Graham Coxon
 Guitar, backing vocals (1988-2002, 2007-)

Born: March 12th 1969, in a military hospital in Rinteln, Germany
Family: Parents, Bob and Pauline Coxon, sister Hayley
Height: 5' 11" (approx. 180 cm)

Graham Leslie Coxon was born in Germany because his dad worked as an army bandsman there. They lived in the country for five years before moving to Derbyshire to live with his grandfather. Three years later the family moved to Colchester. It wasn't until attending Stanway Comprehensive School when Graham developed his great interest for music. After discovering 2 Tone and The Jam, he taught himself to play the guitar and saxophone, both with ease. Drums and clarinet were also one of his instruments.

At Stanway Graham be-friended with an unusual character called Damon Albarn. They had the same taste when it came to fashion and their fascination with music was mutual. While the other boys ran over the football pitch, Damon and Graham went behind the music block and talked about bands. They were clearly aware of the fact that they were the school weirdos, but it didn't bother them. Soon after, they both went on holiday with Graham's parents, cementing an already close friendship which would go on to form the foundation for the success of Blur. After Stanway, Graham headed for Colchester Art College, but since Damon had left for London, he moved to Goldsmiths College to study Fine Arts.

At Goldsmiths he became friends with Alex James. They shared interests in art and had their own art group called Nichtkunst. Once again Graham met Damon who then took a part-time course at Goldsmiths. The pair remained in daily contact and Graham often attended Damon's solo gigs and played saxophone and drums on one of his demos. Graham also knew Dave Rowntree since they had played together in bands called Hazel Dean And The Carp Enters From Hell, The Curious Band and Idle Vice.

Soon he was asked to play guitar in Circus (Damon, Dave, Eddie Deedigan and Dave Brolan). When the band had lost Eddie Deedigan and Dave Brolan, Graham introduced Alex as a potential bass player and they changed their name to Seymour. The rest is history...

Graham split-up with his Swedish girlfriend Anna Norlander in 2001. Their child, called Pepper Bäck Troy, was born on March 7, 2000.

Due to personal reasons, he left Blur in 2002, but reunited for a quick meeting in 2007. The official Blur reunion was confirmed in late 2008, when the band announced they would play gigs next summer.


Besides Blur
 

Solo albums

Graham has released eight solo studio albums to date. The first five albums were released on his own (now de-funct) record label Transcopic.

Graham's debut solo album The Sky Is Too High was released in 1998. The Golden D followed in 2000 and introduced the heavy metal and experimental side of Graham.

The third album Crow Sit On Blood Tree was released in 2001. Like on previous albums, Graham played all the instruments and produced it himself. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered only in two weeks, making it feel very raw and honest.

Autumn 2002 saw the release of The Kiss Of Morning that featured guest musicians for the first time and introduced a range of new styles from Graham.

The following three Graham's albums were produced by the former Blur producer Stephen Street. Happiness In Magazines, which hit the shops in 2004, has been his most successful so far; fuelled by the hit single "Freakin' Out", the album hit Top 20 in the UK. Love Travels At Illegal Speeds was released in 2006 and scored two Top 40 hits. The Spinning Top, which drew influences from English folk music, was released in May 2009.

In July 2010, Graham finished the work on around 20 new songs, which he initially planned to put out as two albums. The first ten songs were out as a critically acclaimed album called A+E on 2nd April 2012. When asked recently about what happens to the other ten songs, Graham wasn't sure if they ever will be released.


Miscellaneous

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