Blur to reunite on stage after nine-year absence

BLUR are getting back together on stage for the first time in nine years, the band confirmed yesterday.

All four members will play a concert in London’s Hyde Park next summer.

It will feature the full line-up of Graham Coxon, Alex James, Dave Rowntree and Damon Albarn.

They will be onstage together for this first time since their Royal Festival Hall performance in 2000.

The concert will take place on Friday, July 3, and tickets will be on general sale from 9am this Friday at www.livenation.co.uk.

Coxon left Blur six years ago and the band’s last album, Think Tank, was released in 2003.

In a joint interview published on NME’s website, Albarn and Coxon said they had put their differences behind them.

“It just felt it was right again,” said Albarn of Blur’s return. “It somehow feels like there’s something for us to do again, we’re not completely useless or pointless, we’ve got a reason to exist.”

Coxon agreed, explaining that the band were “making public what’s been going on a little bit privately”.

There have also been reports of further dates, including a possible appearance at next year’s Glastonbury festival.

Formed in Colchester in 1989, the band have recorded seven studio albums and had a string of top 10 singles, including two No 1s with Country House and Beetlebum.

Blur hit the height of fame as the poster boys for Brit Pop in the mid-1990s, and were known for their chart battles with contemporaries Oasis.