1964
Dave Rowntree born May 8th.
1968
Damon Albarn born March 23rd.
Alex James born November 1st.
1969
Graham Coxon born March 12th.
1978
The Albarn family leave their home in east London for Colchester, Essex where Damon meets Graham at Stanway Comprehensive.
1988
Graham enrolls at London's Goldsmith's College where he meets Alex. Damon has already move to London, where he does bar work and other part-time jobs, including unpaid work at recording studio "The Beat Factory" Damon makes a one-off solo appearance to Colchester Arts Centre. Graham and his friend Dave are in attendance. Soon after, Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave begin recording Damon's demo's together at the Beat Factory.
1989
Under the moniker of "Seymour", the four-piece play a few small gigs, mostly in and around the London area, including Camden's "Dingwalls" and Islington's "Powerhaus", where they are spotted by Andy Ross of "Food Records".
1990
They sign to Food in March, changing their name from Seymour to "Blur", at the insistence of the record company. Graham and Alex drop out of college to begin recording, and debut single "She's So High" is released in October which charts at a disappointing 48.
1991
Second single "There's No Other Way" is a huge hit reaching number 8 in the UK singles charts. The British musical press begin to take a serious interest in the band, as does the tabloid newspapers and sickly teen magazines. The band finish the year with a performance at the Food Records Christmas party.
1992
The band's reputation for drinking and partying begin to turn sour, with a shambolic charity benefit at the Forum in London, where supporting act "Suede" play to a rapturous reception. Fourth single "Popscene" fails to set the charts alight.and the band embark on a disastrous American tour that see's the band near breaking point. On their return they are in financial turmoil and under increased pressure from by the record company for a hit single.
1993
After extended absence from recording "For Tomorrow" is released, accompanied by a new street-wise mod image. Second album "Modern Life Is Rubbish" is released to mixed reviews, public appreciation is similar and the album drops out of the Top 40 after only 3 weeks.
1994
"Girls & Boys" marks a drastic return to chart success, hitting the number 5 spot in March. Follow up album "Parklife", released in April coincides with the death of Kurt Cobain. Blur are at the spear-head of the Britpop movement which celebrates the growth of homegrown talent. Three more singles are released including the title track, all reaching the UK Top 20.
1995
While recording their fourth album the band take time off to pick up four Brit Awards (a record held to this day.) and also perform at London's Mile End Stadium in June, previewing their forthcoming single "Country House". It is released on August 14th, on the same day as the new Oasis single, "Roll With It". After phenomenal hype on both parts, Country House enters the charts at number 1, with Oasis a close second. The following month "The Great Escape", enters the album charts at the top spot, followed by the Christmas single "The Universal" - their third top 5 hit.
1996
"Stereotypes" lifted from the latest album reaches number 7 in February closely followed by "Charmless Man" in April which peaks at number 5. Damon's solo composition "Closet Romantic" is released on the "Trainspotting" soundtrack along with old favourite "Sing" (from the "Leisure" album). The band announce plans to record their next album in Iceland, scheduled for release the following year.
1997
The band release their fifth album, simply entitled "blur" it see's the band embrace a new primal, abrasive yet refreshing new sound. Despite record company concern that the new material is too "un-commercial", first single "Beetlebum" enters the UK charts at number 1. Second single "Song 2" is a worldwide hit, even the once impermeable American market warms to it, receiving heavy rotation airplay from MTV and becoming one of their most requested video's in their history. Despite only selling 500,000 in the UK (compared to 1.5 million with Parklife) "blur" is the bands biggest international seller.
1998
The band continue to tour in support of "blur". A hugely successful headlining spot at this years Glastonbury Festival see's the band preview a new song for the new South Park movie. Actually called "South Park", the song was never used on the soundtrack and would appear on their next album under the new name of "Trailerpark". Damon begins penning lyrics for the next album. Graham Coxon releases his debut solo album "The Sky Is Too High".
1999
Blur release their sixth album "13" and once again marks an (almost) complete change in the bands sound. A chilling nocturnal offering, it is arguably the band's finest work to date. First single "Tender" debuts at number 2 in the UK charts, kept only of the top spot by the multi-talented Brittney Spears (ouch!). Damon co-scores the soundtrack for the "Ravenous" movie.
2000
A quiet year thus far on the blur-front, although all four members of the band are keeping themselves busy with various solo ventures and collaborations. Graham releases his follow-up to The Sky Is Too High with "The Golden D", and will tour in support of the album. Alex is working with his "Fat Les" side-project and Damon has wrote and performed new material for the new Kevin Spacey film "Ordinary Decent Criminal". On top of this the band will headline London's "Meltdown Festival" in June. Damon is also writing new material for the bands 7th album, which could possibly be released in early 2001. Keep your fingers crossed.
