50 Fun Facts About Gorillaz

Damon Albarn was already the frontman of which Britpop band when he co-created Gorillaz in 1998?

Blur made Albarn a Britpop star, but Gorillaz let him try hip-hop, dub and Latin music. He said he had rhythms he never thought he could use with his first band.

Which pop superstar opened the 2006 Grammy Awards performing beside 3D projections of Gorillaz?

Madonna swapped places on stage with the projected cartoon band as their song gave way to her hit 'Hung Up'. The illusion needed such low volume that Damon Albarn later called the performance tough.

Which hip-hop group raps on Gorillaz's hit 'Feel Good Inc.' and supplies its famous manic laugh?

De La Soul arrived at the studio messing around and trying to make each other laugh, and the tape was rolling. The cackle that made the record belongs to member Vincent Mason.

Which Hollywood action star chases the band's car through the desert in Gorillaz's 'Stylo' video?

Bruce Willis hunts the band in a red 1968 Chevrolet El Camino. The chase ends when their Camaro plunges into the ocean and turns into a shark-shaped submarine.

Damon Albarn recorded the Gorillaz album The Fall on tour in 2010 mainly using which Apple device?

An iPad served as his studio on the North American leg, and he released the songs untouched as a tour diary. The album appeared as a Christmas Day download that same year.

Gorillaz guitarist Noodle was designed as a ten-year-old martial arts expert from which country?

Japan became Noodle's home after Damon Albarn rejected the first guitarist design. Jamie Hewlett's original, a 17-year-old named Paula Cracker, looked too much like his usual characters.

Gorillaz headlined Glastonbury 2010 in place of which band, whose singer needed back surgery?

U2 pulled out a month before the festival after Bono's back surgery, and Gorillaz stepped in the next day. The cartoon band ended up topping the bill beside Muse and Stevie Wonder.

Which veteran British singer joins 2-D and 6lack on Gorillaz's 2020 track 'The Pink Phantom'?

Elton John recorded his part in London during the pandemic while Damon Albarn sang from Devon. He later included the song on his own 2021 album, The Lockdown Sessions.

Gorillaz's Humanz was written as a party for the night which politician won a presidential election?

Donald Trump's victory was still a 'dark fantasy' when Damon Albarn began the album in 2015. Co-producer the Twilite Tone summed up the mood they wanted as joy, pain and urgency.

Ace, who filled in on bass for Gorillaz in 2018, was borrowed from which Cartoon Network series?

The Powerpuff Girls lent Gorillaz a member of the green-skinned Gangreen Gang as a stand-in bassist. Damon Albarn said he and Jamie Hewlett were massive fans and knew creator Craig McCracken.

Flatmates Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett conceived Gorillaz while watching which TV channel?

MTV struck the flatmates as manufactured and empty, so they invented a cartoon band to comment on it. Hewlett said watching the channel for too long was 'a bit like hell'.

Which Gorillaz member's backstory of possession by dead musicians inspired the band's use of guests?

Russel Hobbs, the drummer, was conceived as the embodiment of the band's hip-hop side. In the story, the blue phantom who raps on the first single is a spirit hiding inside him.

Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, reunited on Gorillaz's Plastic Beach, both came from which punk band?

The Clash's guitarist and bassist finished their part of the album's title track in a single day. Simonon then stayed on as bassist for the world tour, where the live band wore naval attire.

Which rapper voices the blue phantom who delivers the verses of Gorillaz's 'Clint Eastwood'?

Del the Funky Homosapien wrote his verses in about 30 minutes, leaning on a book called How to Write a Hit Song. When the single went platinum, he gave the plaque to his mother.

During Gorillaz's Plastic Beach era, what kind of stand-in replaced the missing guitarist Noodle?

A cyborg version of Noodle took over guitar for that one album cycle. In the 'Stylo' video she shoots at a pursuing police car, then malfunctions and collapses in the passenger seat.

Which pendant does Murdoc Niccals, the self-declared Satanist of Gorillaz, usually wear?

An inverted cross hangs from the neck of the band's 'unpleasant villain', as Jamie Hewlett once described him. His other trademark is a two-word salute to the devil.

In Gorillaz's '19-2000' video, which giant animal sneezes Murdoc's missiles back at the band?

A moose looms over the road at the end of the band's joyride in their 'Geep'. The trip also takes in a loop-the-loop and a UFO chase, and ends with all four covered in ash.

Which song gave its name to Gorillaz's first release, a 2000 EP that introduced the cartoon band?

Tomorrow Comes Today came out in November 2000, four months before the debut album, with the band's first video. It was reissued as the album's fourth and final single in 2002.

Gorillaz repeated their Demon Days Live residency in 2006 at which famous New York City venue?

Apollo Theater in Harlem hosted five nights, matching the run at the Manchester Opera House. The band played in silhouette beneath a screen, with nearly all of the album's guests on stage.

In Gorillaz lore, the island Plastic Beach floats at which remote real-world spot in the ocean?

Point Nemo lies in the South Pacific, as remote as the sea gets. A portal drops the band's car into the water there at the end of the video for 'The Valley of the Pagans'.

Which Latin superstar joined Gorillaz on 'Tormenta', the first song finished for Cracker Island?

Bad Bunny recorded the song with Damon Albarn in 2021, when it was meant to launch a second season of Song Machine. That plan was shelved, and it landed on the 2023 album instead.

Gorillaz joined the tenth season of the rhythm game Festival in 2025, part of which hit online game?

Fortnite Festival added the band in August 2025, during their 25th anniversary year. That same month they opened a London exhibition where they played their first three albums live.

What is the name of Gorillaz's fictional home and studio, once explorable on the band's website?

Kong Studios was presented online as an interactive tour, with games to play and rooms to poke around. Jamie Hewlett led the design of the website himself.

Murdoc Niccals of Gorillaz was partly based on which rock guitarist, as seen in a 1968 photograph?

Keith Richards, as shot by David Bailey with the Rolling Stones, gave Murdoc his look. Jamie Hewlett's other ingredients were Victor Frankenstein and Creeper from Scooby-Doo.

Gorillaz's video for the Beck collaboration 'The Valley of the Pagans' was filmed inside which game?

Grand Theft Auto V hosts Noodle's high-speed drive, a first for a major studio music video. The original upload was set to private within days, and a version without the gameplay replaced it.

Which producer, known for the mash-up The Grey Album, was hired to produce Gorillaz's Demon Days?

Danger Mouse got the job after Damon Albarn heard his mash-up, and said the pair never had an argument. Their album topped the UK chart and went on to sell eight million copies.

Which Hollywood actor narrates 'Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head' on Gorillaz's Demon Days?

Dennis Hopper agreed after a shy Damon Albarn bumped into him at an awards ceremony; his son was a fan. An unused take from the session resurfaces on the title track of 2026's The Mountain.

In Gorillaz lore, Murdoc Niccals was born in which English city, also the home of Robbie Williams?

Stoke-on-Trent, the home of England's pottery industry, is the birthplace in Murdoc's constructed biography. Actor Phil Cornwell provides the bassist's speaking voice.

In 2016 Gorillaz guitarist Noodle became the global ambassador for which car maker's racing team?

Jaguar Racing signed up the cartoon guitarist in October 2016 and put her in a short commercial. The campaign arrived before any new music: the band's comeback album was still six months away.

Which Gorillaz release has the group Spacemonkeyz remixing the debut album in dub and reggae style?

Laika Come Home borrows its title from the Soviet space dog and the film Lassie Come Home. It reworks most of the songs on the first album, and Terry Hall of the Specials guests.

Which Hollywood actor strums a guitar while 2-D roller-skates past in Gorillaz's 'Humility' video?

Jack Black strums along on Venice Beach in Los Angeles, where the whole video was shot. The single also features jazz guitarist George Benson and introduced the album The Now Now.

Which rapper guested on Gorillaz's Plastic Beach and returned eight years later on 'Hollywood'?

Snoop Dogg shares 'Hollywood' with Jamie Principle, on an album that had only two guest tracks. He also joined the band on stage when they headlined Glastonbury.

Which 1990s chart rival of Damon Albarn sang backing vocals on Gorillaz's 'We Got the Power'?

Noel Gallagher's cameo was a landmark after the pair's public feud, which the media had dubbed the Battle of Britpop. The lead guest vocal on the song belongs to Jehnny Beth of the band Savages.

What is the real name of Gorillaz singer 2-D, whose singing voice is provided by Damon Albarn?

Stuart Pot sings with Albarn's voice but speaks with someone else's. Since 2017 his dialogue has come from Kevin Bishop, the actor who played Jim Hawkins in Muppet Treasure Island.

Which singer plays a giant disembodied head in the video for Gorillaz's only UK number one, 'Dare'?

Shaun Ryder's head lives in Noodle's closet in the video, wired to a life-support rig. Damon Albarn called choosing the Happy Mondays singer karma: Ryder had been kind to him during a rough spell in the 1990s.

Murdoc Niccals of Gorillaz slept through most of the 'Dare' video shoot in which make of motorhome?

Winnebago is the brand of Murdoc's van, and Noodle says he was asleep in it until the final scene. The debut album's enhanced CD section even opened a web page giving fans full access to it.

Which rock veteran said no three times before singing on Gorillaz's 'Some Kind of Nature'?

Lou Reed finally said yes to the fourth demo, then wrote his lyrics in a taxi during a ride uptown. At the New York studio he let only Albarn through the door, leaving Jamie Hewlett outside.

Gorillaz's 'Dirty Harry' video, their first shot on location, was filmed in which country's desert?

Namibia's Namib Desert became the crash site after the team found a real desert cheaper than a computer-animated one. Rapper Bootie Brown bursts out of a sand dune to deliver his verse.

Gorillaz, the bookmakers' favourites, withdrew their debut from the 2001 shortlist of which award?

Mercury Prize judges lost a front-runner when the nomination was withdrawn at the band's request. Murdoc likened the nomination to carrying a dead albatross round your neck for eternity.

Gorillaz held their first Demon Dayz Festival in 2017 at the Dreamland theme park in which town?

Margate's Dreamland hosted the one-day festival as a warm-up for the Humanz Tour. The band curated the line-up themselves and took the event to Los Angeles the following year.

A Gorillaz animated film announced by Damon Albarn in 2021 was cancelled by which streaming service?

Netflix had the film in production when Albarn revealed it, but it was dead by early 2023. An earlier movie idea collapsed after the first album, when the creators soured on Hollywood executives.

Gorillaz and rapper Schoolboy Q marked the 40th anniversary of which arcade game with a 2020 single?

Pac-Man turned 40 in 2020, and the tribute arrived as the fifth episode of Song Machine. The web series swapped the usual album rollout for a new single and video with surprise guests.

Before Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett co-created which anarchic comic strip for the magazine Deadline?

Tank Girl, about a teenage punk with a mutant kangaroo boyfriend, made Hewlett's name. Deadline also ran the 1990 band interview where he first met Damon Albarn, whom he disliked on sight.

In the Gorillaz storyline, where was Murdoc Niccals while Ace replaced him on 2018's The Now Now?

In prison for the whole album cycle, Murdoc missed a record with guests on only two tracks. Damon Albarn wrote and recorded it quickly during a break in touring.

Damon Albarn wrote Gorillaz's 'Feel Good Inc.' in 2003 on the way to play which American festival?

Coachella lies beyond a valley of windmills that Albarn was seeing for the first time, and the sight went straight into the chorus. Gorillaz themselves headlined the festival in 2010.

The windmill island in Gorillaz's 'Feel Good Inc.' video recalls one in which Hayao Miyazaki film?

Castle in the Sky features the flying island of Laputa, and Jamie Hewlett said Miyazaki inspired scenes in the video. The story continues in 'El Mañana', where gunships catch up with the island.

Robert Smith of The Cure sings on which Gorillaz song, the sixth episode of Song Machine?

Strange Timez went on to name the whole album that collected the series in October 2020. Other guests on it include Beck, Skepta and Tony Allen.

Which guitarist arranged the 1990 interview where Gorillaz's Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett met?

Graham Coxon had just formed a band with Albarn and wanted Hewlett, whose comics he admired, to write about them. The two future partners did not get on, yet by 1997 they were sharing a London flat.

What is the title of Gorillaz's 2006 'autobiography', supposedly written by the cartoon members?

Rise of the Ogre was really written by Cass Browne, the band's script writer and live drummer, with new art by Jamie Hewlett. Actor Joss Ackland narrated the four-part audiobook.

Which percussionist voiced Gorillaz's cartoon drummer for years before becoming a real band member?

Remi Kabaka Jr. worked with Damon Albarn in the Africa Express organisation and co-produced Humanz. A 2019 documentary was the first to credit him as a band member beside the two founders.