Inside Blur’s triumphant return by band themselves including awkward meeting & Alex James’ secret to how he lost weight
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FOR Blur rocker and Sun foodie Alex James, 2023 was a whirlwind. He reunited with Nineties bandmates Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Dave Rowntree for two blistering Wembley Stadium gigs. Then the Britpop icons hit the road to play festivals across Europe, Japan and South America – as well as Coachella in California.
![[Alex James has revealed all about Blur's comeback, and his own personal journey to better health]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/a5aad7fe-4837-4218-88af-11b30e18b59b.jpg?strip=all&w=944)
But while reliving his indie heyday with Blur was a dream for Alex, getting fit again was a different story. The musician has documented it all with trademark honesty in hilarious new book Over The Rainbow: Tales From An Unexpected Year. Here, he writes about the 12 months that changed his life . . .
![[Alex made his return to the stage with Blur at Wembley - after fearing a reunion would never happen]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/alex-james-performs-blur-day-833891108_3ad1f3.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
WHAT a year it was. It was magic. There’s a sense of enchantment about the whole Blur story, in fact. Graham, Blur’s guitarist, was the very first person I set eyes on when I arrived in London to study French at university. He was getting out of his parents’ car outside the halls of residence, holding a guitar. I was getting out of my parents’ car, also holding a guitar.
![[Alex described himself as 'enormously fat', and was determined to get in better shape for Blur's comeback]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/blur-announced-november-17-reuniting-777142048.jpg?strip=all&w=809)
Graham introduced me to his old schoolfriend Damon and, at our very first rehearsal, we wrote a song that we still play today. So it all just snapped together perfectly, instantly, and for the next 15 years Blur was all we did and all we wanted to do, all day, every day.
![[Blur's one-off comeback performance spiralled into several more around the world]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/damon-albarn-blur-performing-stage-956152514.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Although we never actually split up, inevitably there came a point where we wanted to do other things. I got married and moved to a farm and, among other things, became the food columnist for this newspaper. The band did get back together occasionally, but we had barely spoken since 2015 and I was starting to think maybe it would never happen.
![[Alex got into making cheese as a hobby during his post-Blur years]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/alex-cheese-including-25kg-block-469085431.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
