Gorillaz is a famous virtual band which has been created by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn. This band has four animated characters named Noodle, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, and Stuart 2D Pot. The fictional universe of this band is presented in short cartoons, interviews, and music videos. The permanent music contributor of this band is Albarn, and he also collaborates with other musicians. In the year 2001, the debut album of this band got released. The third album of this band got published in the year 2010 and got famous.
Inception
Comic creator, Jamie Hewlett, and Damon Albarn were the ones who met in the year 1990 and decided to create Gorillaz while watching MTV channel. The first release of this band was EP TOMORROW COMES TODAY, which got released on 27th November in the year 2000. The first single of this band was CLINT EASTWOOD, and it released on 5th March 2001.
On 26th March, the full-length album of Gorillaz got released with four singles, 19-2000, TOMORROW COMES TODAY, ROCK THE HOUSE, and CLINT EASTWOOD. On 7th December, their song 911 got published, and it was a collaboration with hip hop group D12 and Gorillaz. On 1st July in the year 2002, the remix album was released form this band, which had reggae and dub style. There were also rumors that the band was planning to prepare a film, but it got abandoned due to some reasons.
Evolution
The album titled DEMON DAYS got released on 11th May in 2005. This album was on top rank in the UK albums chart. It becomes one of the best selling albums in the year 2005 in the United States. It sold almost eight million copies in the world. In Miami MTV awards in 2005, Gorillaz band won 2 awards for breakthrough videos.
The band performed in Brit awards 2006 and also got nominated for the best British band. This was the time when plans of the world tour of Gorillaz were unveiled in 2007. On 3rd November, in 2005, the virtual characters were used for the first time, and these were again used in Grammy awards 2006.
On 2nd June in 2006, hopes for a film of the band got revived, and Hewlett also confirmed that they would produce a movie. On 19th November, in 2007, D-SIDES got released, and it contained remix and bonus tracks from the DEMON DAYS album.
On 20th April 2009, the movie got released, and the DVD was out on 1st June 2009. In 2007, the third album of the band got released titled PLASTIC BEACH. On 5th October 2010, the band announced about their new single titled DONCAMATIC, which features DALEY.
On 18th April in 2011, the band announced their release of iPad app of their own. On 5th October, in the year 2011, they released their greatest hits compilation titled THE SINGLES COLLECTION 2001 to 2011. On 9th February in 2012, the band announced DO YA THING to do promotions of Converse shoes by the Gorillaz brand. In the year 2014, Albarn reported that he had been writing many songs for the band.
On 19th October in the year 2014, he told me that he would release new material for Gorillaz in the year 2016. In the year 2015, he revealed that he was working on a new album with Hewlett. On 28th April in the year 2017, HUMANZ album was released, which got immense fame. On 28th January, in the year 2024, the band released a concept titled SONG MACHINE.
Awards and achievements
The debut album of this band got double platinum in Europe and triple platinum in the UK and also got the entry in Guinness book of world records as a virtual band. It also got nominated for MERCURY PRIZE, but it got withdrawn after the request of the band. For their second album, they got six times platinum in the UK and dual platinum in the United States. This group has been nominated for the various awards for 55 times and won awards 25 times. Here are the major awards won by the group:
- Maximum Vision Award for Clint Eastwood in 2001
- Best Moden Rock Clip award in 2001
- Best Hip Hop Artist Clip award in 2001
- Best British Group in the year 2018
- Best foreign video award for Stylo in 2010
- Best Pop Collaboration with vocals in 2006
- Band of the year award in 2010
- Best dance award in 2001
- Best song award for Clint Eastwood in 2001
So, these are the major awards won by the group in these recent years. This band will continue to win many more awards shortly.
Net Worth of Gorillaz in 2024
The net worth of Gorillaz is around $50 million as of January 2024, which it has earned with several videos on YouTube. The record sales of the band in the year 2015 were $150,000, and in 2014, it was $90,000. Within one year, this band sold around 100 thousand copies in the UK only. The critics and writers described the music of the band as art pop, trip pop, dark pop, rap-rock, alternative rock, new wave, and worldbeat. In the next decade, this band will grow more popular among youngsters.
Gorillaz is a band that has become successful even after being a virtual band. It is almost a new and unique concept due to which the group became so much famous. The creator of this video has become a millionaire by earning a lot of money with the YouTube channel and albums.
Not only this band can be seen on YouTube, but the fans are also able to enjoy live performances. In the year 2001, this band played their first show at Scala in London. In the year 2005, this band performed DEMON DAYS LIVE. This event got filmed by the EMI FILM crew for DEMON DAYS LIVE. Within one year, almost 53 shows are scheduled, and this band will continue to get famous in the future years.