Damon Albarn awarded OBE by the Queen of England

Here's excellent Blur news just before New Years- Damon Albarn has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to the British music scene for over 20 years. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is the "order of chivalry of British constitutional monarchy, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations and public service outside the Civil Service.

The singer, composer and songwriter for Blur, Gorillaz and various other musical successes joins ranks of Goldie and actors James Nesbitt, Idris Elba, David Oyelowo, Barbara Windsor and Imelda Staunton among the celebrities saluted by Queen Elizabeth II as part of her annual Honours List.

In December Albarn, who was was born in London and raised in Essex, opened his musical, wonder.land, at the National Theatre in London - reworking Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland into a story about the digital age.

Damon Albarn has also been working on the fifth Gorillaz album, which is expected in 2016. In an interview with Rolling Stone in October, he said: "So far, it's really fast, and it's got quite a lot of energy. I've been stuck on piano, somewhere off Broadway, for years now. I want to go somewhere completely opposite of that."

For a full list of awards, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-years-honours-2016.

Damon Albarn announces New album

Supergroup The Good, The Bad & The Queen may have already produced their second record, with Damon Albarn revealing that he has "got" the record. Albarn's band – which also features The Clash bassist Paul Simonon, The Verve guitarist Simon Tong and drummer Tony Allen – were last seen performing two gigs in London in November 2011.

The group's self-titled debut album was released in 2007. In an interview with The Sun yesterday (December 18), however, Albarn said that as well at a new Gorillaz record, "I’ve also got a Good, the Bad and the Queen record. It will either be Gorillaz or that [that comes next] and then I might be allowed to go back into my own solo world or another musical."

As early as July, Albarn had said that he could record a new Gorillaz album "next week," while in October he described the animated act's new material as "really fast" with "quite a lot of energy."

On the new Gorillaz album, Albarn said: "I'm in the very early days on a new Gorillaz record. So far, it's really fast, and it's got quite a lot of energy. I've been stuck on piano, somewhere off Broadway, for years now. I want to go somewhere completely opposite of that." Over a year ago, in October 2014, Albarn told the Sydney Morning Herald a new album by The Good, The Bad & The Queen is fully written.

Albarn reinvented Alice in Wonderland for Manchester International Festival earlier this year, and had to be carried off set at Danish Festival Roskilde after refusing to stop his show after five and a half hours.