Most apes eventually die, but Gorillaz plan to live forever, with Damon Albarn promising, “We’ll pass it on to the next generation.”
In an interview with Liam McEwan of the Associated Press, band co-founders Albarn and Jamie Hewlett spoke about their plans for Gorillaz succession. “The cartoon is more important than the people,” Albarn said, “although the people are very important.”
“It would be fun to pass it on to a younger team,” Hewlett said. He added, somewhat ahistorically, “Bob Clampett passed Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck onto Chuck Jones.” Hewlett’s memory here is a bit muddled; Clampett and Jones were contemporaries in directing Looney Tunes, as well as bitter rivals who fought over credit for the popularity of Bugs Bunny. There was nothing like a clean transition between them.
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Still, Gorillaz imagine a graceful passing of the torch, ideally while the current band is well enough to enjoy it. ”It may be interesting to be just there in the background for the next generation to start off,” Albarn said.
Last weekend Gorillaz made their long-awaited SNL debut. The band is also set to tour on their new album The Mountain — be sure to check out our cover story — and tickets are available here.