Blur were an English rock band that formed in Colchester in 1989. The band was composed of Damon Albarn (lead vocals, keyboards), Graham Coxon (lead guitar, vocals) , Alex James (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Dave Rowntree (drums, backing vocals). Blur were one of the biggest bands in the United Kingdom during the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s but have been on hiatus since 2003.
Blur's original influences on their debut album, Leisure, included contemporary British alternative rock trends such as Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change in the mid-1990s—influenced by English guitar groups such as The Kinks, The Beatles and XTC—the band released Modern Life is Rubbish, Parklife and The Great Escape, hailed as classic Britpop recordings. As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a famous chart battle with rival band Oasis.
By the late 1990s, with the release of their self-titled fifth album, the band underwent another reinvention, influenced by the indie rock and lo-fi style of American bands such as Pavement and R.E.M., in the process finally gaining success in the U.S. with the single "Song 2". The final album featuring the band's original lineup, 13, found Blur experimenting with electronic music and gospel music.
In May 2002, Coxon left the band during the early recording of their seventh and last album Think Tank, that was mirred with electronica and acoustic sounds in order to compensate for Coxon's departure. Blur continued for some time in his absence, seeing both the album and a tour through.
At the end of their 2003 tour, the band inexplicably stopped working, and the band members have since engaged in solo projects, doing minimal studio work as a band. In late September 2007, the band reunited with Coxon for the first time in 5 years and a few days later posted a message on their website saying that while relations were healthy, they were not planning any musical activity.
