Gorillaz Trivia: 15 interesting facts about the band!

Gorillaz are a British virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.

Let’s see some fun facts about the band!

1. The band consists of four animated members: 2-D (lead vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar and vocals), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, and vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion).

2. These members are fictional and are not personas of any “real life” musicians involved in the project.

3. Their fictional universe is explored through the band’s website and music videos, as well as a number of other media, such as short cartoons.

4. In reality, Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, and the music is often a collaboration between various musicians.

5. Writers and critics have described their music as alternative rock, Britpop, trip hop, hip hop, electronica, indie, dub, reggae and pop.

6. The band’s 2001 debut album Gorillaz sold over seven million copies and earned them an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band.

7. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2001, but the nomination was later withdrawn at the band’s request.

8. Their second studio album Demon Days (2005) went five times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US.

9. The band has won other awards, including one Grammy Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, an NME Award, three MTV Europe Music Awards, and have been nominated for nine Brit Awards.

10. In 2008 Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were hired to produce one for the Beijing Olympics–one of the coolest commercial we’ve seen for the Olympics so far.

11. The band’s third studio album, Plastic Beach, was released in March 2010. Their fourth studio album called The Fall was released in December 2010 as a free download for fan club members, then in April 2011 as a physical release.

12. Inspired by the Japanese-designed drum machine that started the Korg musical instrument company in 1963 , “Doncamatic” is a new, unheard single that didn’t quite make it on Plastic Beach. Listen below, and you’ll find out exactly why it didn’t make the cut.

13. After a five-year hiatus, Gorillaz announced their fifth studio album Humanz, due to be released on 28 April 2017.

14. Aside from appearing in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Most Successful Virtual Band,” the band recently broke another record for the most views on YouTube after the release of their newest music video, “Stylo,” featuring Bruce Willis. The video earned 900,000 views in the first 24 hours.

15. Earlier we mentioned that the Gorillaz are big fans of zombies and vampires. In fact, many of their songs include tons of horror references from movies like “The Amityville Horror,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Resident Evil.” Here’s one of our faves featuring an oblique reference to “The Shining.”