Damon Albarn: Showbizs Most Miserable Figure?

Damon Albarn raised eyebrows last week when he confronted Graham Norton during his appearance on the presenter's chat show. 

The singer, 57, was performing with Gorillaz on Friday's episode when he joined Adrian Lester, Leo Woodall, Stephen Graham and Kaley Cuoco on the famous sofa for a post-show chat. 

While promoting the band's upcoming tour, Damon called out Graham about his lack of appearances on the show, prompting awkward laughter from the fellow guests. 

Graham, 62, managed to diffuse the situation, but it's not the first time Damon has caused upset on his show. 

Nor is it the first time Damon has taken aim at a fellow celeb, with the Blur star lashing out multiple times over the years.  

Notably, much of Damon's success was sparked by the chart rivalry between his band Blur and Oasis, a row dubbed The Battle of Britpop. 

Is Damon Albarn the most miserable man in showbiz? Blur star's history of feuds, takedowns and awkward exchanges revealed after he lashed out at Graham Norton (pictured in 2025)

On Friday's episode of The Graham Norton Show, Damon called out Graham about his lack of appearances on the show, prompting awkward laughter from the fellow guests

While the groups were pitted against each other in terms of commercial success, the feud ran much deeper for the members, with the bickering between Damon and Liam and Noel Gallagher 

The battle for chart dominance wasn't the only rivalry between the brothers and Damian, however, as their bickering ended up getting very personal.

Noel later claimed that the tension between the trio didn't start over their musical rivalry, but a love triangle involving Damon and his brother. 

As documented in the 2019 book, Don't Look Back In Anger, Noel said: 'Liam and Damon were s****ing the same bird, and there was a lot of cocaine involved.

'There was an awards where we were photographed with Blur, and Liam said, 'F*** you, you c***, blah blah blah.'

Alan McGee, who signed Oasis to his Creation Records label, was reported to have backed Noel's account at the time.

He said: 'There was a situation with a girl. That created the Britpop war. Damon s****ed somebody close to Liam. It was one of many women Damon was friendly with.

'Then he got off with her for a one-night stand and that created the rub. They were all goading each other after that.'

Things kicked off from there, leading to the infamous Britpop battle for chart dominance between the bands.

It's no secret that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher and Blur's frontman Damon Albarn haven't always seen eye to eye (Damon and Noel in 2012) 

Noel later claimed that the tension between the trio didn't start over their musical rivalry, but a love triangle involving Damon and his brother (Liam and Damon pictured in 1996)

The feud went into high gear in August 1995 when Blur moved the release of their single Country House to the same day as Oasis' single Roll With It.

Up until that point, the bands had been respectful towards each other in public.

But according to Damon, it was a cheeky dig from Liam that sparked his move to release their singles on the same day.

Oasis scored their first number one with Some Might Say in April 1995.

Damon later told NME: 'I went to their celebration party, y'know, just to say 'Well done'. And Liam came over and, like he is, he goes, 'Number f***in' One!', right in my face. So I thought, 'OK we'll see…'

Noel and Liam had to admit defeat when it was Country House that reached number one, becoming Blur's best-selling single.

That same year, Noel said in an interview that he hoped Damon and his Blur bandmate Graham Coxon 'catch AIDS and die'. He later retracted the remark, claiming he was 'f****d' on drugs when he said it.

Liam later put Oasis' feud with Blur down to Noel making this comment and denied his brother's claim it was anything to do with him and Damon liking the same girl.

He tweeted: 'Just for the record me and Dermot oblong [Damon Albarn] never fell out over a girl or boy...

'We always had the craic think things turned nasty when Noel Gallagher wished he Dermot caught AIDS and die not Rkid's [Noel's] finest moment as you were LG x.'

He also denied ever doing drugs with any of the members of Blur, saying: 'And I've never done cocaine with any of that lot out of blue [Blur] Rkid [Noel] you and your witch need to up yer game.'

Another band caught up in the Britpop rivalry were Skunk Anansie, with frontwoman Skin previously revealing awkward run-ins with Damon (pictured in 2025) 

Although it was Blur who instigated the chart battle, Damon later admitted he came to see Oasis as 'bullies'.

In Blur's documentary film No Distance Left to Run, he said: 'Noel Gallagher used to take the p**s out of me constantly and it really, really hurt at the time. Oasis were like the bullies I had to put up with at school.'

While the feud rumbled on for years, the trio were eventually able to put their differences aside, with Noel extending an olive branch to Damon by buying him a drink when they bumped into each other at a bar. 

Another band caught up in the Britpop rivalry were Skunk Anansie, with frontwoman Skin previously revealing awkward run-ins with Damon. 

She told NME: 'We love the Gallaghers, you know? Damon always hated us.'

Pressed on her comments, Skin - real name Deborah Dyer - added: 'I wouldn’t say trouble but it’s not nice when you walk into an interview and the first thing you hear is that David Albarn doesn’t like you. 

'I don’t know what his f***ing problem was but it didn’t really matter in the end.'

Doubling down on her comments, she told The Independent: 'I wasn’t the biggest Blur fan. They didn’t like us, we didn’t like them. 

'Damon hates me. I don’t know why. The rest of the band I get on with. Whenever I met Damon he would always be like I was something he stepped in.'

James Blunt claimed that Damon refused to take a picture with him when they appeared on the Jools Holland show in 2007 (pictured on the programme) 

Another artist left confused by Damon's treatment of them was James Blunt, who claimed that Damon refused to take a picture with him when they appeared on the Jools Holland show in 2007. 

James recalled: ‘At the end of the Jools Holland show, they take a picture of all the musicians, and Damon Albarn refused to be in that photo because I was on the episode with him.'

Asked if that was said in front of him, James replied: ‘No, his management went and spoke to the producers of the show, and he’s a big deal, so they went along with that, which is bizarre too because they should’ve just told him not to be such a p***k.

‘And so I was then held back in my dressing room… while all the musicians were lined up around Jools Holland for the photo with Damon, and then he was led out to his car and off he went home, and I was brought out for the second photo, and only one of those makes the Wall of Fame, but it’s very petty stuff.’

In 2025, rumours of a feud were sparked between Damon and singer Adele, after they worked together on music for her album. 

He described the sound Adele was aiming for as 'very middle of the road’, telling The Sun: 'Adele asked me to work with her and I took the time out for her. Will she use any of the stuff? I don’t think so.

‘The thing is she is very insecure. And she doesn’t need to be.’ 

Damon later claimed his comments had been taken out of context, saying of the feud rumours: 'It's not even true: it's amazing how people will run with stuff that has no credence whatsoever and turn it into something and then watch the reaction.'

In 2025, rumours of a feud were sparked between Damon and singer Adele, after he claimed she was 'insecure' and she said she 'regretted' asking Damon to work with her (pictured 2024)

Yet despite Damon's attempts to downplay the reports, the comments had clearly struck a chord with Adele, who said she 'regretted' asking Damon to work with her. 

Adele told Rolling Stone magazine: 'It ended up being one of those "don’t meet your idol" moments...The saddest thing was that I was such a big Blur fan growing up. But it was sad, and I regret hanging out with him.'

She added that the pair didn't even finish one song together during their studio sessions last year because 'none of it was right. None of it suited my record'.

Adele also hit back at Damon's claims she was insecure, telling the publication: 'I was asking his opinion about my fears, about coming back with a child involved – because he has a child – and then he calls me insecure?'

Damon's clumsy comments also saw him embroiled in a row with Taylor Swift, after he accused the singer of not writing her own songs.

He landed himself in hot water after pop music critic Mikael Wood praised Taylor's songwriting abilities, to which Damon responded that 'co-writing is very different to writing.'

'I'm not hating on anybody, I'm just saying there's a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes,' he told LA Times in 2022. 'Doesn't mean that the outcome can't be really great.' 

The backlash was instant, with Taylor herself addressing the remarks by tweeting: 'I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. 

'I write all of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and so damaging. You don't have to like my songs but it's really f***** up to try and discredit my writing. Wow.'

'PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering,' she added.

Damon's clumsy comments also saw him embroiled in a row with Taylor Swift, after he accused the singer of not writing her own songs (pictured 2024) 

The backlash was instant, with Taylor herself addressing the remarks by tweeting: 'Your hot take is completely false and so damaging'

Damon - who has written all his own songs as a solo artist and for bands Blur and Gorillaz - later apologised, claiming his comment had been 'taken out of context and used as clickbait' 

In response, Damon left a public apology under Swift's tweet, which read: 'I totally agree with you. I had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait.

'I apologize unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand.'

Most recently, Damon caused an awkward moment on The Graham Norton Show when he called out the host for not having him on sooner. 

Prior to Friday's episode, he was last on the show in 2015, when he appeared with Blur bandmates Alex James, Graham Coxon and Dave Rowntree.

After performing alongside Anoushka Shankar and Kara Jackson with Gorillaz, he turned to Graham and declared: 'You haven't invited me back.' 

Seemingly trying to move the conversation along, Graham replied: 'Well, you're here now.' 

Yet Damon continued: 'I remember the last time I came back and told you in a nightclub… you remember?'

'What? I was in a nightclub?' Graham asked, clearly confused.

Footage from Damon's 2015 appearance on The Graham Norton Show has gone viral, in which he appeared quiet and 'bored', while his Blur bandmates were in fits of laughter

'Yeah, I was in a nightclub with you and I was like, "Why am I never on your show?"' Damon explained.

'I have no recollection of that. I must've been quite... drunk,' Graham admitted, to which Damon quipped: 'It must've been one of those nightclubs.'

Graham finished off the chat by stating: 'Yes, it must have. How funny. I may have blanked it from my mind out of awkwardness.'

After Damon's comments footage from his 2015 appearance on the show went viral, in which Damon appeared quiet and held his head in his hands, while his Blur bandmates were in fits of laughter.

At the time, viewers claimed Damon looked like he wanted to 'leave', adding 'he is always so sulky on the show'.