third studio album, ‘Palaces’, which arrives this Friday (May 20).The tour, announced today (May 18), is largely slated for arenas and outdoor venues in most capital cities. The shows are also set to feature a rotating list of both local and international support acts – including collaborators Caroline Polachek and Toro Y Moi.

Flume has addressed working with collaborators for his new album ‘Palaces’, including his hero Damon Albarn who made him feel “nervous”, as well as the influence of the late SOPHIE.The Australian DJ and producer, real name Harley Edward Streten, told NME in an In Conversation video interview that Albarn is one of his musical heroes, so he found the experience of working with him on the album’s title track particularly nerve-wracking.“We were both playing the LA festival Life Is Beautiful and linked up afterwards, and went to some weird studio in the middle of nowhere in the desert,” Streten told NME about the Albarn collaboration, recalling that he played him a bunch of music.“I was nervous because I’m a huge fan,” he added, having showed Albarn lots of ideas, “but he didn’t like anything.”In fact, it was only the second to last track on ‘Palaces’ that piqued Albarn’s interest. “He was like ‘Alright, there’s something in this, this is cool’.”“After he came round to one of the songs, I did think ‘Thank fuck for that!” And having Albarn join him on-stage at Coachella to play piano during the debut live performance of their collaboration was a “really special moment”.

Gorillaz have announced details of a North American tour. The animated band, led by Damon Albarn, will hit the road in September with 21 dates in the diary.

Gorillaz have announced details of a North American tour in September and October.These gigs will be the Damon Albarn-led group’s first US and Canadian live dates since 2018 and extends their ongoing world tour, which is currently in South America.Albarn and his 14-piece live band – who will be “aided and abetted by a varying cast of guest performers” – will bring Gorillaz to life across 21 arena shows in the US and Canada, kicking off in Vancouver on September 11.The run will visit such cities as Seattle, Salt Lake City, LA, Austin, Chicago and Boston before wrapping up in Miami on October 23. EARTHGANG will support Gorillaz on all dates except Orlando and Miami, where Jungle will be special guests.Tickets for Gorillaz’s North American tour will go on general sale at 10am local time on Friday (May 20), and you’ll be able to buy tickets here.

Later… With Jools Holland is set to return to BBC Two this Saturday (May 14), with all the musical guests in the same room for the first time since lockdown.Jools Holland made the announcement via his Instagram, though the full line-up is yet to be announced.“I’m very excited that my tv show returns on BBC Two on Saturday nights from the 14th of May,” he wrote in the caption.“The first time all the musical guests are in the same room as one another since lockdown. Wooooohoooo.

Gorillaz kicked off their 2022 world tour earlier this week (April 28) and during their set, played two new tracks – ‘Silent Running’ and ‘Cracker Island’ which features Thundercat. Check out footage below.During their headline show at Antel Arena in Uruguay, Damon Albarn’s band performed a host of rarities including ‘Plastic Beach’ closer ‘Pirate Jet’ (which hasn’t been played live since 2010) and gave ‘D-Sides’ track ‘Rockit’ its live debut.Gorillaz also performed two unreleased tracks; ‘Silent Running’ and the Thundercat-featuring ‘Cracker Island’.

Bilile Eilish has revealed her favourite Paramore song online.The musician responded to a fan via her Instagram Stories who asked her what her favourite Paramore track was.Eilish posted a screenshot of one of the band’s songs playing on her Spotify with the volume bar pushed to the top.“All-time favourite,” she captioned the song, which was ‘All I Wanted’ – the ‘Brand New Eyes’ album closer.Eilish also posted a picture of her with Paramore’s Hayley Williams backstage following their recent performance together at Coachella.Williams joined Eilish on stage at Coachella 2022 on April 23 to perform Paramore’s ‘Misery Business’ and Eilish’s own ‘Happier Than Ever’.Eilish was headlining the second weekend of the California festival at the time, with last weekend’s first edition seeing her joined onstage by Damon Albarn for two-songs – Eilish’s track ‘Getting Older’ and his Gorillaz hit, ‘Feel Good Inc’.After being introduced to the crowd by Eilish, Williams said: “This is my first Coachella.

DEALSDeath metal supergroup Bloodbath – featuring current and former members of Paradise Lost, Opeth, Katatonia and Lik – have signed to Napalm Records. “Just as we’re about to enter our next exciting chapter of Bloodbath, we’re pleased to say that the band is in the good hands of a new label”, they confirm.

This post is sponsored by Unshackled Wines, official wine of VIP at Coachella. Create your own Coachella VIP experience at home by purchasing the Unshackled Coachella Bundle. The first 100 purchases will be gifted a FADER poster.

This post is sponsored by Unshackled Wines, official wine of VIP at Coachella. Create your own Coachella VIP experience at home by purchasing the Unshackled Coachella Bundle. The first 100 purchases will be gifted a FADER poster.

Damon Albarn and Flume have collaborated on a new single, ‘Palaces’, giving the slick track its live debut at Coachella over the weekend.During the second weekend of the festival, Albarn – who had joined Billie Eilish onstage the previous weekend – joined Flume to deliver the live debut of ‘Palaces’, an atmospheric and emotive tune defined by its warbling, reverberant melody and warm piano chords.Take a look at fan-shot footage of the pair performing ‘Palaces’ at Coachella below:And watch the single’s official music video here:Flume also brought out Toro y Moi for a performance of their 2020 single ‘The Difference’. On weekend one of Coachella, Flume also brought out the likes of Caroline Polachek, Kučka, May-A, Beck and Tove Lo to the stage.‘Palaces’ is lifted from Flume’s forthcoming album of the same name.

Billie Eilish took to the stage of Coachella on the music festival’s second weekend of the 2022 edition for her headlining set on Saturday night.

Paramore‘s Hayley Williams joined Billie Eilish on stage at Coachella 2022 tonight (April 23) to perform ‘Misery Business’ – see footage below.Eilish was headlining the second weekend of the California festival at the time, with last weekend’s first edition seeing her joined onstage by Damon Albarn for two-songs – Eilish’s track ‘Getting Older’ and his Gorillaz hit, ‘Feel Good Inc’.After being introduced to the crowd by Eilish, Williams said: “This is my first Coachella. Woah! Thanks for sharing this with me – this is sick!”They then went on to perform an acoustic version of ‘Misery Business’, a song Williams and Paramore retired from their live sets back in 2018 amid an ongoing debate over whether its message was “anti-feminist.”Before playing ‘Misery Business’ one last time four years ago, Williams explained: “This is a choice that we’ve made because we feel that we should.

Johnny Depp apologised for the language he used in text messages introduced in court as evidence during his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard. "I am ashamed of some of the references made.