Damon Albarn on how yoga replaced heroin in relieving his anxiety

4 July 2023, 17:47 | Updated: 5 July 2023, 12:09

Blur's Damon Albarn erforms At Ziggo Dome In Amsterdam in 2023 — Blur's Damon Albarn believes yoga should be taught in schools. Picture: Dimitri Hakke/Redferns/Getty

By Jenny Mensah

The Blur frontman revealed in a new interview how he swears by yoga to keep him calm and centred.

Loading audio...

Damon Albarn has revealed that yoga helps him "massively" with pre-gig anxiety.

The Blur frontman is set to play a duo of gigs at Wembley Stadium with the Britpop band this weekend and has admitted that he'd be "terrified" of the shows in his younger days and once relied on heroin to get him through.

"That would have terrified me beyond comprehension. Panic attacks, everything," he said of the mammoth dates to AFP (via France 24).

The Narcissist singer added: "Yoga helped me massively. Firstly it was heroin, and obviously I knocked that on the head 100 years ago. And now yoga -- if I do it pretty much every day, I'm calm. That it's not taught in every school is absurd."

Blur look ahead to Wembley performance

Albarn also remarked on all the young people that show up to Blur's concerts and how it transports him back to the past.

"It's like time-travelling. The audience is young again," he mused. "It's weird -- you forget where you are sometimes."

Meanhwile, Blur have cancelled their upcoming date at Festival Beauregard due to a leg injury thought to have been sustained by their drummer Dave Rowntree.

Festival organiser John Beauregard said in a Twitter post, which roughly translated into English reads: "The bad news has just fallen: @Blur will not be able to perform their concert in Beauregard. Dave Rowntree, the drummer, was injured this weekend and must rest for future shows."

Royal Blood are set to take the band's place, playing a headline set this Thursday 6th July.

Bien sûr, John est désolé de cette triste nouvelle et lui souhaite un prompt rétablissement. Néanmoins, l’urgence était de leur trouver un digne remplaçant. C’est un tour de force que de pouvoir vous annoncer que les flamboyants @royalblooduk rejoignent la prog du jeudi 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Op7s1KcXWJ
— John Beauregard (@FestBeauregard) July 3, 2023

Hopefully the band are resting up for their Wembley date, because London fans should be in for a treat, with the Song 2 rocker teasing they sound better than ever.

Previously speaking about what to expect from their Wembley shows, Albarn told Radio X's Dan O'Connell: "We sound good. We sound really good. It’s back to basics.

"We sound how we should sound without any sort of confectionery around the sides. It’s honest.”

Blur on what to expect from their reunion gigs

The Britpop band are no doubt saving themselves to play a duo of shows at London's Wembley Stadium this weekend.

Support for Blur on the Saturday comes from special guests Self Esteem, Jockstrap and Sleaford Mods, plus Parklife orator Phil Daniels, while the following night will see Phil Daniels return as well as Paul Weller, two-tone ska band The Selector, a DJ set from snooker legend Steve Davis and Doran & Kavus Torabi.