Blur

The band is formed by Damon Albarn vocals, keyboards, guitar, Alex James bass guitar and Dave Rowntree drums. Graham Coxon guitar, backing vocals left the band in 2002.

Initially, the band came out of the baggy and shoegazing scene, very much taking influence from artists such as The Stone Roses. Their first album, Leisure was not a critical success, with many journalists seeing them as a manufactured band. Despite this, the albums was still a modest commercial success, hitting number 7 in the UK chart. The single There's No Other Way also broke into the top 10, however, further singles from the album failed to breach the top 20.

Their next album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, dropped the baggy tag, and is credited by many, along with the single Popscene as creating britpop. Despite a much improved critical reception, the album only reached number 15 in the UK, and failed to chart in the US at all. It was not until their next album, Parklife, that the band really broke into the mainstream.

During the 2003 "Think Tank" tour, Graham Coxon was replaced by Simon Tong, ex-The Verve guitarist. However, this was just for the live dates, as Damon Albarn has confirmed that no-one would ever replace Coxon in the band.

Blur have released 7 studio albums: Leisure 1991, Modern Life Is Rubbish 1993, Parklife 1994, The Great Escape 1995, Blur 1997, 13 1999 and Think Tank 2003. Additionally, an 18-track 'Best of' compilation was released in 2000.

Damon Albarn is also the creator and lead vocalist of Gorillaz and The Good, the Bad and the Queen.

Blur are planning to return to the studio this summer, where they will decide whether to release a new album or call it quits. According to Alex James, Graham Coxon has made peace with his former band-mates and will be involved in the project.