Graham Coxon

One of the heroes of Brit-pop, Graham Coxon conquered the UK charts in the mid-1990s as guitarist for Blur, scoring five Number 1 albums and singing lead vocals on the hit single Coffee & TV. Starting up his own label Transcopic in 1998, Coxon indulged in a love for scuzzy, lo-fi, 1960s garage rock on debut solo album The Sky Is Too High (1998) before delving into English folk and Syd Barratt psychedelia on its follow-ups The Golden D (2000) and Crow Sit On Blood Tree (2001). Leaving Blur in 2002 amid alcohol problems, Coxon fired back with his fifth album, the more commercial, indie rock-out of the acclaimed Happiness In Magazines (2004), led by the singles Freakin' Out and Bittersweet Bundle of Misery. The Stephen Street produced Love Travels At Illegal Speeds (2006) scored the Top 20 hit Standing On My Own Again, but Coxon delved further into the folk world, appearing on John McCusker's Under One Sky and working on Pete Doherty's Grace/Wasteland before reforming with Blur in 2009. A talented artist and graduate of Goldsmith's College, he remains one of his generation's most respected guitar gods.