Damon Albarn has revealed why Blur turned down the opportunity to play a series of shows to mark the 25th anniversary of ‘Parklife’.

The seminal album was released in 1994 and is considered to be one of the defining records of both the 1990s and the Britpop scene.

But, with the milestone anniversary looming on April 25, Albarn has said that Brexit was a major reason in why the band chose to turn down the chance to play the record live in full.


When asked by The Metro if any offers have been made, Albarn replied: “Yes, they have been. I’d only want to perform that if it was a positive thing.

“Say we got to the point of having a second referendum, then I would be happy to play that record as a celebration and as a way of reminding ourselves of a time when we had an idea of Britishness that wasn’t political.

“It was more about our music and culture,” he continued. “That was a bit naive, no question, but it had a funny side, it had a humour to it. So I’m not against performing that album but I wouldn’t want to do it if I felt like it was just about money.”

While ‘Parklife’ shows might not be on the horizon, Blur recently reunited at Damon Albarn’s ‘Africa Express’ show in Leytonstone.


Performing in his home town to mark Waltham Forest’s celebrations as the London Borough of Culture for 2019, Albarn was joined on stage by bandmates Dave Rowntree, Alex James and Graham Coxon. They performed ‘Tender’, ‘Clover Over Dover’ and ‘Song 2′.