When their self-titled debut emerged in 2001, it sold an impressive six million copies, and the band quickly became the most successful virtual band in the history of music.

Members from left-to-right: Noodle, Russel, 2D and Murdoc. Gorillaz promotional shot used during the release of Gorillaz (2001) by Jamie Hewlett, courtesy Parlophone Records. Despite these examples, it wasn’t until Gorillaz that the true potential of a virtual band was properly realised. Soon after them came groups like The Archies and Josie and the Pussycats even real-life acts like The Beatles, The Jackson Five and The Osmonds turned to cartoons as a means to reinvent themselves. Their novelty record from 1958 was a huge success, and they proved listeners were happy to get on board with a band that wasn’t real. Arguably, the first virtual band was Alvin and the Chipmunks. Pop’s relationship to fictitious bands dates back almost sixty years. One night they decided something had to be done to change it. As the station churned out a host of homogeneous acts, the two grew ever more frustrated with the growing monotony of manufactured music. Both had just come out of long-term relationships, and they were dragging themselves through life with late-night parties and an endless diet of MTV. 1968) found himself sharing a flat with the illustrator and cult-comic artist Jamie Hewlett (b. The story of this group dates back to the late-1990s when Blur’s Damon Albarn (b. What was it that marked this fictitious four-piece out? Why did an illustrated band feel so relevant during the noughties? What advantages came from hiding behind a cartoon? While virtual bands had been around long before Gorillaz, none had ever quite seen their level of success. In a decade defined by its own uncertainty, it seems somewhat fitting that one of the most influential and progressive albums from the early two-thousands would come from a band that didn’t exist. Jamie Hewlett's cover artwork for Demon Days (2005) by Gorillaz, courtesy Parlophone Records.

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