Gnarls Barkley

The Gnarls Barkley band is the prodigy of DJ Brian Danger Mouse Burton and neo-soul and hip-hop singer Thomas Callaway, performing under the pseudonym Cee-Lo Green. By the moment of their acquaintance, both musicians were rather famous in musical industry. Green, the former member of hip-hop command Dungeon Family, later sang with Goodie Mob. He left this collective too and started a solo career. By his meeting with Danger Mouse, he recorded two albums already - one in 2002 and the other in 2004. DJ Brian Danger Mouse Burton was known in the USA as an excellent producer. He caught the eye of the audience with his bootleg record The Grey Album, daringly mixing the music of White Album by legendary rockers The Beatles and The Black Album by Jay-Z. He later worked with Gorillaz over their disc Demon Days, which got the Grammy.

The musicians initially met in 2003, due to their work. They decided to collaborate immediately and chose the title for their project - Gnarls Barkley. The famous Crazy single was their first duet work. In spring of 2006, this song became the first one in the musical history to head the British hit parade being available only for digital download. This song, combining seemingly contrasting styles, led the British chart for nine weeks. Such astonishing success can be compared only to the popularity of Bohemian Rhapsody by the marvelous Queen in 1975, and a couple of other super hits. Eccentric, fresh album St. Elsewhere, released after Crazy, amused the listeners with Danger Mouse's wizardry fantasy and immensely pleasant, eclectic vocals by Cee-Lo Green.

The musicians are noticeable for their scene behavior - their every performance is a scrupulously elaborated and spectacular show, where both Gnarls Barkley members and their backing band dress in the costumes of popular films' characters. They have already aped such blockbusters as The Star Wars, Men In Black, Austin Powers, Fight Club, A Clockwork Orange and many others. In the beginning of 2007, Gnarls Barkley toured across the USA with the well known rockers and jokers Red Hot Chilly Peppers. In spring of 2008, Gnarls Barkley cheered the listeners with their sophomore attempt The Odd Couple, which definitely became one of the most anticipated releases of that year. The new disc, like its predecessor, is full of innovations, daring stylistic combinations of hip-hop, electronica, pop-rock with neo-soul and unexpected topics of the songs.