Damon Albarn – born on March 23, 1968, in Whitechapel, England – rose to fame in
the 1990s as front man with Blur. Known as one of the leaders of the Britpop
movement, he went on to forge a fascinating parallel career experimenting in
other adventurous areas including world music, dance, musicals, and opera. The
son of Keith Albarn, manager of jazz fusion group Soft Machine, he was born in
East London and grew up in the Essex town of Colchester, learning to play guitar
and violin. He studied drama before forming his first band Two's A Crowd, while
other early Albarn outfits inclu...