Gnarls Barkley
Encyclopedia
Gnarls Barkley is an American soul
duo comprising Danger Mouse
and Cee Lo Green. Their first studio album
St. Elsewhere
was released in 2006; along with its first single "Crazy
". Both single and album were a major commercial success and have been noted for their large sales by download
. The duo released their second album The Odd Couple
in March 2008.
group Goodie Mob
which had a large hand in the Dirty South movement of the 1990s. Cee Lo left the group after their third album in 1999 and started his solo career. That year he sang on "Do You Like the Way" along with Lauryn Hill
on Santana
's multi-platinum Supernatural album. Cee Lo has three solo albums as of November 2010.
Danger Mouse has produced albums for a number of hip hop and rock artists, including Gorillaz
' Demon Days
. He received international attention for his mash-up
The Grey Album
, which blended the acapella edition of Jay-Z
's The Black Album
with samples from The Beatles
' White Album
.
The two men first met while Cee Lo was on a tour for which Danger Mouse happened to be the DJ. They became musical partners and worked together on the songs that would become the St. Elsewhere; prior to the release of that album they collaborated on the songs "What You Sittin' On?" for Lex Records
in 2004, and "Benzie Box" from the Danger Doom
album The Mouse and the Mask
in 2005.
of Prince Charles and Bob Marley
, respectively) made up by their friends. When Heavens band member Josiah Steinbrick came up with "Gnarls Barkley", a parody of basketball
star Charles Barkley
's name, Burton wrote it down. In fact earlier in their career, various radio DJs incorrectly attributed their songs to the basketball star instead of the band.
According to a Billboard article: "Burton and Cee Lo have been cagey about what the name of the act means, and each live performance is an opportunity to play dress-up as tennis players, astronauts and chefs, among many other get-ups. The costuming extends to photo shoots, as Burton and Cee-Lo would rather impersonate characters from such films as Back to the Future
or Wayne's World
.
About Gnarls Barkley, Cee Lo said in an interview: "That is that electric industrial Euro soul, that's what I call it... if I can call it anything. It truly is shapeless and formless. My style and my approach is still water, and it runs so deep. So, with that project I got a chance to be a lil' zany, of course a continuation of eccentricity, abstract and vague, and all of those wonderful things that make art exactly what it is. And that's subject to interpretation. As far as the artiste himself, it does cater to and extend the legacy of Cee Lo Green, and showcase the diversity and range and intention of Cee Lo Green. It is a great project that I'm very, very proud of".
" were played for them by Danger Mouse
's management company Waxploitation
. "Crazy" was released as their first single
on April 3, 2006, preceded by its release as digital download and 12" vinyl record single in March 2006. It gained some of its popularity due to its use on primetime BBC Radio 1
DJ Zane Lowe
's television advert, and it was also made Record of the Week by Ken Bruce
of BBC Radio 2
, Scott Mills
and Jo Whiley
of BBC Radio 1 as well as being made 'Weekend Anthem' by DJ Spoony
and Sara Cox
(also of Radio 1).
The track is based on an Italian song named Nel cimitero di Tucson (In Tucson's cemetery) by composer Gianfranco Reverberi
and is part of the soundtrack of spaghetti western
Preparati la bara! (1968), starring Terence Hill
.
"Crazy" is the first ever single to top the UK Singles Chart
purely on download sales as it was released online a week before it was released as a CD single. It is also the first single to top the UK Singles Chart
for nine weeks consecutively since 1994 when Wet Wet Wet
's "Love Is All Around" was number one for 15 weeks (the last song to spend exactly nine weeks on top was "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
in 1984). It has also equaled the Queen
1975 classic "Bohemian Rhapsody
", which also topped the UK singles chart for nine weeks. Gnarls Barkley announced that as the record had spent its ninth week at number one, it was to be deleted as a vinyl/CD listing from May 28, 2006, so people will "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it".
"Crazy" is also the longest number-one on the UK Official Download Chart
with its stay lasting eleven consecutive weeks. In late 2009 the song was voted as the best song of the decade by Rolling Stone magazine.
The group released their debut album, St. Elsewhere
, on April 24, 2006, in the UK and on May 9, 2006, in the U.S. For their American television debut on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
, May 24, 2006, the band performed "Crazy".
They performed along with Christina Aguilera
, AFI
, and Wolfmother
at the MTV Movie Awards 2006
on June 8, 2006. They were dressed as characters from the film series Star Wars
. Rebel Alliance
pilots, Imperial officers, Stormtroopers, Chewbacca
, Jango Fett
, Obi-Wan, with Cee-Lo singing as an unmasked Darth Vader
.
In October 2006, Gnarls Barkley recorded a live session for Live from Abbey Road
at Abbey Road Studios
.
St. Elsewhere has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S. A limited edition deluxe package of St. Elsewhere was released on November 7, 2006. The CD+DVD package includes a 92-page booklet, four music videos and bonus songs from live performances.
From January until March 2007, they toured with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
through the U.S.
They did a collaborative short film in both the Spring of 2006 and 2007 with the international TV series Kung Faux
which airs heavily on Channel V
around the world, and they also toured Australia in March and April 2007 as part of the Channel V Festival.
The song "Go-Go Gadget Gospel" appears in the show The Boondocks
. It was sung by Rev. Rollo Goodlove, who was voiced by Cee-Lo.
, was leaked over the internet prompting the duo to push the release date up from April 8. On March 18, 2008, the album became available via download on the iTunes Music Store and Amazon MP3
. Hard copies of the album were released on March 25.
They appeared as the musical guest on the April 12, 2008 episode of NBC
's Saturday Night Live
. They were supposed to be in a Digital Short
parodying amateur music videos according to the scrolled text but only appeared in the singing performances of the live broadcast.
On November 11, 2008, they released an EP
, Who's Gonna Save My Soul, featuring four versions of the song which originally appeared on The Odd Couple, along with a live version of "Neighbors" and a previously unreleased song, "Mystery Man". A music video for "Mystery Man" was directed by Walter Robot
and premiered on Yahoo! Music
.
in September, 2011, Cee Lo Green stated during his performance that Gnarls Barkley will be be releasing another album in 2012.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
duo comprising Danger Mouse
Danger Mouse
Brian Joseph Burton , better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles' White Album.He...
and Cee Lo Green. Their first studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere (album)
St. Elsewhere is the debut album by United States hip hop soul duo Gnarls Barkley. It was released on April 24, 2006 in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and on May 9, 2006 in the United States, although it was available for purchase one week earlier as a...
was released in 2006; along with its first single "Crazy
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley song)
"Crazy" is the debut single from Gnarls Barkley, a musical collaboration between Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green, and is taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere...
". Both single and album were a major commercial success and have been noted for their large sales by download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
. The duo released their second album The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple (album)
The Odd Couple is the second studio album by Gnarls Barkley, released digitally on March 18 and in stores March 25, 2008. Due to an early leak of the album over the Internet in early March 2008, the duo decided to push up the release from April 8...
in March 2008.
Background
Cee Lo first entered the scene as part of the Atlanta hip hopHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group Goodie Mob
Goodie Mob
Goodie Mob is a Hip Hop act based in Atlanta, Georgia that formed in 1991 and currently consists of members Cee-Lo Green, Khujo, T-Mo and Big Gipp.-History:The group's name acts as a double backronym...
which had a large hand in the Dirty South movement of the 1990s. Cee Lo left the group after their third album in 1999 and started his solo career. That year he sang on "Do You Like the Way" along with Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
on Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
's multi-platinum Supernatural album. Cee Lo has three solo albums as of November 2010.
Danger Mouse has produced albums for a number of hip hop and rock artists, including Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...
' Demon Days
Demon Days
Demon Days is the second studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz, released in May 2005. The album features contributions from De La Soul, Neneh Cherry, Martina Topley-Bird, Roots Manuva, MF DOOM, Ike Turner, Bootie Brown of the Pharcyde, Shaun Ryder, Dennis Hopper, the London Community Gospel...
. He received international attention for his mash-up
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
The Grey Album
The Grey Album
The Grey Album is a mashup album by Danger Mouse, released in 2004. It uses an a cappella version of rapper Jay-Z's The Black Album and couples it with instrumentals created from a multitude of unauthorized samples from The Beatles' LP The Beatles...
, which blended the acapella edition of Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
's The Black Album
The Black Album (Jay-Z album)
The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released November 14, 2003, on Roc-A-Fella Records. It was promoted as his final studio album, which serves as a recurring theme, although Jay-Z returned to solo recording with Kingdom Come in 2006.The album debuted at number one...
with samples from The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' White Album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
.
The two men first met while Cee Lo was on a tour for which Danger Mouse happened to be the DJ. They became musical partners and worked together on the songs that would become the St. Elsewhere; prior to the release of that album they collaborated on the songs "What You Sittin' On?" for Lex Records
Lex Records
Lex Records is an independent record label founded by Tom Brown in 2001. The label was an imprint of Warp Records and run from their North London offices, until September 2005.Lex has a low volume of releases, rarely releasing more than three albums annually...
in 2004, and "Benzie Box" from the Danger Doom
Danger Doom
Danger Doom is a musical collaboration between DJ and producer Danger Mouse and rapper MF Doom. Their first album, The Mouse and the Mask, was released in 2005, and followed by the Occult Hymn EP in 2006.-Background:...
album The Mouse and the Mask
The Mouse and the Mask
The Mouse and the Mask is a collaboration album by Danger Mouse and MF DOOM under the name Danger Doom, released on October 11, 2005 by Punk Label Epitaph Records in the United States marking it the third hip hop release for the label...
in 2005.
Band name
Danger Mouse explains that the name Gnarls Barkley came from "fictional celebrity names like Prince Gnarls and Bob Gnarley" (parodiesParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Prince Charles and Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
, respectively) made up by their friends. When Heavens band member Josiah Steinbrick came up with "Gnarls Barkley", a parody of basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
star Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley
Charles Wade Barkley is a former American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards...
's name, Burton wrote it down. In fact earlier in their career, various radio DJs incorrectly attributed their songs to the basketball star instead of the band.
According to a Billboard article: "Burton and Cee Lo have been cagey about what the name of the act means, and each live performance is an opportunity to play dress-up as tennis players, astronauts and chefs, among many other get-ups. The costuming extends to photo shoots, as Burton and Cee-Lo would rather impersonate characters from such films as Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
or Wayne's World
Wayne's World
Wayne's World was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series Saturday Night Live. It evolved from a segment titled "Wayne's Power Minute" on the CBC Television series It's Only Rock & Roll, as the main character first appeared in that show...
.
About Gnarls Barkley, Cee Lo said in an interview: "That is that electric industrial Euro soul, that's what I call it... if I can call it anything. It truly is shapeless and formless. My style and my approach is still water, and it runs so deep. So, with that project I got a chance to be a lil' zany, of course a continuation of eccentricity, abstract and vague, and all of those wonderful things that make art exactly what it is. And that's subject to interpretation. As far as the artiste himself, it does cater to and extend the legacy of Cee Lo Green, and showcase the diversity and range and intention of Cee Lo Green. It is a great project that I'm very, very proud of".
St. Elsewhere (2006–2007)
Downtown/Atlantic in the U.S. and Warners Bros. Records in the UK signed the band after several songs including "CrazyCrazy (Gnarls Barkley song)
"Crazy" is the debut single from Gnarls Barkley, a musical collaboration between Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green, and is taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere...
" were played for them by Danger Mouse
Danger Mouse
Brian Joseph Burton , better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles' White Album.He...
's management company Waxploitation
Waxploitation
Waxploitation was founded in 1996 by Jeff Antebi, who is still the company's creative director.Primarily a record label and artist management company, Waxploitation is best known for developing the careers of Grammy Award winning artists including Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse and the Grammy...
. "Crazy" was released as their first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on April 3, 2006, preceded by its release as digital download and 12" vinyl record single in March 2006. It gained some of its popularity due to its use on primetime BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
DJ Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...
's television advert, and it was also made Record of the Week by Ken Bruce
Ken Bruce
Kenneth Robertson Bruce is a British broadcaster known for his programme on BBC Radio 2, which is broadcast on weekdays from 9:30am until 12 noon.-Early life and career:...
of BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, Scott Mills
Scott Mills
Scott Robert Mills is a British radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor, best known for presenting The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1...
and Jo Whiley
Jo Whiley
Johanne "Jo" Whiley is a British radio disc jockey and television presenter. She was the host of the long running weekday Jo Whiley Show on Radio 1.-Early life and education:...
of BBC Radio 1 as well as being made 'Weekend Anthem' by DJ Spoony
DJ Spoony
DJ Spoony is the stage name of Johnathan Joseph who is a British DJ, and former BBC Radio 1 presenter.-Radio and Dj career:...
and Sara Cox
Sara Cox
Sara Cox , known as "Coxy", is an English TV presenter and radio DJ, most well known for presenting the breakfast show on BBC Radio 1 between 2000 and 2003...
(also of Radio 1).
The track is based on an Italian song named Nel cimitero di Tucson (In Tucson's cemetery) by composer Gianfranco Reverberi
Gianfranco Reverberi
Gian Franco Reverberi is an Italian composer and musician. He worked mainly on the soundtracks for Spaghetti Westerns.He was one of the first Italian rock music artists....
and is part of the soundtrack of spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
Preparati la bara! (1968), starring Terence Hill
Terence Hill
Terence Hill is an Italian actor. He is best known for starring in multiple action and western films together with his longtime filmpartner Bud Spencer.-Biography:...
.
"Crazy" is the first ever single to top the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
purely on download sales as it was released online a week before it was released as a CD single. It is also the first single to top the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
for nine weeks consecutively since 1994 when Wet Wet Wet
Wet Wet Wet
Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish pop rock band that formed in the 1980s. They scored a number of hits in the British charts and around the world. The band is composed of Marti Pellow , Tommy Cunningham , Graeme Clark and Neil Mitchell...
's "Love Is All Around" was number one for 15 weeks (the last song to spend exactly nine weeks on top was "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...
in 1984). It has also equaled the Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
1975 classic "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
", which also topped the UK singles chart for nine weeks. Gnarls Barkley announced that as the record had spent its ninth week at number one, it was to be deleted as a vinyl/CD listing from May 28, 2006, so people will "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it".
"Crazy" is also the longest number-one on the UK Official Download Chart
UK Official Download Chart
The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart...
with its stay lasting eleven consecutive weeks. In late 2009 the song was voted as the best song of the decade by Rolling Stone magazine.
The group released their debut album, St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere (album)
St. Elsewhere is the debut album by United States hip hop soul duo Gnarls Barkley. It was released on April 24, 2006 in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and on May 9, 2006 in the United States, although it was available for purchase one week earlier as a...
, on April 24, 2006, in the UK and on May 9, 2006, in the U.S. For their American television debut on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
, May 24, 2006, the band performed "Crazy".
They performed along with Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
, AFI
AFI (band)
AFI is an American alternative rock band from Ukiah, California that formed in 1991. They have consisted of the same lineup since 1998: lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, who both play keyboard and contribute...
, and Wolfmother
Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...
at the MTV Movie Awards 2006
MTV Movie Awards 2006
The 2006 MTV Movie Awards were hosted by Jessica Alba and featured performances by Christina Aguilera, AFI and Gnarls Barkley. In addition to the below awards, MTV gave lifetime achievement awards to Jim Carrey and Spike Lee .MTV held its 15th annual movie awards show on Saturday, June 3, at the...
on June 8, 2006. They were dressed as characters from the film series Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
. Rebel Alliance
Rebel Alliance
The Alliance to Restore the Republic is an interstellar faction of the fictional universe of Star Wars....
pilots, Imperial officers, Stormtroopers, Chewbacca
Chewbacca
Chewbacca, also known as Chewie, is a character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Peter Mayhew. In the series' narrative chronology, he appears in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
, Jango Fett
Jango Fett
Jango Fett is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He first appeared as one of the main antagonists in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and later served as the protagonist of the LucasArts video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, played by Temuera Morrison.Jango Fett serves as...
, Obi-Wan, with Cee-Lo singing as an unmasked Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
.
In October 2006, Gnarls Barkley recorded a live session for Live from Abbey Road
Live from Abbey Road
Live from Abbey Road is a 12-part, one-hour performance series/documentary that began filming its first season during 2006 at Abbey Road Studios in London. Season 2 was filmed between 2007 and 2008, season 3 was filmed in 2009 and Season 4 was filmed in 2011...
at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
.
St. Elsewhere has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S. A limited edition deluxe package of St. Elsewhere was released on November 7, 2006. The CD+DVD package includes a 92-page booklet, four music videos and bonus songs from live performances.
From January until March 2007, they toured with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
through the U.S.
They did a collaborative short film in both the Spring of 2006 and 2007 with the international TV series Kung Faux
Kung Faux
Kung Faux is a critically acclaimed comedy television and DVD series created by Mic Neumann that remixes classic kung fu movies with popular music, comic book style editing and video game style special effects, and new voice-over dubbing from primarily hip hop personalities and pop culture...
which airs heavily on Channel V
Channel V
Channel [V] is the brand name for multiple international music television networks owned by STAR TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation.-Channel [V] International:...
around the world, and they also toured Australia in March and April 2007 as part of the Channel V Festival.
The song "Go-Go Gadget Gospel" appears in the show The Boondocks
The Boondocks (TV series)
The Boondocks is an American animated series created by Aaron McGruder on Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim, based on McGruder's comic strip of the same name...
. It was sung by Rev. Rollo Goodlove, who was voiced by Cee-Lo.
The Odd Couple (2008)
In early March, 2008, Gnarls's much anticipated sophomore release, The Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple (album)
The Odd Couple is the second studio album by Gnarls Barkley, released digitally on March 18 and in stores March 25, 2008. Due to an early leak of the album over the Internet in early March 2008, the duo decided to push up the release from April 8...
, was leaked over the internet prompting the duo to push the release date up from April 8. On March 18, 2008, the album became available via download on the iTunes Music Store and Amazon MP3
Amazon MP3
Amazon MP3 is an online music store owned and operated by Amazon.com. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007, in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights management from the four major music labels , as well as many independents...
. Hard copies of the album were released on March 25.
They appeared as the musical guest on the April 12, 2008 episode of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
. They were supposed to be in a Digital Short
SNL Digital Shorts
An SNL Digital Short is one in a series of comedic and often musical video shorts created for airing on NBC's Saturday Night Live, generally produced and written by The Lonely Island , though originated by Adam McKay, in collaboration with SNL hosts, writers, and cast members...
parodying amateur music videos according to the scrolled text but only appeared in the singing performances of the live broadcast.
On November 11, 2008, they released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Who's Gonna Save My Soul, featuring four versions of the song which originally appeared on The Odd Couple, along with a live version of "Neighbors" and a previously unreleased song, "Mystery Man". A music video for "Mystery Man" was directed by Walter Robot
Walter Robot
Walter Robot is the fictional director created by artist Bill Barminski and writer Christopher Louie. They direct films, commercials and music videos...
and premiered on Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
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2012
At Virgin FestVirgin Festival
The Virgin Fest is a rock festival held in the United States and Canada, a spin-off from the V Festival held in the UK...
in September, 2011, Cee Lo Green stated during his performance that Gnarls Barkley will be be releasing another album in 2012.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
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| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
US Dance |
US Indie Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
CAN Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
CHE Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
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| 2006 | St. Elsewhere St. Elsewhere (album) St. Elsewhere is the debut album by United States hip hop soul duo Gnarls Barkley. It was released on April 24, 2006 in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and on May 9, 2006 in the United States, although it was available for purchase one week earlier as a...
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Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... : Gold Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... : Platinum British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Platinum Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Platinum |
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| 2008 | The Odd Couple The Odd Couple (album) The Odd Couple is the second studio album by Gnarls Barkley, released digitally on March 18 and in stores March 25, 2008. Due to an early leak of the album over the Internet in early March 2008, the duo decided to push up the release from April 8... |
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Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
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| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Adult |
US Alt |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
AUT |
CHE Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
DNK Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
NLD MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
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| 2006 | "Crazy Crazy (Gnarls Barkley song) "Crazy" is the debut single from Gnarls Barkley, a musical collaboration between Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green, and is taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere... " |
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St. Elsewhere | |
| "Smiley Faces Smiley Faces "Smiley Faces" is a song by Gnarls Barkley and is featured on their debut album, St. Elsewhere. It was released 17 July 2006 as the second single from that album in the United Kingdom .-Music videos:... " |
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| "Who Cares?" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 60 | ||||
| "Gone Daddy Gone Gone Daddy Gone "Gone Daddy Gone" is a song written by Gordon Gano and originally recorded by his group Violent Femmes for their 1983 eponymous debut album.... " |
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| 2008 | "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) "Run ", also known more commonly as "Run", is a song written and recorded by Gnarls Barkley. It is the first single to be released from the band's second album The Odd Couple. Released in February 2008 as a digital download in the UK and the U.S. via the iTunes Store, a physical release of the... " |
114 | — | 35 | — | 51 | 65 | 38 | — | — | 32 | The Odd Couple | ||
| "Going On Going On "Going On" is the second single taken from Gnarls Barkley's second studio album The Odd Couple. It is played in an upbeat hip hop and blues style. The track is also featured on the video game NBA 2K9. It was nominated at the 2009 Grammy Awards for 'Best Pop Performance'. "Going On" uses a sample... " |
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| "Who's Gonna Save My Soul Who's Gonna Save My Soul "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" is the third and final single taken from hip-hop duo Gnarls Barkley's second studio album, The Odd Couple. It is played in a slow and sad soul style. The single was released in late 2008. The song's official music video was directed by Chris Milk and was released on July... " |
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| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
Awards
- 2006 MTV European Music Awards, Best Song ("Crazy") and the Future Sounds Award
- 2007 Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
, Best Urban/Alternative PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality urban/alternative performances...
("Crazy") and Best Alternative Music AlbumGrammy Award for Best Alternative Music AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative rock genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
(St. Elsewhere) - 2007 BET Award for Best Group
- 2008 MTV Video Music AwardsMTV Video Music AwardsAn MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, Best Art direction and best choreography for the video 'Run' - Rolling Stone 100 Best Songs of the DecadeRolling Stone 100 Best Songs of the DecadeRolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the Decade was a feature in US music magazine Rolling Stone, charting the 100 best songs from the 2000s according to a panel of 100 music writers, critics, artists and industry insiders. The list was compiled and published in June 2009...
- #1 Crazy