Blur are an English rock band. Originally called Seymour, Blur formed in Colchester in 1989 from the remnants of a band called Circus by vocalist/keyboardist Damon Albarn, guitarist/backing vocalist Graham Coxon and drummer Dave Rowntree, with bassist Alex James joining the lineup. Icons of the Britpop movement, they were one of the most critically and commercially successful bands of the 1990s and still exert considerable influence over fifteen years after their initial formation.