The band was created in 1998 by Damon Albarn, the lead singer of the British group Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, the illustrator and co-author of the comic book Tank Girl. It is not represented by a circle of real people, but Albarn and Hewlett are working with a changing group of musicians and producers, making it to the individual band members, who have no real alter ego. The cartoon figures are provided with detailed biographies and character, although, unlike many other "fictitious" music groups (such as Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Archies) originally not the subject of comics, or a TV cartoon series, etc.

The debut album Gorillaz, released in 2001, sold over seven million copies and earned the band an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as "most successful virtual band. "  With the 2005 released second album, Demon Days, the Gorillaz reached  the top position of the British charts,  in Germany in second place, and sixth in the U.S.. It sold up to 2006 more than six million times and won a Grammy Award. 

By Melanie Bradley