Damon Albarn OBE (/ˈdeɪmən ˈælbɑːrn/; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the British rock band Blur as well as the co-founder, lead vocalist, instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the virtual band Gorillaz.\n', '

Raised in Leytonstone, East London and around Colchester, Essex, Albarn attended the Stanway School, where he met guitarist Graham Coxon and formed Blur, which released its debut album Leisure in 1991. After spending long periods touring the U.S., Albarn\'s songwriting became increasingly influenced by British bands from the 1960s. The result was Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). All three albums received critical acclaim while Blur gained mass popularity in the UK, aided by a Britpop rivalry with Oasis. Subsequent albums such as Blur (1997), 13 (1999), and Think Tank (2003) incorporated influences from lo-fi, electronic and hip hop music.\n', '

Albarn formed the virtual band Gorillaz in 1998 with comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. Drawing influences from alternative rock, trip hop, hip hop, electronica, dub, reggae and pop, Gorillaz released their self-titled debut album in 2001 to worldwide success, spawning successful follow-ups Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach, The Fall (both released in 2010), Humanz (2017), and The Now Now (2018). Although Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, Gorillaz albums typically feature collaborations from a range of artists. Gorillaz are cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "Most Successful Virtual Band". \n', '

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