Dave Rowntree was a member of Blur before they were Blur, joining up as drummer
with singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon when they were in various
bands in Colchester in the late 1980s. After Alex James stepped in as bassist, Blur
went on to become one of the most innovative and successful UK bands of all time:
both creating Britpop and then moving up and on from it in a way that no other band
has achieved.
The band’s exceptional creative musical talent, their unique ability to create art-rock
anthems as well as solid pop bangers, has won them devoted fans across the world,
and in 2023, after a hiatus, they sold out Wembley Stadium twice over. Blur have
released nine studio albums, won five BRIT Awards, and sold 70 million across the
world.
Aside from his career with Blur, Dave has also been hugely successful in other fields.
His computer animation company Nanomation created influential work for MTV and
Channel 4. In the mid-2000s, he trained to be a solicitor, and worked for Kingsley
Napley. He has been a Labour candidate and county councillor and is active in the
Labour Party. His life-long interest in space led to him being heavily involved in the
Beagle 2 Mars mission. He writes soundtracks for film and TV, including music for
the BBC’s The Capture and Netflix’s The One, and he released his solo album Radio
Songs on Cooking Vinyl in 2023.