GORILLAZ

Gorillaz is a virtual band, so called because all music video and many live performances have been done by animated characters rather than human musicians. The band was created by Damon Albarn, frontman of the English band Blur. The only permanent member of the band is Albarn, but he has been accompanied by many well-known names in music, such as Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club, rapper Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori, and Neneh Cherry; producers have included Dan the Automator and Dangermouse. The animations are created by Jamie Hewlett, of Tank Girl fame. Animated band members are 2D, the good-natured but simple--due to multiple head injuries--lead singer and keyboardist; Murdoc, bassist and self-proclaimed leader of the band; Noodle, guitarist and vocalist, who arrived from Japan via FedEx crate, and could only speak one word in English, thus her nickname; and drummer Russel, who lists his influences as "Farrakhan and Chaka Khan." Gorillaz' musical style is described by Albarn as a "mutated hip-hop, trip-hop, dub sound." The group debuted in 2000 and scored their first hit with the single "Clint Eastwood" in 2001, which reached #57 in the US, and #4 on the UK charts, and the video won an award at the Rushes Soho Short Film Festival Awards in London. Their debut album, Gorillaz, reached #14 in the US, and #3 in the UK, and garnered praises from many music critics. Their second album, Demon Days, sold even better than the first, and produced hit singles "Feel Good Inc.", "Dare", and "Dirty Harry." The band put on a multi-day "festival" in support of the album, with many of the collaborators appearing live on stage, and Damon Albarn in silhouette behind a screen. Later performances at awards shows used a special visual effect to create 3-D projections of the animated band characters, making it appear as though they were actually on the stage. A documentary on Gorillaz, titled Bananaz, debuted at the Edinbugh Film Festival in June, 2008, and Albarn and Hewitt's animated clip, "Monkey" was used by the BBC to promote its coverage of the Beijing Olympics.