Alex James Says Blur May Reunite in 2021

Alex James has subtly hinted that his band Blur could perform at the Big Feastival, an annual festival held at his Cotswolds farmhouse in England. 

James is hoping all his former bandmates, Damon Albarn, Dave Rowntree, and Graham Coxon, will be in attendance at his farm for this year’s festival, and though he insisted they are “too big” a name to officially headline the event, he won’t rule out them doing “something stupid” together.

Asked if Blur could reform and perform at the event, he said: “They’re too big, really. Having said that, Damon said he might come this year, Dave is doing a DJ set and Graham will come if he’s around.

“It’s the sort of thing that could happen in the Cheese Hub. We might all stand up and do something stupid.”

James insisted he doesn’t miss being in the band any more than he yearns for other moments from his past.

He said: “It’s just missing being young. I miss being nine years old, waiting for Father Christmas. I miss being 11, riding my bike down a hill. And being in a band does give you a second act problem.

“How old were Led Zeppelin when they wrote ‘Stairway To Heaven’? Now, if I can bring music to the farm once a year and get on stage with Nile Rodgers, I’ll be happy.”

While Alex loved being in a band when he was younger, his life on the farm has given him everything he wants at this stage in his life.

He added to The Times newspaper’s Sunday Review: “Being in a band gives you anything you could possibly want in your twenties.

“You’re travelling, boozing, shagging, making lots of noise and being rude to people.

“But then we moved here and had five kids, and now I see just as much passion in people who work with food as in people in music.”

Damon Albarn finally passes his driving test at 52

 Damon Albarn has finally passed his driving test at age 52 after not learning to drive all of his life. 

The Sun reported that Damon bought a £65,000 Range Rover as his first car. The Blur frontman, who has a fortune worth £10 million, decided to learn to drive to make it easier to get between his west London pad and his big house in the country in Devon.

His fancy new car goes from 0 to 60mph in eight seconds and has a top speed of 130mph – much speedier than most new drivers’ first set of wheels. 

Damon spent most of the UK lockdown in an isolated farmhouse in South Devon which he bought in 1995 with his “ill-gotten gains from Parklife”. 

He previously told a newspaper: “It was the first time I ever had any money and it was the first thing I ever bought. “Everyone’s been telling me I’ve been mad for years. Why did you buy this remote farmhouse in the middle of nowhere? But now everyone thinks I’m a genius.”

He used the extra free time during the pandemic to practise for his driving test having lost his licence 20 years ago and “never bothered” to get it back.

A friend of the singer, who is now 53, told the Mail on Sunday: “Damon loved his time in Devon during lockdown and would love to spend much more time there. “But getting there on public transport would be a nightmare, so he decided to take the plunge and finally learn to drive himself around.” 

They added he had been practising his driving with his partner Suzi Winstanley,, the mother to their daughter Missy, 21.

Looks like Damon put his free time to good use! 

Gorillaz To Sell Exclusive NFTs to Fans - What's Next?

Cryptocurrencies are all in the trend right now. Bitcoin? Check. Altcoins? Going up with insane prices. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)? Well, Gorillaz has officially entered the market. 

If you've not heard about NFTs you might be wondering what exactly are these exotic new digital goods? NFTs are essentially digital property which contains a special identifier located on a blockchain. Usually, these are run on the Ethereum network, but newer altcoins such as Cardano and Polkadots have the capacity to host NFTs on them. Imagine owning a piece of digital art that is unique because no matter how much other people replicate them, you own the original piece with it's unique identifier. 

Being a virtual band, it is of no surprise that Gorillaz has recently begun to delve into the NFT space. In light of the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Gorillaz have announced a host of new products for fans to get their hands on. 

Amongst these special anniversary merchandise and artwork is a range of art collectibles that will be made available as NFTs. The Gorillaz NFT collection is a collaboration with the company Superplastic, who the band has already worked with in the past. It is unclear where or when these NFTs will be released, but it can be assumed that they will be on sale in one of the major NFT marketplaces like Rarible or OpenSea. 

Gorillaz's decision enter into the NFT market has been criticised by some fans and websites as "hypocritical". Fans claim that the band's environmentally conscious album "Plastic Beach" advocates preserving the environment. Yet, NFTs are plagued by climate controversies and sources claim that each sale of NFTs consume extremely high amounts of electricity. 

On the other hand, cryptocurrency lovers and investors may be interested in purchasing these lucrative NFTs. Celebrities have embraced the NFT hype with fervour and artists have been making up to a few million in profits for a single sale of NFTs. Some view NFTs as a long-term investment, and who knows if Gorillaz's tokens will appreciate in value over the next ten years. One thing's for sure, NFTs are here to stay. 

One can't help wondering- what's next? Will there be a Gorillaz cryptocurrency? Who knows. 

Damon Albarn to perform in a Glastonbury Festival in May

Head's up Blur fans- Damon Albarn is set to perform on stage in Glastonbury Festival  on the 22nd May 2021 at 19:00 BST. This means that there's going to be an epic lineup featuring Coldplay, Haim, Idles, Jorja Smith, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka, Wolf Alice, and DJ Honey Dijon, as well as other talented musicians in the UK. 

The Glastonbury Festival is going to be streamed live to global audiences online, and promises to be an epic showcase of musical talent. The stream will be directed by Paul Dugdale, and will be filmed in the Worthy Farm site at landmarks including the Pyramid Field and the Stone Circle.

“After two Glastonbury cancellations, it brings us great pleasure to announce our first online livestream, which will present live music performances filmed across Worthy Farm at landmarks including the Pyramid and, for the first time ever, the Stone Circle,” festival organizer Emily Eavis said. 

Glastonbury Festival:

Saturday, 22 May 2021 at 19:00 BST

“It will feature a rolling cast of artists and performers who have all given us enormous support by agreeing to take part in this event, showing the farm as you have never seen it. There will also be some very special guest appearances and collaborations. We are hoping this will bring a bit of Glastonbury to your homes and that for one night only people all over the world will be able to join us on this journey through the farm together.”

Glastonbury Festival has been predicted to lose out on millions of pounds this year due to ongoing cancellations caused by the global pandemic. The festival recently received a £900,000 grant as part of Government's Culture Recovery Fund. It is hoped that the live stream event will attract viewers from all over the world. 

The concert will be available only to ticket holders. The tickets are selling for £20, €23, $27.50 and AUD$35. A special festival poster for the event is also on sale, with proceeds going to Stagehand, the live-production welfare and benevolent fund, which is helping crew who have fallen through gaps in the U.K. government financial support during the coronavirus pandemic. Usually, ticket sales for Glastonbury disappears in a few hours but since this is a livestream, it seems that the tickets are uncapped. 

To buy tickets, visit THIS link. 

Visit Glastonbury Festival's official website HERE. 

Feeling a bit nostalgic? Check out Blur perform "Tender" at Glastonbury in 2009 during the great reunion. 

Funniest Damon Albarn Moments from the Past

With Damon Albarn celebrating his 53rd birthday in March, now's a good time to watch some funny clips of the man himself throughout his musical career. Take a look below to see the funniest Damon Albarn moments from the past! 

Warning: this video is guaranteed to make you laugh and extremely nostalgic.