Origin of the Name 'Gorillaz'

You might not know that Gorillaz wasn't always the band's name. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett originally called the project "Gorilla," even recording their first song "Ghost Train" under that name in 1997. A trademark conflict forced them to add a "z," creating the now-iconic stylized spelling. That simple letter also carried a punk attitude, serving as a direct mockery of polished boy band culture. There's even more to this story if you keep going.

Key Takeaways

• Gorillaz was originally called "Gorilla," with the first song "Ghost Train" recorded under that name in 1997.
• A trademark conflict forced a name change, leading to the simple addition of a "z" to create "Gorillaz."
• The name was chosen as a satirical mockery of polished, corporate-approved boy band culture dominating MTV.
• The stylized "z" spelling introduced a punk irreverence, deliberately contrasting the glossy pop aesthetic of the era.
• The concept emerged from a single MTV-watching evening, where frustration with manufactured music inspired the fictional band idea.

Why Did Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett Want to Create a Fake Band?

If you've ever sat through a painfully generic pop interview, you'll understand exactly what drove Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn to create Gorillaz.

Hewlett was genuinely appalled by manufactured bands dominating MTV, while Albarn desperately needed escape anonymity from his exhausting role as Blur's frontman.

Their creative rebellion wasn't accidental.

Albarn wanted freedom from Britpop's constraints, craving space to blend hip-hop, electronica, and experimental sounds without personal scrutiny.

Hewlett, equally restless after years on Tank Girl, recognized that cartoon characters could say what real artists couldn't.

Together, they saw a vacuum in late 90s pop culture filled with hollow boy bands like Westlife and Take That.

Virtual characters weren't just a gimmick — they were a deliberate antidote to everything both creators found creatively suffocating. Much like Maya Angelou, whose work championed triumph over adversity as a core theme, Gorillaz used their art as a vehicle for challenging the status quo rather than conforming to it. The two men began living together after Albarn experienced a relationship split, which ultimately gave them the time and proximity to turn their shared frustrations into a fully formed creative concept. This kind of bold creative independence mirrors how Netflix rejected overtures from major players like Amazon and Blockbuster to preserve the autonomy that fueled their own eventual dominance in entertainment.

How Watching MTV Gave Albarn and Hewlett the Gorillaz Idea

On a quiet evening at home, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett sat together watching MTV — and what they saw nearly broke them. Channel after channel delivered the same hollow, manufactured content, and their eyes glazed over from the sheer emptiness of it all. That frustration sparked an MTV backlash neither could ignore.

Rather than simply complaining, they channeled their irritation into something creative. They envisioned an animated critique of everything MTV represented — a cartoon band that would mock the artificiality of music industry visuals and celebrity culture. Before the night ended, they'd drafted a single-page manifesto outlining the concept. That document, though eventually lost, captured the original Gorillaz vision — born directly from two flatmates staring at a screen and deciding they'd had enough. The band's four fictional members — 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, and Noodle — were designed and drawn by Hewlett, giving the concept its distinct visual identity. The explosion of commercial websites in 1995, when .com sites grew from just 1.5% to 31.3% of all web servers, reflected the same rapid commercialization of media culture that Albarn and Hewlett found so creatively suffocating.

The Band Was Originally Called "Gorilla," Not "Gorillaz"

Before settling on the now-iconic "Gorillaz," Albarn and Hewlett briefly operated under the simpler name "Gorilla" during the band's early formation. This early moniker even made it onto recorded material, as the band's first song, "Ghost Train," was tracked in 1997 under that name. The track later appeared as a B-side on the "Rock the House" single.

The reason for ditching "Gorilla" came down to a trademark conflict — another band or entity already claimed the name, making it legally unusable. So, Albarn and Hewlett simply added a "z," creating a stylized, unique identity that still nodded to the original concept. They finalized the new name well before releasing their self-titled debut album in 2001, giving the project its distinctive, lasting brand. Notably, both Albarn and Hewlett were born in 1968, the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese zodiac, a detail that lends the gorilla-inspired name an added layer of personal significance.

Why the Gorillaz Name Was a Direct Jab at Boy Band Culture

Damon Albarn didn't just stumble into the name "Gorillaz" — he weaponized it. Watching MTV with Jamie Hewlett, both men saw manufactured authenticity drowning real music. Their response? Primate satire disguised as a pop group.

Here's what the name was really targeting:

• Boy bands were selling polished, corporate-approved personas
• The "z" spelling added deliberate punk irreverence against pop gloss
• Virtual gorillas mocked the idea that image trumps substance
• Fictional members like 2-D and Murdoc exaggerated everything boy bands celebrated
• Anonymity deliberately dismantled celebrity-driven music culture

You weren't just hearing a new band — you were watching Albarn dismantle an entire industry formula using cartoon primates as his weapon. The band's four fictional members — 2-D on vocals, Murdoc on bass, Noodle on guitar, and Russel on drums — gave the project a fully realized cast of characters to push that satire even further.

How Jamie Hewlett's Tank Girl Comics Shaped the Gorillaz Visual Identity

While Albarn supplied the satirical concept behind Gorillaz, it was Jamie Hewlett's visual language — already sharpened years earlier through Tank Girl — that gave the band its iconic look.

You can trace Gorillaz' exaggerated character designs directly back to Tank Girl's wild, versatile aesthetic, where influences ranged from hip-hop to zombie slasher films. Hewlett's punk aesthetic fusion — bold, irreverent, and culturally loaded — didn't disappear after Tank Girl's initial 1995 run; it evolved into the foundation for Gorillaz.

Even before the band existed, Blur members appeared in Tank Girl strips, with Graham Coxon famously cameo'd alongside an inflatable castle. That crossover wasn't coincidental. Hewlett had already built a visual universe, and Gorillaz simply became its next, most globally recognized chapter. Del The Funky Homosapien cited his fandom of Tank Girl as his reason for joining the Gorillaz debut album.