Blur's Alex James almost went bankrupt when work dried up during the COVID-19 lockdowns

He told the Guardian newspaper: "It was hairy. Lockdown killed us - I couldn't get a loan and I wasn't going to get paid for six months. The band couldn't pay, because we needed all the money for production rehearsals."

Alex revealed he had to borrow money from his mother-in-law to tide him over until the money from 'Vindaloo' came rolling in following the summer football season.

He added: "It's a bit like having a Christmas record, having a football record. There's football every two years, and if England have a good run, when they get to the quarter-finals, it starts kicking in.

"When they get to the semis, it goes fully bonkers. And it came in. Oh, my God, that was such a good day. I literally hadn't had lunch all year.

"Maybe an apple. And the whole family went to [posh restaurant] Scott's. That was one of the all-time great lunches."

Alex went on to talk about the upcoming Oasis reunion tour - dubbed Oasis Live '25 - which is reuniting Blur's former arch-rivals for a massive money-spinning trek and the musician admits he's happy warring brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher have put their feud behind them.

He said: "I'm so happy for them. Delighted. They're great. I like them. You know, there's some people - mentioning no names - that when they walk in a room, you're like: 'Oh, f****** hell, he's here'

" But when either of them walk into a room, it's like: 'Heyyy'. He's an incredible singer, Liam, and he can't help being a rock star."

Alex went on to joke he's glad they waited until the 2023 Blur reunion was finished before they announced their comeback, saying: "It's nice that they waited till we got our s*** out the way, you know? That's very good manners."