Widely known and adored as lead vocalist of the Britpop band Blur, Damon Albarn is a singer/songwriter and producer from Essex, England. Spearheading the Britpop movement along with band mates Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, Albarn formed Blur in 1988 and released the band's debut album Leisure, in 1991. He continued to release music with the band throughout 2003, incorporating elements of indie rock, electronic music and hip-hop into its sound as Britpop declined, and eventually joined his ex-bandmates again in 2008 to reform Blur. Albarn is also the co-founded of the virtual band Gorillaz, and has remained the only permanent musical contributor to the electro-hop, alternative rock project. In addition to releasing music with Blur, Gorillaz and his multiple other side projects, Albarn has released several solo records, including his 2003 EP Democracy and his 2007 debut solo album, The Good, the Bad & the Queen, which is sometimes credited to an eponymous super group of collaborators
