History of Gorillaz in Timeline
Gorillaz is a virtual band formed in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, featuring fictional members 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs. The band's universe is brought to life through music videos, comics, and cartoons. Damon Albarn is the only consistent musical contributor, but Gorillaz is known for collaborations with a diverse range of artists.
1990: Albarn and Hewlett meet
In 1990, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett met when Graham Coxon asked Hewlett to interview Blur. The interview was published in Deadline.
1997: Blur's single release: "On Your Own"
According to Albarn, Blur's 1997 single "On Your Own" was one of the first Gorillaz tunes.
1997: Albarn and Hewlett share a flat
In 1997, Albarn and Hewlett started sharing a flat on Westbourne Grove in London.
1998: Del the Ghost Rapper joins the band
From 1998, Del the Ghost Rapper became the current rapper of the band.
1998: Gorillaz Formation
In 1998, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett created Gorillaz, an English virtual band consisting of four fictional members: 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs.
1998: Creation of Murdoc Niccals
In 1998, Murdoc Niccals was created by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn.
1998: Conceptualization of Russel Hobbs
In 1998, Russel Hobbs was conceptualized by Hewlett and Albarn as a metafictional representation of the hip-hop aspects of Gorillaz.
1998: Creation of 2-D
In 1998, Stuart Harold "2-D" Pot was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.
November 2000: Tomorrow Comes Today EP Release
On 27 November 2000, Gorillaz released their first EP, Tomorrow Comes Today, featuring tracks that would later appear on their debut album. It also included the band's first music video for the title track.
2000: Start of Bananaz Documentary
In 2000, Ceri Levy started filming the behind-the-scenes history of the band, which culminated in the documentary Bananaz, released in 2008.
2000: First official appearance of Murdoc Niccals
In 2000, Murdoc Niccals made his first official appearance in Gorillaz' debut EP, Tomorrow Comes Today.
2000: Remi Kabaka Jr. becomes Russel Hobbs' voice actor
Since 2000, Remi Kabaka Jr. has been the voice actor for the Gorillaz virtual band member Russel Hobbs.
March 2001: Release of Gorillaz
On 26 March 2001, Gorillaz released their self-titled debut album, which achieved major commercial success. Following the release, the band embarked on a brief tour of Europe, Japan and the United States.
December 2001: Release of G-Sides
In December 2001, the B-sides compilation G-Sides was released.
2001: Debut Album Release
In 2001, Gorillaz released their self-titled debut album, which was a commercial success, going triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in Europe. The album featured the hit single "Clint Eastwood".
July 2002: Release of Laika Come Home
On 1 July 2002, Gorillaz released Laika Come Home, a remix album containing tracks from Gorillaz remixed in dub and reggae style by Spacemonkeyz.
November 2002: Release of Phase One: Celebrity Take Down DVD
On 18 November 2002, Gorillaz released the DVD Phase One: Celebrity Take Down, containing the band's visual content and extras.
2002: Brit Awards Performance and Nominations
In 2002, the virtual members of Gorillaz "performed" for the first time at the Brit Awards, appearing in 3D animation. The band was nominated for four Brit Awards but did not win.
2003: Albarn returns to Gorillaz
In 2003, after touring with Blur, Albarn reunited with Hewlett to prepare for a second Gorillaz album.
2004: Albarn Enlists Danger Mouse for Demon Days
In 2004, Damon Albarn enlisted Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) to produce the album Demon Days.
May 2005: Release of Demon Days
On 11 May 2005, Gorillaz released their second album, Demon Days, which became a major commercial success.
September 2005: Interview on Rebelde and Latin American premiere of Dare music video
In September 2005, Gorillaz were interviewed on the Mexican show Rebelde, which also featured the Latin American premiere of the music video for "Dare".
November 2005: Demon Days Live Residency
In November 2005, Gorillaz held a five-night residency at the Manchester Opera House, billed as Demon Days Live, performing the album in full each night.
November 2005: Gorillaz Performance at MTV Europe Music Awards
In November 2005, the virtual Gorillaz members performed at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards. The performance was executed using Musion Eyeliner technology, which Albarn later expressed disappointment with due to the low volume level required to not disturb the technology.
2005: Release of Demon Days
In 2005, Gorillaz released their second studio album, Demon Days, which went six times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. It featured the hit single "Feel Good Inc.", along with other successful singles.
February 2006: Gorillaz Performance and Win at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards
In February 2006, Gorillaz performed at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards using Musion Eyeliner technology and won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Feel Good Inc.", which was also nominated for Record of the Year. Following the performance, Albarn and Hewlett explored a live holographic tour, but the plan was scrapped due to cost and logistical issues.
April 2006: Demon Days Live at the Apollo Theater
In April 2006, the Demon Days Live residency was repeated at New York City's Apollo Theater.
October 2006: Release of "Rise of the Ogre"
In October 2006, Gorillaz released the book "Rise of the Ogre", an autobiography of the band written by Cass Browne with artwork by Hewlett. The book expands on the band's fictional backstory and universe.
November 2007: Release of "D-Sides"
In November 2007, Gorillaz released "D-Sides", a B-sides compilation featuring B-sides and remixes associated with Demon Days as well as unreleased tracks from the album's sessions.
2007: Premiere of "Monkey: Journey to the West"
In 2007, Albarn and Hewlett's opera "Monkey: Journey to the West", based on the classical Chinese novel, premiered at the Manchester International Festival. Albarn considered it a Gorillaz project in all but name.
2007: Beginning work on "Carousel"
In late 2007, after completing work on Monkey, Albarn and Hewlett began working on "Carousel", a new Gorillaz project about the mystical aspects of Britain.
July 2008: Albarn Discusses New Vision of Gorillaz
In a July 2008 interview, Albarn explained the expanded roster of featured artists on Plastic Beach represented his and Hewlett's new vision of Gorillaz as a project, saying that it was more like an organisation of people doing new projects, rather than just four animated characters.
2008: Hewlett describes "Carousel" project
In 2008, Hewlett described the "Carousel" project as being even bigger and more difficult than Monkey, envisioning it as a film and a stage production with multiple stories set to music, combining live action and animation. Damon Albarn wrote around 70 songs for it.
2008: Release of "Bananaz" documentary film
In 2008, the documentary film "Bananaz", directed by Ceri Levy, was released. The documentary covers the behind-the-scenes history of Gorillaz from 2000 to 2006.
January 2010: Release of "Stylo"
In January 2010, Gorillaz released "Stylo" featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack, with Bruce Willis appearing in the music video, as the lead single from Plastic Beach.
November 2010: Release of "Doncamatic"
On November 21, 2010, while still on tour, Gorillaz released the non-album single "Doncamatic" featuring British singer Daley.
December 2010: Release of The Fall
In December 2010, Gorillaz released their fourth album, The Fall, which was recorded on Damon Albarn's iPad during the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour.
2010: Recording The Fall on iPad
During the North American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach tour in 2010, Albarn recorded Gorillaz songs entirely on his iPad. These recordings were later released as the album The Fall.
2010: Traditional Live Touring
Since 2010, Gorillaz have transitioned to traditional live touring, featuring a fully visible live band, after years of hiding the touring band or projecting animated members on stage.
April 2011: Physical Release of "The Fall"
On April 19, 2011, The Fall, which was first released digitally on Christmas Day 2010, was given a physical release.
February 2012: Release of "DoYaThing" to Promote Converse Shoe Collection
On February 23, 2012, Gorillaz released "DoYaThing", a single to promote a Gorillaz-branded collection of Converse shoes as a part of Converse's "Three Artists, One Song" project, featuring James Murphy and André 3000.
April 2012: Public Fallout Between Albarn and Hewlett
In April 2012, Albarn told The Guardian that he and Hewlett had fallen out, making future Gorillaz projects unlikely. Tensions had been building due to Hewlett's belief that his contributions to Gorillaz were being minimised. Albarn was more optimistic about Gorillaz' future later that month.
2012: Gorillaz Enters Hiatus
Following the release of DoYaThing and the public reveal of Albarn and Hewlett's fallout in 2012, Gorillaz entered a multiyear hiatus.
June 2013: Hewlett Confirms Future Gorillaz Plans
In June 2013, Hewlett confirmed that he and Albarn planned to continue Gorillaz and record a follow-up album to Plastic Beach when the time was right.
2014: Albarn Signals Openness to Returning to Gorillaz
In 2014, while on tour for his solo album "Everyday Robots", Albarn signaled openness to returning to Gorillaz, mentioning he wouldn't mind having another stab at a Gorillaz record and that he had been writing quite a lot of songs for Gorillaz.
2015: Remi Kabaka Jr. becomes permanent music producer
In 2015, Remi Kabaka Jr., who had been providing the voice of Russel for over 10 years, became a permanent music producer for the band.
2015: Hewlett Starts Working on Gorillaz Characters Again
In 2015, after agreeing to continue Gorillaz, Hewlett started working on the Gorillaz characters again while Albarn was performing with Blur.
October 2016: Noodle becomes global ambassador for Jaguar Racing
In October 2016, Noodle became the global ambassador for Jaguar Racing, appearing in a short commercial advertising the company.
January 2017: Release of "Hallelujah Money"
On January 2017, Gorillaz released "Hallelujah Money" featuring Benjamin Clementine with an accompanying video. The track was released on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration, intended as a song for the imaginary inauguration, which turned out to be the real one.
April 2017: Release of 'Humanz'
On April 28 2017, the album Humanz was released, marking the band's first new studio album in 7 years. It debuted at number two on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. The album received generally positive reviews.
April 2017: Hewlett Discusses Tensions During Plastic Beach Era
Speaking to The Guardian in April 2017, Hewlett explained his perspective on the tensions during the Plastic Beach era, feeling that the visual aspects were being minimised in favor of the musical performances.
June 2017: First Demon Dayz Festival and release of 'Sleeping Powder'
On June 10 2017, the first Demon Dayz Festival was held at Dreamland Margate theme park. On June 8 2017 the band released the non-album single "Sleeping Powder" with an accompanying music video.
September 2017: Plans for a New Album and Debut of "Ode to Idaho"
In September 2017, during the Humanz Tour, Albarn mentioned plans to release new material as a future Gorillaz album. During a September 2017 concert in Seattle, the band debuted a new song, "Ode to Idaho", later included on the album as "Idaho".
November 2017: Release of 'Super Deluxe' version of Humanz
On November 3 2017, Gorillaz released a "Super Deluxe" version of Humanz, featuring an additional 14 unreleased tracks from the album's sessions, including alternative versions of previously released songs as well as the single "Garage Palace" featuring Little Simz.
2017: Release of Humanz
In 2017, Gorillaz released their fifth album, Humanz, which was their first in seven years and featured numerous guest artists.
2017: Kevin Bishop cast as the new speaking voice of 2-D
In 2017, Kevin Bishop was cast as the new speaking voice of 2-D.
2017: Remi Kabaka Jr. becomes the speaking voice of Russel Hobbs
Since 2017, Remi Kabaka Jr, who has been a percussionist and producer for Gorillaz since Humanz, provides Russel's speaking voice.
February 2018: Albarn Finishes New Material in London
In February 2018, during a break in the Humanz Tour, Albarn returned to London and worked with James Ford and Kabaka Jr. to finish newly written material, leading to the band's sixth studio album.
June 2018: "The Now Now World Premiere" performance in Tokyo
On June 22 2018, Gorillaz had a performance in Tokyo called "The Now Now World Premiere", in which the band played the full album live for the first and only time.
June 2018: Release of 'The Now Now'
On June 29 2018, Gorillaz released their sixth studio album, The Now Now. It featured a small list of featured artists compared to previous works.
October 2018: Demon Dayz Festival in Los Angeles
In October 2018, the Demon Dayz Festival, a Gorillaz curated music festival, was repeated in Los Angeles.
2018: Release of The Now Now
In 2018, Gorillaz released their album, The Now Now, which focused musically on Damon Albarn.
2018: Brit Awards Win
In 2018, Gorillaz won Best British Group at the Brit Awards.
December 2019: Screening of 'Gorillaz: Reject False Icons'
On December 16 2019, the documentary Gorillaz: Reject False Icons was screened worldwide on a one-day theatrical release. The documentary showcases the production of Humanz and The Now Now.
January 2020: Announcement of 'Song Machine'
On January 29 2020, Gorillaz announced its new project Song Machine, a web series releasing one new song a month as "episodes" to the series.
October 2020: Release of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
Gorillaz released Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez on October 23 2020. On October 1, the band released "The Pink Phantom", the seventh episode of Song Machine. Before the release, Gorillaz started a radio show on Apple Music called Song Machine Radio.
2020: Start of Song Machine project and release of Season One
In 2020, Gorillaz started the Song Machine project, a music-based web series with standalone singles and music videos. It culminated in the release of the album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez.
March 2021: 20th Anniversary and NFT Plans
On March 26 2021, Gorillaz celebrated its debut album's 20th anniversary with oncoming reissues of their catalogue and teases of non-fungible tokens. The latter was met with criticism.
March 2021: Release of alternative music video for "The Valley of the Pagans"
On March 9 2021, Gorillaz uploaded an alternative version of the music video to "The Valley of the Pagans" to their official YouTube channel, which does not feature any gameplay from Grand Theft Auto V.
August 2021: Debut of New Songs and Announcement of 'Meanwhile' EP
On August 10 2021, Gorillaz debuted three new songs, "Meanwhile", "Jimmy Jimmy", and "Déjà Vu", during a free concert at the O2 Arena in London for National Health Service employees and their families. They then performed them again at the subsequent concert open to the public the next day. These three songs were announced to be tracks from a new EP entitled Meanwhile.
November 2021: Announcement of animated film based on the band being produced at Netflix
In November 2021, Albarn announced that an animated film based on the band was being produced at Netflix.
June 2022: Teasing of new material and promotional campaign "The Last Cult"
In June 2022, Gorillaz began teasing the release of new material. Promotional displays and websites surfaced encouraging fans to sign up to be a part of "The Last Cult".
July 2022: Release of "Cracker Island" music video and cancellation of Splendour in the Grass performance
In July 2022, Gorillaz released the music video for their single "Cracker Island". Their scheduled performance at the Splendour in the Grass festival in Queensland, Australia on July 22nd was cancelled due to torrential rain. They also played at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre as part of Illuminate Adelaide, supported by Moonchild Sanelly.
August 2022: Name of Gorillaz song with Bad Bunny revealed to be Tormenta
On August 31 2022, it was revealed that the name of the Gorillaz song with Bad Bunny was "Tormenta".
January 2023: Release of "Silent Running"
On January 27, 2023, Gorillaz released "Silent Running" featuring Adeleye Omotayo, as the fifth single from Cracker Island.
February 2023: Animated film based on the band cancelled by Netflix
By February 2023, the animated film based on the band being produced at Netflix had been cancelled.
February 2023: Release of Cracker Island album
On February 24, 2023, Gorillaz released their eighth studio album, "Cracker Island".
February 2023: Release of deluxe version of Cracker Island
On February 27, 2023, a deluxe version of Cracker Island was released with five bonus tracks, featuring Del the Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, and MC Binn.
2023: Del the Ghost Rapper returns to the band during the Cracker Island sessions
In 2023, Del the Ghost Rapper returns to the band during the sessions of Cracker Island.
2023: Release of Cracker Island
In 2023, Gorillaz released their eighth studio album, Cracker Island, which met generally positive reviews.
2024: Nomination for Best Alternative Music Album
In 2024, the album Cracker Island was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
January 2025: Release of Nostalgiaz video
On January 29, 2025, Gorillaz released a video titled Nostalgiaz to celebrate their 25th anniversary, featuring clips from their music videos set to "Pirate's Progress" from Plastic Beach.
August 2025: Launch of House of Kong exhibition and live performances
On August 8, 2025, Gorillaz launched an exhibition at London's Copper Box called "House of Kong", which ran until September 3. This included a set of daily live performances where they performed their first three albums and a fourth "mystery" show.
September 2025: Announcement of The Mountain album and release of "The Happy Dictator" single
On September 11, 2025, Gorillaz officially announced their ninth album The Mountain with a release date of February 27, 2026. Its lead single, "The Happy Dictator", featuring Sparks, was released concurrently with the announcement.
February 2026: Release of The Mountain album
On February 27, 2026, Gorillaz is scheduled to release their ninth album, "The Mountain".
June 2026: The Mountain Tour in Europe
In June 2026, Gorillaz will be promoting the album during The Mountain Tour, with concerts in Europe between March and June 2026.
2026: Release of The Mountain
In 2026, Gorillaz released their ninth studio album, The Mountain, drawing inspiration from India. The album received widespread critical acclaim.
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