2-D

2-D
Gorillaz character
First appearance	Tomorrow Comes Today (video) November 27, 2000
Created by	Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett
Designed by	Jamie Hewlett
Voiced by	Damon Albarn (singing) Nelson De Freitas (speaking: 2000–2017) Kevin Bishop (speaking: 2017–present)
Information
Full name	Stuart Harold Tusspot
Occupation	Singer, Musician
Nationality	British

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Stuart Harold "2-D" Tusspot is the fictional lead vocalist and keyboardist of the virtual band Gorillaz. The band's front man, 2-D, has appeared in music videos, advertisements, and promotional interviews for the band both in-universe and in the real world.

2-D first appeared in the music video for Tomorrow Comes Today, alongside the other virtual members of Gorillaz. Gorillaz co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett first developed the idea of a band with fictional members while living together in the late 1990s, with Hewlett eventually designing 2-D as "a kind of cherubic, good-looking front man who isn’t smart but can sing". 2-D has appeared on the cover of every Gorillaz studio album besides Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, the only member of the band to do so.

Born in Hertfordshire, England, 2-D is characterized by his low intelligence. He met Gorillaz virtual bassist Murdoc Niccals in 1997, later forming Gorillaz, which played their first show in-universe in 1998. 2-D appears in the visuals of live Gorillaz concerts projected on a screen behind the musicians, and appeared as a hologram at the 2006 Grammy Awards.

As a member of Gorillaz, 2-D has sung or played keyboards on hit singles such as "Feel Good Inc.", "Clint Eastwood", "On Melancholy Hill", and "Dirty Harry". The band has won a Grammy Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, an NME Award and four MTV Europe Music Awards. They have also been nominated for 11 Brit Awards and won Best British Group at the 2018 Brit Awards. They hold the Guinness World Record for biggest-selling virtual band of all time.

Character

Creation and conception

Main article: Gorillaz § Creation and Gorillaz (1998–2002)

In the late 1990s, Blur front man Damon Albarn and Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett were sharing an apartment in London when they developed the idea of creating a fictional band while watching MTV. 2-D was the first character they created, basing his appearance on the "pretty boy stereotype" Hewlett believed led many bands at the time. It is widely believed 2-D is based on Stuart Lowbridge, a friend of Hewlett and Albarn who has served as a longtime roadie for Albarn's musical projects, but this has never been confirmed. Cass Browne, the author of Rise of the Ogre, an autobiography of the virtual band, stated "if you look at the character of 2-D, he's kind of a composite of Chris [Gentry, lead singer of Menswear], Damon and a lot of other rock frontmen". In early concept art for the characters, 2-D is called "Terry" and can occasionally be seen with orange hair instead of blue.

Design

The style win which Hewlett illustrates the characters of Gorillaz changes between album cycles, called "phases" by the band. Though 2-D is illustrated in a variety of different outfits throughout Gorillaz artwork, he always maintains spiky, blue hair, missing front teeth, and discolored no eyeballs. The color of his eyeballs can be either white or black, and is explained in-universe as the result of blood pooling in his anterior chamber as the result of two accidents. He is generally skinnier than any other member of the band, and sometimes the tallest, though the characters do not maintain consistent heights between phases.

Voice

2-D's singing voice is that of Albarn, though Albarn has repeatedly stated that 2-D is not a stand-in for Albarn's personality. 2-D is seen singing in nearly every Gorillaz music video, and is even a credited artist on the Nathan Haines cover of Steely Dan's FM. When speaking in music videos, promotional videos, and interviews, 2-D has been voiced by Nelson De Freitas and Kevin Bishop. Freitas voiced the character from 2000 to 2017, giving 2-D an exaggerated cockney accent. During promotions for the album Humanz, De Frietas also performed the character with motion capture technology for interviews and promotional videos. His final performance as the character in a Gorillaz video was "Saturnz Barz", and his final performance voicing the character was in a 2018 advertisement for KRQQ. Bishop has voiced the character since the Song Machine series.

Personality

In the book Rise of the Ogre, 2-D is characterized as having a "mind full of zombies and painkillers". Having low intelligence, 2-D is often bullied and abused by bandmates Murdoc and Russell; Hewlett once commented "2-D is the classic stupid pretty boy singer. He's the fall guy, the stooge. Everyone takes the piss out of him." He is shown to enjoy roller skating, peppermint tea, and video games across several Gorillaz music videos and shorts (called G-Bitez). 2-D is a supporter of the Free Tibet movement, writing in a 2001 post to the Gorillaz fansite ""I'm going to do everything that I can to make the Tibetan people's voice heard and hope that you all will support me in helping a peaceful people regain sovereignty of their own lives and of their country". An avid keyboardist, 2-D can be seen playing piano and electronic keyboard in videos for "Sleeping Powder", "The Pink Phantom", and "Dirty Harry". 2-D has expressed his fondness for artists such as The Clash, Beck, Fleetwood Mac, and The Human League. A Spotify playlist by 2-D, called his "G-Mix", was published and frequently updated around the release of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez containing many songs by these artists and others.

Other appearances

Outside of Gorillaz music videos and promotional videos, 2-D has appeared in various advertisements, magazine interviews, and media. Puppet versions of 2-D and bandmate Murdoc appeared at Demon Days Live from the Apollo Theater, both at the concert and in the film released in 2006. 2-D has been featured on the cover of several magazines, including Rolling Stone India, Dazed, juxtapoz, Smash!, and Q. The virtual members of Gorillaz, including 2-D, have appeared in films such as The Powerpuff Girls Movie, comic series such as Spoon & White, and television shows such as Dead Like Me. Outside of advertisements for Gorillaz releases, 2-D has appeared in commercials for Pandora, T-Mobile, and G-Shock. In 2025, 2-D, alongside his virtual bandmates, was added as a skin to Fortnite. The band also performed as the headliners for the Season 10 "Fortnite Festival". In 2026, 2-D was featured alongside his virtual bandmates, as well as Hewlett and Albarn, in promotional stills for the band's performance on Saturday Night Live.

References

This article "2-D (singer)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:2-D (singer). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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