Damon Albarn "never imagined" Stevie Nicks' Gorillaz collab

3 March 2023, 13:11 | Updated: 3 March 2023, 13:42

The Gorillaz co-creator gushed about the Fleetwood Mac legend's feature on Cracker Island track, Oil, despite originally imagining The Strokes Julian Casablancas on the song.

Damon Albarn has opened up about his collaboration with Stevie Nicks.

The Gorillaz co-creator featured the Fleetwood Mac legend on the band's Oil track, which is taken from their new Cracker Island album and revealed the has producer Greg Kurstin to thank for the introduction.

"I never imagined that," he gushed to Radio X's Dan O'Connell. "It was not anything to do with me. That was just good fortune on my behalf, but she got to hear it and she loved it and now I've got a tune with Stevie Nicks, which is not something I ever imagined would happen."

However, as the Blur frontman previously revealed, it was a song he'd originally intended for The Strokes' Julian Casablancas.

"Sometimes people's voices come into my head," he revealed. "On that occasion he was the first voice that came into my head when I'd written it."

On whether he's got anything else in store for The Strokes frontman, he replied: "Maybe, but I really did think that tune was the one for him."

Listen to the band's Oil track below:

Listen back to the full interview on Global Player.

Damon also talked about how Latin rap sensation Bad Bunny came to feature on the album, calling the rapper a "rare bird."

Speaking about his collab with the Puerto Rican rapper, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, he revealed: "If I was actually that person who collaborated because it improved numbers, he would be obviously... I mean every record label in the world wants their artist to collaborate with Bad Bunny at the moment.

"For me it's much more innocent than that. He was an artist that my daughter and her friends [liked] because they all speak Spanish and are tuned into Latin culture and he's somebody that they've been listening to right from the very beginning."

He added: "He's a rare bird. He's not your average."

Asked what the 28-year-old star was like as a person, he replied: "He's fantastic"

READ MORE - Damon Albarn: “I’m a useless human being, but I’m OK at making music”

Gorillaz - Cracker Island is out now.

Listen to the album in full below:

Visit gorilaz.com to buy the album on all formats.

READ MORE: Where does the Gorillaz name come from?