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| occupation = | years_active = 1988–present | label = | website = | associated_acts = }} Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is the lead singer of the alternative rock band Blur as well as co-founder, vocalist, principal songwriter, and instrumentalist of the virtual band Gorillaz. Raised in Leytonstone, East London and around Colchester, Essex, Albarn attended Stanway School, where he met Graham Coxon and eventually formed Blur whose debut album, ''Leisure'', was released in 1991 to mixed reviews. After spending long periods of time touring the United States, Albarn's songwriting became increasingly influenced by British bands from the 1960s. The result of these influences came in the form of ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' (1994) and ''The Great Escape'' (1995). All three albums received widespread critical acclaim while Blur gained mass popularity in the UK, aided by a rivalry shared with Oasis. Subsequent albums contained influences from lo-fi, electronic and hip hop music such as ''Blur'' (1997), ''13'' (1999), ''Think Tank'' (2003), and ''The Magic Whip'' (2015). Albarn was voted the fourth-greatest frontman of all time in a 2010 UK Poll for ''Q Music'' magazine. In 1998, Albarn along with ''Tank Girl'' creator Jamie Hewlett formed the "virtual band" Gorillaz. Drawing influences from alternative rock, trip hop,〔http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-07-03/music/monkey-wrench/〕 hip hop, electronica, dub, reggae and pop music, the band released their self-titled debut album in 2001 which was hugely successful worldwide. Although Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, the albums feature many collaborations from a wide range of artists. Gorillaz are cited by the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the "Most Successful Virtual Band". Other projects include working with African musicians in aid of the charity Oxfam, writing and performing lead vocals on ''The Good, the Bad & the Queen'' as part of an unnamed supergroup featuring Tony Allen, Paul Simonon and Simon Tong and composing film soundtracks. He has also ventured into the world of opera with ''Dr Dee'' and ''Monkey: Journey to the West''. He is also a Chelsea F.C. fan and frequently attends games involving the Blues at Stamford Bridge.〔Martin Power (2013). "The Life of Blur". (Chapter Eleven: Into the Blue). Music Sales Group〕 Albarn's debut solo studio album ''Everyday Robots'' was released in his native United Kingdom on 28 April 2014, co-produced by XL Recordings CEO Richard Russell and featured collaborations with Brian Eno, Natasha Khan and the Leytonstone City Pentecostal Mission Church Choir as well as sampling several rants by Lord Buckley. ==Early life== Albarn was born on 23 March 1968, the eldest child of Keith and Hazel Albarn née Dring. Their daughter, Jessica, born in 1971, also went on to become an artist.〔Maconie, Stuart (1999). ''Blur: 3862 Days, The Official History''. Virgin Books; ISBN 0-7535-0287-9〕 Hazel Albarn, originally from Lincolnshire, was a theatrical set designer for Joan Littlewood's theatre company at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London and was working on the satirical play, ''Mrs Wilson's Diary'', just before Damon was born.〔〔 Keith Albarn, originally from Nottinghamshire, was briefly the manager of Soft Machine and a guest on BBC's ''Late Night Line-Up''.〔〔Harris, John (2003) ("Damon Albarn: From Cool Britannia to radical campaigner for peace" ), ''The Independent'', 15 February 2003. 〕 He was head of The School of Art and Design at Colchester Institute.〔 Damon's paternal grandfather, Edward, an architect,〔http://www.samscorergallery.co.uk/antonin-bartl-100-years-retrospective/〕〔http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/eastmidlands/series6/lincolnshire_peace_community_conscientious_objector.shtml〕 had been a conscientious objector during the Second World War and was involved in a farming community in Lincolnshire, becoming a peace activist. In 2002, Edward Albarn died, Damon stated in an interview that Edward did not want to live any longer and decided to go on a hunger strike. In 1968, at the age of 6 months, Damon Albarn was a "testing expert" for designs for educational aids and toys for children including fiberglass furniture and play-structures fancifully called "The Kissmequiosk". "The Apollo Cumfycraft" and "The Tailendcharlie" produced by his father's company "Keith Albarn & Partners Ltd" under the trade-name of "Playlearn, Ltd." When Damon and Jessica were growing up, their family moved to Leytonstone, East London.〔 The household was described as "bohemian"〔Ankeny, Jason ("Damon Albarn Biography" ), ''Allmusic'', Macrovision Corporation〕 and their upbringing as "liberal".〔 Damon agreed with his parents' views, later claiming, "I always thought my parents were absolutely dead right. I went against the grain in a weird way – by continually following them."〔 His parents primarily listened to blues, Indian ragas and African music.〔 When Damon was 9 years old, his family took a holiday trip to Turkey for three months before settling in Aldham, Essex, an area described by Albarn as "one of those burgeoning Thatcher experiments where they were building loads of small estates".〔''No Distance Left To Run''. Pulse Films (2010)〕 The population of the area was predominantly white as opposed to the ethnically mixed part of London which he had become used to. He described himself as "not really fitting in with the politics of the place."〔 Albarn was interested in music from an early age, attending an Osmonds concert at the age of six. He started playing guitar, piano and violin in his youth and was interested in composing music, one of his compositions winning a heat in the nationwide Young Composer of the Year competition.〔〔 Damon and Jessica both attended a primary school nearby which, according to Damon, was burnt down seven times in a time period of 18 months by one of the teachers. After both siblings failed their 11 plus exam, they started attending Stanway Comprehensive School, where Damon described himself as being "really unpopular" and "(to ) a lot of people".〔 However, he developed an interest in Drama and started acting in various school productions.〔〔 It was at Stanway where he would meet future Blur guitarist, Graham Coxon, who recalls seeing him act and feeling that he was a "confident performer" as well as a "show off".〔 Albarn's first words directed at Coxon were "Your brogues are crap, mate. Look, mine are the proper sort"〔 as he was showing off his leather shoes, fashionable footwear at the time influenced by the Mod Revival.〔 Nevertheless, the pair went onto become good friends, due to their shared passion for music, particularly bands such as The Jam, The Beatles, The Human League, XTC and Madness.〔 He studied acting at the East 15 Acting School in Debden, but left after the first year. On leaving drama school he worked as a tea boy at the Beat Factory studio. His first band was the synthpop group, Two's a Crowd.〔 Before Blur, he played with The Aftermath and Real Lives.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Damon Albarn」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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