Albarn formed the virtual band Gorillaz in 1998 with comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. Drawing influences from hip hop, dub, pop, trip hop, and world music, Gorillaz released their self-titled debut album in 2001 to worldwide success, spawning successful follow-ups "Demon Days" (2005), "Plastic Beach", "The Fall" (both released in 2010), "Humanz" (2017), "The Now Now" (2018) and the first season of their latest project, "Song Machine" (2020). Although Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, Gorillaz albums typically feature collaborations from a range of artists. Gorillaz are cited by the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the "Most Successful Virtual Band".