History of Gorillaz in Timeline
Gorillaz is a virtual band formed in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. The band is unique because its members are fictional characters: 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs, whose stories are told through music videos, comics, and cartoons. While Damon Albarn is the consistent musical force, Gorillaz is known for collaborations with various musicians.
1968: Inspiration for Murdoc's character
In 1968, a photograph of the Rolling Stones taken by David Bailey served as an inspiration for the creation of Murdoc Niccals.
1990: Meeting of Albarn and Hewlett
In 1990, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett met when Graham Coxon asked Hewlett to interview Blur for Deadline, where Hewlett's comic strip Tank Girl was published.
1997: Blur's 'On Your Own' released
In 1997, Blur released the single "On Your Own", from their fifth studio album 'Blur'. Damon Albarn has stated that this song was one of the first Gorillaz tunes.
1997: Albarn and Hewlett share a flat
In 1997, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett began sharing a flat on Westbourne Grove in London.
1998: Recording of Debut Album Begins
From 1998, Damon Albarn recorded Gorillaz' self-titled debut album at Studio 13 in London and Geejam Studios in Jamaica.
1998: Virtual band creation
In 1998, musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett created Gorillaz, an English virtual band. The band consists of four fictional members: 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs.
1998: Creation of Murdoc Niccals
Murdoc Niccals, the bassist for Gorillaz, was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett in 1998.
1998: Creation of 2-D
Stuart Harold "2-D" Pot, the lead vocalist and keyboardist for Gorillaz, was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett in 1998.
November 2000: Release of Tomorrow Comes Today EP
In November 2000, Gorillaz released their first EP, 'Tomorrow Comes Today'. The EP included tracks that later appeared on the album and featured the band's first music video for the title track.
2000: First Appearance of Murdoc Niccals
In 2000, Murdoc Niccals made his first official appearance in Gorillaz' debut EP, Tomorrow Comes Today.
2000: Beginnings of Bananaz documentary coverage
In 2000, the documentary Bananaz started documenting the behind-the-scenes history of Gorillaz.
2000: Remi Kabaka Jr. becomes voice actor for Russel Hobbs
Since 2000, Remi Kabaka Jr. has been the voice actor for the Gorillaz virtual band member Russel Hobbs.
March 2001: Release of 'Gorillaz'
In March 2001, Gorillaz released their self-titled debut album, 'Gorillaz'. It was a commercial success, reaching No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 14 on the US Billboard 200.
December 2001: Release of G-Sides compilation
In December 2001, Gorillaz released the B-sides compilation 'G-Sides'.
December 2001: Release of 911
On December 7, 2001, Gorillaz released the single "911", a collaboration with D12 (without Eminem) and Terry Hall about the September 11 attacks.
2001: Release of Debut Album
In 2001, Gorillaz released their self-titled debut album, 'Gorillaz', which featured trip hop, punk rock, dub, and Latin influences. The album went triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in Europe, driven by the success of the lead single, "Clint Eastwood".
July 2002: Release of Laika Come Home
On July 1, 2002, the remix album 'Laika Come Home' was released, containing tracks from Gorillaz remixed in dub and reggae style by Spacemonkeyz.
November 2002: Release of Phase One: Celebrity Take Down DVD
On November 18, 2002, Gorillaz released the DVD 'Phase One: Celebrity Take Down', containing their visual content up to that point.
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 also nominated for four Brit Awards, but did not win any.
2003: Albarn returns to Gorillaz
In 2003, Damon Albarn returned to Gorillaz after touring with Blur and reunited with Jamie Hewlett to prepare for a second album.
2004: Danger Mouse enlisted for Demon Days
In 2004, Damon Albarn enlisted Brian Burton, also known as Danger Mouse, to produce the Demon Days album.
May 2005: Release of Demon Days
In May 2005, Gorillaz released their second studio album, 'Demon Days'. It debuted at No. 1 in the UK and No. 6 in the US, becoming their most successful album.
September 2005: Latin American Premiere of Dare Music Video on Rebelde
In September 2005, as part of their promotion in Latin America, Gorillaz were interviewed on the Mexican show Rebelde, which included the Latin American premiere of the music video for "Dare".
November 2005: Demon Days Live residency at Manchester Opera House
In November 2005, Gorillaz performed a five-night residency called Demon Days Live at the Manchester Opera House, performing the album in full each night with most featured artists.
November 2005: Gorillaz "performed" at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards
In November 2005, the virtual Gorillaz members performed at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, appearing on stage via Musion Eyeliner 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. The album spawned successful singles such as "Feel Good Inc.", "Dare", "Dirty Harry", and "El Mañana".
February 2006: Gorillaz performance at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards and win for "Feel Good Inc."
In February 2006, Gorillaz "performed" at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards using Musion Eyeliner technology. They also won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Feel Good Inc.", which was also nominated for Record of the Year, at the Grammy's.
April 2006: Demon Days Live Residency at Apollo Theater
In April 2006, Gorillaz repeated their Demon Days Live residency 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, presented as an autobiography of the band, written by Cass Browne and featuring artwork by Hewlett.
November 2007: Release of D-Sides
In November 2007, Gorillaz released D-Sides, a B-sides compilation featuring remixes and unreleased tracks from the Demon Days sessions.
2007: Premiere of Monkey: Journey to the West opera
In 2007, Albarn and Hewlett's opera Monkey: Journey to the West, based on the classical Chinese novel, premiered at the Manchester International Festival.
2007: Beginnings of Carousel project
In late 2007, after completing work on Monkey, Albarn and Hewlett began working on a new Gorillaz project entitled Carousel.
July 2008: Albarn Interview
In July 2008, Albarn explained the expanded roster of featured artists represented his and Hewlett's new vision of Gorillaz as a project.
2008: Hewlett described Carousel
In 2008, Hewlett described Carousel in an interview.
2008: Release of Bananaz documentary
In 2008, the documentary film Bananaz, directed by Ceri Levy, was released. It documents the behind-the-scenes history of Gorillaz from 2000 to 2006.
January 2010: Release of Stylo
In January 2010, "Stylo" featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack was released as the lead single from Plastic Beach, with Bruce Willis appearing in the music video.
November 2010: Release of Doncamatic
On 21 November 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: Albarn recorded Gorillaz songs on his iPad.
During the North American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach tour in the autumn of 2010, Albarn continued recording Gorillaz songs entirely on his iPad. These recordings would later be released as the album The Fall.
2010: Traditional Live Touring
Since 2010, Gorillaz transitioned to traditional live touring, featuring a fully visible live band, after previously using methods such as hiding the touring band or projecting animated members on stage.
April 2011: Physical Release of The Fall
On April 19, 2011, The Fall was given a physical release.
February 2012: Release of DoYaThing
On February 23, 2012, Gorillaz released "DoYaThing", a single to promote a Gorillaz-branded collection of Converse shoes, as part of Converse's "Three Artists, One Song" project.
April 2012: Albarn and Hewlett's fall-out
In April 2012, Albarn told The Guardian that he and Hewlett had fallen out and that future Gorillaz projects were "unlikely".
2012: Gorillaz entered a multiyear hiatus
Following the release of DoYaThing and the making public of Albarn and Hewlett's fall-out in 2012, Gorillaz entered a multiyear hiatus.
June 2013: Hewlett confirmed plans to continue Gorillaz
In June 2013, Hewlett confirmed that he and Albarn planned to someday continue Gorillaz and record a follow-up album to Plastic Beach.
2014: Albarn signaled openness to returning to Gorillaz
In 2014, while on tour in support of Everyday Robots, Albarn signaled openness to returning to Gorillaz, and later reported that he had "been writing quite a lot of songs on the road for Gorillaz".
2015: Hewlett started to work on Gorillaz again
In 2015, Hewlett started work on Gorillaz again, learning to draw the characters again.
2015: Remi Kabaka Jr. becomes permanent music producer
In 2015, Remi Kabaka Jr., who had been the voice of Russel for over ten years, became a permanent music producer for Gorillaz.
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 20 January 2017, Gorillaz released "Hallelujah Money" featuring Benjamin Clementine. The song was accompanied by a video featuring Clementine and was released on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration as a response to the event. The band chose to release the track on this day as it was meant to be something sung at the imaginary inauguration of Donald Trump.
April 2017: Release of Humanz album
On 28 April 2017, Gorillaz released their fifth studio album, Humanz, after a 7-year hiatus. The album, featuring a "modern-sounding urban hip-hop/R&B sensibility", debuted at number two on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200 and received generally positive reviews.
April 2017: Hewlett spoke to The Guardian about the fall-out with Albarn
Speaking to The Guardian in April 2017, Hewlett explained more in detail about his fall-out with Albarn.
June 2017: First Demon Dayz Festival and release of "Sleeping Powder"
On 10 June 2017, Gorillaz held the first Demon Dayz Festival at Dreamland Margate theme park. On 8 June 2017, the band released the non-album single "Sleeping Powder" with an accompanying music video.
September 2017: Debut of "Ode to Idaho" and album plans
During a September 2017 concert in Seattle, Gorillaz debuted a new song, "Ode to Idaho", later included on the album as "Idaho". Damon Albarn stated the song had been written in the days prior. In an interview, Albarn mentioned plans to release the material recorded on the road as a future Gorillaz album.
November 2017: Release of "Super Deluxe" version of Humanz
On 3 November 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 the band's first album in seven years and featured a wide array of guest artists.
2017: Casting of new speaking voice for 2-D
In 2017, Kevin Bishop was cast as the new speaking voice of 2-D.
2017: Remi Kabaka Jr. becomes Russel's speaking voice
Since 2017, Remi Kabaka Jr. has been the speaking voice of Russel Hobbs, and also an actual percussionist and producer for Gorillaz.
February 2018: Albarn finishes new material in London
In February 2018, during a break in the Humanz Tour, Damon Albarn returned to London and worked with producer James Ford and Remi Kabaka Jr. to finish the newly written material for the band's sixth studio album.
June 2018: "The Now Now World Premiere" performance in Tokyo
On 22 June 2018, Gorillaz performed "The Now Now World Premiere" in Tokyo, during The Now Now Tour. The band played the full album live for the first and only time, a performance which was later broadcast by Boiler Room.
June 2018: Release of The Now Now album
On 29 June 2018, Gorillaz released their sixth studio album, The Now Now. The album featured "simple, mostly upbeat songs" and 1980s new wave influences, and had a smaller list of featured artists compared to previous work.
October 2018: Demon Dayz Festival in Los Angeles
In October 2018, Gorillaz held a second Demon Dayz Festival in Los Angeles, following the first festival in Margate in June 2017.
2018: Ace records with the band on The Now Now
In 2018, Ace, a Powerpuff Girls character, recorded with the band on The Now Now and was Murdoc's substitute on bass while the latter was arrested.
2018: Release of The Now Now
In 2018, Gorillaz released 'The Now Now', their sixth album, which focused musically on Damon Albarn.
2018: Brit Awards
In 2018, Gorillaz won Best British Group at the Brit Awards.
December 2019: Screening of Gorillaz: Reject False Icons documentary
On 16 December 2019, the documentary Gorillaz: Reject False Icons was screened worldwide on a one-day theatrical release. The documentary showcased a behind-the-scenes look at the production of Humanz and The Now Now as well as the album's associated tours.
January 2020: Announcement of Song Machine project
On 29 January 2020, Gorillaz announced its new project Song Machine, a web series that releases one new song a month as "episodes", with 11 episodes released to comprise the first "season". The first song released was "Momentary Bliss" on 31 January.
October 2020: Release of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez and "The Pink Phantom"
On 1 October 2020, Gorillaz released "The Pink Phantom", the seventh episode of Song Machine featuring Elton John and 6lack. Gorillaz also announced the title and tracklist for Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, released on 23 October 2020. Before the release of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, 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 featuring standalone singles and music videos. This project culminated in the release of their seventh album, 'Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez' in 2020.
March 2021: 20th Anniversary of debut album and NFT controversy
On 26 March 2021, Gorillaz celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut album with oncoming reissues of their catalogue and teases of non-fungible tokens. The latter was met with criticism.
March 2021: Alternative version of "The Valley of the Pagans" music video uploaded
On 9 March 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 10 August 2021, Gorillaz debuted three new songs, "Meanwhile", "Jimmy Jimmy", and "Déjà Vu", during a free concert at the O2 Arena in London, England. These songs were announced to be tracks from a new EP entitled Meanwhile.
September 2021: Announcement of new song with Bad Bunny
On 17 September 2021, Damon Albarn revealed that he had recorded a new Gorillaz song with Bad Bunny whilst in Jamaica, and, at the time, said it would be the first single for a new album, influenced by Latin America, released in 2022.
November 2021: Announcement of Gorillaz animated film at Netflix
In November 2021, Damon Albarn announced that an animated film based on Gorillaz was being produced at Netflix.
June 2022: Teasing of new material and launch of "The Last Cult"
In June 2022, Gorillaz began teasing the release of new material, with promotional displays and websites encouraging fans to sign up to be a part of "The Last Cult".
July 2022: Performance at Illuminate Adelaide and cancellation at Splendour in the Grass
In July 2022, Gorillaz performed at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre as part of Illuminate Adelaide, supported by Moonchild Sanelly. However, their scheduled performance at the Splendour in the Grass festival in Queensland, Australia on July 22nd was cancelled due to torrential rain.
August 2022: Performance and Release of "New Gold" and Album Announcement
In August 2022, Gorillaz performed the new song "New Gold" (featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown) at All Points East in London and released it as their second single for their eighth studio album, which was announced to be titled Cracker Island on the same day.
August 2022: Name of song with Bad Bunny revealed
On 31 August 2022, the name of the song recorded with Bad Bunny was revealed to be "Tormenta".
January 2023: Release of "Silent Running"
On January 27, 2023, Gorillaz released the fifth single from Cracker Island, "Silent Running" featuring Adeleye Omotayo, with a music video following on February 8th.
February 2023: Release of Cracker Island
On February 24, 2023, Gorillaz released their eighth studio album, "Cracker Island". The album received mostly positive reviews.
February 2023: Deluxe version of Cracker Island released
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: Release of Cracker Island
In 2023, Gorillaz released their eighth studio album, 'Cracker Island', which was met with generally positive reviews.
2024: Nomination for Grammy Award
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, to celebrate their 25th anniversary, Gorillaz released a video titled Nostalgiaz, featuring clips from their music videos set to "Pirate's Progress" from Plastic Beach.
August 2025: "House of Kong" Exhibition Launch and Fortnite Festival Addition
On August 8, 2025, Gorillaz launched an exhibition at London's Copper Box called "House of Kong", which ran until September 3. On August 26, 2025, the band were added to the video game Fortnite Festival as part of the game's tenth season.
September 2025: Announcement of The Mountain Album
On September 11, 2025, Gorillaz officially announced their ninth album, The Mountain, with a release date of February 27, 2026. The lead single, "The Happy Dictator", featuring Sparks, was released concurrently with the announcement.
February 2026: Release date of The Mountain album
The release date of the Gorillaz ninth album "The Mountain" is set to February 27, 2026.
March 2026: Performance on Saturday Night Live
On March 7, 2026, Gorillaz played live on the American television programme Saturday Night Live, performing "Clint Eastwood" featuring Del the Funky Homosapien and "The Moon Cave" featuring Asha Puthli, Black Thought and Anoushka Shankar.
June 2026: The Mountain Tour
In June 2026, the Mountain Tour will be held in Europe to promote the new album.
2026: Release of The Mountain
In 2026, Gorillaz released their ninth studio album, 'The Mountain', which drew musical and thematic inspiration from India and received widespread critical acclaim.
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