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Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Coxon is featured on all eight of Blur's studio albums (although 2003's ''
Think Tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
'' only features his playing on one track, due to his temporary departure from the band during recording sessions for the album). He has also led a solo career since 1998, which all of his solo albums were produced and all the instruments played by himself. As well as being a musician, Coxon is a visual artist: he designed the
cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...
for all his solo albums as well as Blur's '' 13'' (1999). Coxon plays several instruments and records his albums with little assistance from session musicians. ''Q'' magazine critic Adrian Deevoy has written: "Coxon is an astonishing musician. His restless playing style – all chord slides, rapid pulloffs, mini-arpeggios and fractured runs – seems to owe more to his saxophone training than any conventional guitar tuition." An innovative lead guitarist, he has been described by
Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
bandmember
Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...
as "one of the most talented guitarists of his generation."'' Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop''. Bonus interviews. Coxon was voted the 15th greatest guitarist of the last 30 years in a 2010
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poll.


Early life

Coxon was born in
Rinteln Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river above the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In rela ...
,
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, where his father, Bob Coxon, was stationed as a clarinet player and band leader in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. As a child, he moved first to
Spondon Spondon is a ward of the city of Derby. Originally a small village, Spondon dates back to the Domesday Book and it became heavily industrialised in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with companies such as British Celanese. History The n ...
,
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, a period during which he became a fan of
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
. He then moved to
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
,
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, in South East England, where he grew up and met fellow Blur member
Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...
at
The Stanway School The Stanway School is a mixed secondary school located in Stanway in the English county of Essex. The school was converted to academy status in May 2013, and used to be a community school under the direct control of Essex County Council. T ...
, then known as Stanway Comprehensive, at the age of 11. He appeared on the popular BBC children's show ''
Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
'' twice.


Music career


Blur

Coxon studied
Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
at
Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
, London, for two years, where early on he met bassist Alex James. In his time there he mixed with upcoming talents such as
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
,
Michael Landy Michael Landy (born 1963) is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). He is best known for the performance piece installation '' Break Down'' (2001), in which he destroyed all his possessions, and for the ''Art Bin'' project (2010) at the ...
,
Sam Taylor-Wood Samantha Louise Taylor-Johnson OBE ( née Taylor-Wood; 4 March 1967) is a British filmmaker and photographer. Her directorial feature film debut was 2009's '' Nowhere Boy'', a film based on the childhood experiences of The Beatles songwriter ...
, and
Abigail Lane Abigail Lane (born 1967) is an English artist who works in photography, wax casting, printing and sound. Lane was one of the exhibitors in the 1988 Damien Hirst-led Freeze exhibition—a mixed show of art which was significant in the development ...
, some of the future leading lights of the
Britart The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...
movement. His musical interests were heavily influenced by
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
founder
Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
, whose work he had discovered by 1986. He quit college due to the increasing success of his band at the time, Seymour, which later changed its name to Blur because the recording company,
Food Records Food Records was a British rock record label set up in 1984 by David Balfe (formally of Zoo Records), who later took on Andy Ross as his partner. Originally formed as an independent record label with distribution going through Rough Trade D ...
, thought Seymour was too 'student-ish'. They presented a list to the band of preferred names which included "The Shining Path" and "Blur". As well as providing all guitars, backing vocals, and occasional drums, Coxon's lo-fi and alternative musical style and tastes influenced the band's less commercial music in the late 1990s. He sang lead vocals on songs including "Red Necks", "You're So Great" from the album '' Blur'', and "
Coffee & TV "Coffee & TV" is a song by the British rock band Blur. It was written by the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, who also sang lead vocals rather than frontman Damon Albarn. The song appears on Blur's sixth studio album, '' 13'' (1999), and was t ...
", as well as a section of the chorus of " Tender", the bridge of " Lonesome Street" and a section of "Thought I Was a Spaceman" on ''
The Magic Whip ''The Magic Whip'' (stylised in Chinese text) is the eighth studio album by English rock band Blur. It was recorded in Hong Kong and London, and released by Parlophone on 27 April 2015 and Warner Bros. Records on 28 April 2015. It was the band's ...
''. During the 1995 period of the media-dubbed ' Battle of Britpop', Coxon became increasingly weary and suspicious of the music industry. His behaviour was occasionally awkward, such as refusing to appear in the video for Blur song "
Country House An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
" unless he could dress as a milkman and take no part in any action with which he felt uncomfortable. In November 2001 Coxon was admitted to the Priory Hospital for 28 days to be treated for alcoholism. During this time, Blur began the recording sessions that would produce the material for their next album, ''Think Tank''. In February 2002, Coxon rejoined the band in the studio for the rest of the recording of ''Think Tank'' but after five days was asked by then manager Chris Morrison not to go back into the studio as the other members of the band had reported that the session was not going too well with him present. Coxon took this as a sign and left the band. As he stated in an interview in 2006, "I had a breakthrough, I think my life just became calmer, I gave up drinking. My priorities changed as I had a young daughter. The group didn't want me to record for the ''
Think Tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
'' album, so I took it as a sign to leave". His last contribution to Blur was a song called "Battery in Your Leg", the closing song on Blur's 2003 album ''Think Tank'', before leaving the line-up. Damon Albarn later revealed that the song "Sweet Song" was written after he had been looking at a photograph of Coxon. After
Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...
's revealing that he and Coxon had rebuilt their relationship, on 9 December 2008, Blur announced that the whole band would reunite for a show at
Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...
on 3 July 2009. More dates were announced and the band played festival dates at
Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
,
T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...
and
Oxegen 2009 Oxegen 2009 was the sixth Oxegen festival to take place since 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 10 July, Saturday, 11 July and Sunday, 12 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Kings ...
as well as headlining shows in Manchester, Newcastle, Wolverhampton,
Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
and the
East Anglian Railway Museum The East Anglian Railway Museum is located at Chappel and Wakes Colne railway station in Essex, England, which is situated on the former Great Eastern Railway branch line from Marks Tey to Sudbury. Services on the Sudbury Branch Line are ope ...
in
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
. Blur also played one show in
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, France. On 17 April 2010, the band released their first single since 2003, " Fool's Day", for the
Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
event as a 7" limited to 1000 copies. The band released the single as a free download on their official website the next day. More recently Blur announced via the
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
website that they would reunite every so often and record more singles, preferably on 7 inch. However, Damon also stated that an album was not on its way as they were all too busy with their own individual projects. On 19 February 2015, Coxon and the band announced on social media that they would be releasing their eighth studio album on 27 April, titled ''
The Magic Whip ''The Magic Whip'' (stylised in Chinese text) is the eighth studio album by English rock band Blur. It was recorded in Hong Kong and London, and released by Parlophone on 27 April 2015 and Warner Bros. Records on 28 April 2015. It was the band's ...
'', Blur's first album in 12 years and first in 16 years in their original lineup.


Solo work

Coxon had already released three solo albums while a member of Blur before his 2002 departure. His first, '' The Sky Is Too High'' was released on his own
Transcopic Transcopic was a British record label created in 1998 by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon for his solo releases, as well as those of other left field artists. Along with Coxon's music, the label issued records by acts such as Ooberman, The Buff Medw ...
label in 1998. This was followed by ''
The Golden D ''The Golden D'' is the second solo album by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, released in 2000. This outing saw him come back with some heavier, even lower-fi guitars and vocals. With only one track reminiscent of '' The Sky Is Too High'', "Keep H ...
'' in 2000 and '' Crow Sit on Blood Tree'' in 2001. After going solo full-time, he released '' The Kiss of Morning'' in 2002. The album was promoted with the single "Escape Song". In 2004, Coxon released his fifth solo album ''
Happiness in Magazines ''Happiness in Magazines'' is the fifth solo album by Graham Coxon. It was produced by Stephen Street who also produced Blur's first five albums and is Coxon's most commercially successful album to date. ''Happiness in Magazines'' reached 19 ...
'', produced by ex-Blur and
The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
producer
Stephen Street Stephen Brian Street (born 29 March 1960 in Hackney, London) is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths, The Cranberries and Blur. Street collaborated with Morrissey on his debut album ''Viva Hate'' following the spl ...
. This proved to be his most successful album to date, and he received the
NME Award The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...
for Best Solo Artist in 2005. In March 2006 he released his sixth solo album, called '' Love Travels at Illegal Speeds'', again produced by Stephen Street. It marked Coxon's first album away from his now-defunct indie label 'Transcopic'. The LP was preceded by the singles " Standing on My Own Again" on 27 February and " You & I". Coxon embarked on a tour of the UK, starting at
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
. He was also involved in a single supporting the
England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...
at the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
. The song was a re-working of the
Sham 69 Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, achieving five top 20 singles, including "If the Kids Are United" and "Hurry Up Harry". The ...
hit "
Hurry Up Harry "Hurry Up Harry" is a song by English band Sham 69 was released in October 1978, which came from their second studio album '' That's Life''. The single was backed by the B-side "No Entry". It reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart for 8 weeks . ...
", and was released as "Sham 69 and The Special Assembly" (as well as Coxon and Sham 69,
Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...
DJ
Christian O'Connell Christian Liam O'Connell (born 7 April 1973 in Winchester, Hampshire) is a British radio disc jockey, television host, writer, and comedian living in Australia. He presents ''The Christian O'Connell Show'' on weekday mornings on Gold 104.3 in ...
, who had run a competition on his show to find a band to record a song in support of the team, was involved in the recording of the song). " Hurry Up England" entered the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at No. 10. In October 2006, Coxon released a double live album '' Burnt to Bitz: At the Astoria'' immediately after his sold-out
London Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s. After further develop ...
show. The album features 27 songs, with at least one song from each of his albums. In July 2007 Coxon released a single with
Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...
, called " This Old Town". The single peaked at No. 39 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Coxon's seventh 15-track studio album titled '' The Spinning Top'', produced again by Stephen Street, was released on 11 May 2009. Coxon stated that the LP, which is primarily acoustic, followed a narrative – the story of a man from birth to death. "The album is mainly an acoustic journey although there is, of course, some explosive electric guitar action," he explained. "There are some guests too!
Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...
supplies some counter-attack guitar, Jas Singh plays
dilruba The dilruba (also spelt dilrupa) is a bowed musical instrument originating in India. It is slightly larger than an esraj and has a larger, square resonance box. The dilruba holds particular importance in Sikh history. It became more widely k ...
and jori with his friends Gurjit Sembhi on
taus Taus may refer to: * Domažlice (German: Taus), a town of the Czech Republic * Taus, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community * Melek Taus, "The Peacock Angel", the Yazidis' name for the central figure of their faith * Taus (instrumen ...
and Jaskase Singh on
esraj The (from the pa, ਇਸਰਾਜ) is an Indian stringed instrument found in two forms throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is a relatively recent instrument, being only about 300 years old. It is found in North India, primarily Punjab, whe ...
.
Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...
plays the legendary Victoria, Graham Fox gives plenty of swing on the drums and
sizzle cymbal A sizzle cymbal is a cymbal to which rivets, chains or other rattles have been added to modify the sound, attached either by means of holes bored in the cymbal or by means of an attachment known as a sizzler. These rattles have two main effects ...
s and
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tinkles the ivories." Pre-release response had been positive, with Monday Field of ''Frank Booth Review'' dubbing the album "a staggering artistic achievement, and Coxon's best solo release to date." His eighth solo album '' A+E'' was released in April 2012. Coxon wrote and recorded the score for the 2017
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
/
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
television series ''
The End of the F***ing World ''The End of the F***ing World'' is a British black comedy-drama television programme. The eight-part first series premiered its first episode on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 24 October 2017, after which the following episodes were release ...
''; it was his first original score. The soundtrack was released in January 2018. In September of the same year, Coxon embarked on a solo tour in North America that featured some of the songs from his score. In February 2020, Coxon released an album for the fictional band Bloodwitch, to be a part of the soundtrack of the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series
I Am Not Okay with This ''I Am Not Okay with This'' is an American coming-of-age black comedy streaming television series based on the graphic novel of the same name by Charles Forsman. The series stars Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Sofia Bryant, and Kathleen Rose P ...
, featuring singer Tatyana Richaud and his partner Essy Syed in the vocals.


Transcopic and other contributions

Coxon's independent label,
Transcopic Transcopic was a British record label created in 1998 by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon for his solo releases, as well as those of other left field artists. Along with Coxon's music, the label issued records by acts such as Ooberman, The Buff Medw ...
, was co-managed with his friend, and then business partner, Jamie Davis. Davis now runs Independent label
Ark Recordings Ark Recordings is a London-based independent record label, run by Jamie Davis (of Transcopic Records) and Russell Warby (VP of WME Agency UK, Music Power 1001). The label was launched in 2005 after Transcopic Records went on a hiatus, and Dav ...
. Coxon illustrated and designed all of his own album art, and collaborated with his friend Nick Craske creating abstract digital work for the release of ''The Spinning Top''; they also filmed two music videos, "Sorrow's Army" and "'In The Morning". Coxon also continued painting a series of personal work, most of which remained unseen until 2004, when he exhibited at the ICA in London. Coxon has also been involved in remixing other peoples tracks, including Idlewild and
Lowgold Lowgold are an English indie rock band formed in 1997 in St Albans, comprising vocalist and rhythm guitarist Darren Ford, lead guitarist Dan Symons and bassist Miles Willey. The band originally claimed that the word "lowgold" was derived from ...
both of which were released as b-sides and the latter remix was later re-released on the bands anthology release
Keep Music Miserable ''Keep Music Miserable'' is a double album by the English band Lowgold of B-sides, live and unreleased tracks, released in 2005 on the band's own record label Dedted Records. No singles were taken from the album. Track listing All songs written ...
. In September 2006, Coxon revealed a musical soundscape, "english shoes squeek", created especially for "Verheaven" an exhibition at London's Riflemaker Gallery of the work of artist Julie Verhoeven. Coxon appeared on
John McCusker John McCusker (born 15 May 1973) is a Scottish folk musician, record producer, and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and p ...
's '' Under One Sky'', providing the song "All Has Gone". In 2009, Coxon was involved in the creation of the Pete Doherty solo album ''
Grace/Wastelands ''Grace/Wastelands'' is the debut solo album from Babyshambles frontman/The Libertines co-frontman Peter Doherty. It was released in Australia on 13 March 2009, in the UK on 16 March, and in the US on 24 March, with the single " Last of the Engl ...
''. Doherty had entered a period of sobriety, during which he holed up with Coxon to work on his debut solo album, ''Grace/Wasteland'', (released 24 March 2009) a diverse collection of 12 songs that bounce between reggae and Doherty's standard post-punk. Coxon played on all but one track on the album. Coxon has also produced albums by Mower and Assembly Line People Programme from his Transcopic label. In 2013, Coxon was involved in a musical project where artists re-recorded the classic
Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
album ''
Please Please Me ''Please Please Me'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom, following the success of the band's first two s ...
''. He recorded the song "
Baby It's You "Baby It's You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach (music), Luther Dixon (credited as Barney Williams), and Mack David (lyrics). It was recorded by the Shirelles and the Beatles, and was a hit for both. The highest-charting version of "Baby I ...
" live as part of a 10-hour recording session hosted by
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
to mark the 50th anniversary of a challenge set by recording company
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
to The Beatles to record a whole studio album in one session. In February 2019, Coxon became involved with the writing process of the
Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
album Future Past, which reached No.3 on the UK Album Charts and No.1 on the UK Independent charts. He told the UK Independent Newspaper that Duran Duran are "All really nice and they’re not, as individuals, dissimilar to Blur." Coxon performed with Duran Duran at the 2021 Billboard Awards Show.


Instruments and equipment

Coxon has primarily used
Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bo ...
s throughout his career, particularly a '52 reissue and a customised 1968 model with a
Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...
PAF humbucker in the neck position, the latter was reissued by Fender as the Graham Coxon signature model although with some minor changes. Since the Blur reunion in 2009 he almost exclusively used a vintage Telecaster Deluxe. During the ''
Leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure ...
'' era Coxon also used
Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...
s and a
Fender Jaguar The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to t ...
, whilst on some later songs, such as
No Distance Left to Run "No Distance Left to Run" is a song by English rock band Blur from their sixth studio album, '' 13'' (1999). It was released as the third and final single from the album on 15 November 1999, reaching number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. It is ...
and
This Is a Low "This Is a Low" is a song by English rock band Blur for their third studio album, '' Parklife''. The song was released as a promotional single in 1995. Background and recording Originally titled "We Are the Low", the song began life as an in ...
, Coxon uses a
Gibson ES-335 The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial semi-hollowbody electric guitar, sometimes known as semi-acoustic. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES (Electric Spanish) series in 1958, it is neither fully hollow nor fu ...
. He has occasionally used a heavily modified
Fender Musicmaster The Fender Musicmaster is a solid body electric guitar produced by Fender. It was the first 3/4 scale student-model guitar Fender produced. A Musicmaster Bass model was also put on the market. Musicians such as David Byrne and Liz Phair used ...
which can be seen in the
Coffee & TV "Coffee & TV" is a song by the British rock band Blur. It was written by the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, who also sang lead vocals rather than frontman Damon Albarn. The song appears on Blur's sixth studio album, '' 13'' (1999), and was t ...
and
Beetlebum "Beetlebum" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released on 20 January 1997 as the lead single from the band's eponymous fifth album, '' Blur'' (1997). Written about Blur frontman Damon Albarn's experiences with heroin, the ...
videos. Coxon plays all the instruments featured in his solo work, and has used a variety of guitars, notably
Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gib ...
s, and a
Burns London Burns Guitars London is an English manufacturer of electric guitars and bass guitars, founded by Alice Louise Farrell (1908–1993) and James Ormston (Jim) Burns (1925–1998) in 1959. The company was first named "Burns-Weill", then renamed "Or ...
Sonic. He has been recently seen playing a Telecaster Custom. Graham recently received a custom-made guitar from Gray Guitars; it is a Telecaster-type instrument and features a semi-acoustic body and P90 style pickups. Coxon's playing makes significant use of effects pedals such as distortion, delay (a significant example being "Essex Dogs") and flange (as heard in the pre-chorus of " Girls & Boys"). He uses a custom made Mike Hill pedalboard which over the years has included: Akai Headrush E2, Boss BF-2 Flanger, Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, Boss DM-2 Analogue Delay, Boss OD-3, Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, Boss PN-2 Tremolo/Pan, Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Boss TU-2 Tuner, Boss VB-2 Vibrato, DOD Punkifier, Electro-Harmonix HOG, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail, Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeller, ProCo RAT, Shin-Ei FY-2 Companion Fuzz, T-Rex Mudhoney Distortion. For amplification, he uses two
Marshall 1959 The Marshall Super Lead Model 1959 is a guitar amplifier head made by Marshall. One of the famous Marshall Plexis, it was introduced in 1965 and with its associated 4×12″ cabinets gave rise to the "Marshall stack". History The 1959 (Marshall's i ...
SLP heads going in to individual 1968 4x12 cabinets. A detailed gear diagram of Graham Coxon's 1993 Blur guitar rig is well-documented.


Other artistic endeavours

Coxon is a visual artist and designs all his album sleeves. He has also designed album sleeves for other artists. In July 2006, he wrote and had published a foreword for a new edition of
Herman Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', '' Steppenwolf'', '' Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual's ...
's ''
Narcissus and Goldmund ''Narcissus and Goldmund'' (; also published as ''Death and the Lover'') is a novel written by the German–Swiss author Hermann Hesse which was first published in 1930. At its publication, ''Narcissus and Goldmund'' was considered Hesse's liter ...
'' novel. His work also featured on the cover of English folk singer
Kate Rusby Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English English folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, an ...
's album ''
The Girl Who Couldn't Fly ''The Girl Who Couldn't Fly'' is an album by British folk musician Kate Rusby, released in 2005. The title refers to Rusby's fear of flying. The album cover features a painting by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon. Track listing All songs by Kate ...
''. In October 2022 his
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...
''Verse, Chorus, Monster!'' was published by
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
.


Personal life

Graham lives in London. He has three daughters. In 2022 he became a father again with current partner
Rose Elinor Dougall Rose Elinor Dougall (born 13 March 1986) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. She was a member of The Pipettes and has performed with Mark Ronson. She also performs and records as a solo artist. Career Dougall joined The Pipettes in ...
.


Solo discography

;Solo studio albums * '' The Sky Is Too High'' (1998) * ''
The Golden D ''The Golden D'' is the second solo album by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, released in 2000. This outing saw him come back with some heavier, even lower-fi guitars and vocals. With only one track reminiscent of '' The Sky Is Too High'', "Keep H ...
'' (2000) * '' Crow Sit on Blood Tree'' (2001) * '' The Kiss of Morning'' (2002) * ''
Happiness in Magazines ''Happiness in Magazines'' is the fifth solo album by Graham Coxon. It was produced by Stephen Street who also produced Blur's first five albums and is Coxon's most commercially successful album to date. ''Happiness in Magazines'' reached 19 ...
'' (2004) * '' Love Travels at Illegal Speeds'' (2006) * '' The Spinning Top'' (2009) * '' A+E'' (2012) * '' The End of the F***ing World'' (Original Songs And Score) (2018) * '' The End of the F***ing World 2'' (Original Songs And Score) (2019) * '' I Am Not Okay with This (as Bloodwitch) '' (Original Songs And Score) (2020) * ''Superstate'' (2021)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coxon, Graham 1969 births Living people Alternative rock guitarists 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Blur (band) members English rock drummers British male drummers English male singers English multi-instrumentalists English rock guitarists English songwriters Lead guitarists People from Rinteln Britpop musicians People from Spondon English male guitarists Album-cover and concert-poster artists