Who was Damon Albarn's father? Blur frontman's dad Keith Albarn dies at 85

English singer and Blur frontman Damon Albarn's father, Keith Albarn, passed away on July 25, 2024, and his demise was recently confirmed through an obituary published in The Times newspaper. The obituary stated:

"Keith Albarn obituary: artist, architect and father of Damon. Creator of sensory space-age playgrounds in urban areas and an influential teacher."

An architect by profession, Keith Albarn was 85 when he passed away. He had been diagnosed with cancer. The Blur frontman's father wrote multiple books and articles on art and design, and was known for his academic research on patterns. Additionally, Keith Albarn appeared on many radio and TV shows.

Keith was the course leader of fine art at North East London Polytechnic from 1977 to 1981, and the head of the School of Art, Design and Media at the Colchester Institute from 1981 to 1997. Keith married Hazel Dring in 1963 and the couple had two children Jessica who is an artist and Blur frontman Damon.

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"This is probably our last gig"— Damon Albarn commented on Blur's future performances post-Coachella 2024

Damon Albarn's band Blur performed at the 2024 Coachella in April 2024. The band comprises guitarist Graham Coxon, drummer Dave Rowntree, and bassist Alex James and they performed on weekend two of the festival.

While the band was preparing to perform Tender on stage which was the last song in their set, Damon Albarn addressed the crowd and said:

“In the spirit of clarity and truth, this is probably our last gig”.

Damon told the concert attendees that they could do better than that, given they didn't respond to the Blur frontman's announcement as he might have expected. Damon then told the crowd:

“You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well f*****g sing it. Know what I’m saying?”

Damon's statement to the crowd went viral and garnered a response from Blur's rival band Oasis member Liam Gallagher. Liam took to X on April 18, 2024, and stated that one can't force people to sing along to the gig.

Additionally, in an interview with KROQ prior to Blur's set at the 2024 Coachella, Damon commented on being asked if he was surprised by how crazy the fan reaction was to Blur performing at the festival. Damon stated that it's a "weird one" given the audience is "on their own planet really".

Moreover, the Blur frontman had declared the band's hiatus in December 2023 during an interview with Les Inrockuptibles, wherein he mentioned it was time to wrap up the campaign. Damon Albarn mentioned:

“It’s too much for me. It was the right thing to do and an immense honour to play these songs again, spend time with these guys, make an album, blah-blah-blah. I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success, but I’m not dwelling on the past.”

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According to Radar, Keith Albarn was reportedly a "massive inspiration" to Damon Albarn on a personal and creative level. Keith's sensory work allegedly inspired Damon Albarn's stage shows and he worshipped his late father as a "stable, honest father figure".

Additionally, Damon always talked about how Keith made him the "best dad he could be".