# Gnarls Barkley
**Gnarls Barkley** is an American musical duo of vocalist Cee-Lo Green (born Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, 1974, Atlanta, Georgia) and producer [Danger Mouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/danger-mouse-musician) (Brian Burton, born 1977), formed in 2003 and known for a blend of hip-hop, soul, and electro pop[1](https://www.oxfordreference.com/viewbydoi/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.013.90173) • [2](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb15070113x) • [3](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2006057909). The name is a play on basketball figure [Charles Barkley](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-barkley)[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130). The duo's 2006 debut single "Crazy" became the first United Kingdom number one based strictly on downloads, and its parent album *St. Elsewhere* earned multi-platinum certifications in the UK and US[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Members | Cee-Lo Green (vocals, b. 1974) and Danger Mouse (production, b. 1977)[2](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb15070113x) • [1](https://www.oxfordreference.com/viewbydoi/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.013.90173) |
| Formed | 2003, as a collaboration of Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green[3](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2006057909) |
| Signature hit | "Crazy": UK's first download-only No. 1; Hot 100 peak No. 2 (7/22/06), 29 weeks on the chart[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130) • [5](https://www.billboard.com/artist/gnarls-barkley/) |
| Albums | *St. Elsewhere* (2006, US peak No. 4, multi-platinum UK/US); *The Odd Couple* (2008, US chart position No. 12)[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130) |
| Grammys | 2007: won Best Urban/Alternative Performance ("Crazy") and Best Alternative Music Album (*St. Elsewhere*); nominated for Record and Album of the Year[6](https://www.grammy.com/artists/gnarls-barkley/8227/) |
| Hiatus | Dormant after 2008, not formally disbanded; reconvened for *Atlanta* (2026), billed as the duo's last offering[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130) |
## History and formation
Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green met in the late 1990s at the [University of Georgia](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-georgia), where Burton was studying and DJing and Green was performing with the Atlanta rap group [Goodie Mob](https://www.edgepedia.org/goodie-mob)[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130). The Library of Congress authority record, citing AllMusic, dates the duo's formation to 2003[3](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2006057909).
The two first appeared on record together at slightly different points depending on the account. AllMusic dates the first joint appearance to 2003, when Green appeared on a remix of Mouse and Jemini's "What U Sittin On?"[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130); Apple Music's editorial biography instead identifies a 2004 bonus track on Danger Mouse and Jemini's hip-hop album *Ghetto Pop Life* as the first collaboration[7](https://music.apple.com/cd/artist/gnarls-barkley/129039724). The two accounts have not been reconciled.
By the time Gnarls Barkley formed, Burton already had a national profile. In 2004 he created *The Grey Album*, a mash-up of the Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's *The Black Album* that the Los Angeles Times called a watershed event in hip-hop, and he was tapped to produce Gorillaz's second album *Demon Days*, earning a Grammy nomination for that work[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-24-et-gnarls24-story.html).
## St. Elsewhere and "Crazy" (2006)
In March 2006 "Crazy" reached No. 1 on the Apple iTunes UK Music Store ahead of its physical release[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-24-et-gnarls24-story.html). It then became the UK's first number one pop hit based strictly on downloads; the single was not released physically until after it had already charted at the top[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130). In the United States, "Crazy" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on 20 May 2006, peaked at No. 2 on 22 July 2006, and spent 29 weeks on the chart[5](https://www.billboard.com/artist/gnarls-barkley/).
The Los Angeles Times described the record's vocal architecture at the moment it broke: Cee-Lo channeling [Al Green](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-green)'s falsetto and [Sam Cooke](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-cooke)'s pitch control atop an analog hip-hop groove[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-24-et-gnarls24-story.html). The debut album *St. Elsewhere* followed, and earned multi-platinum certifications in both the UK and the US[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130).
## The Odd Couple and hiatus (2008)
The second album arrived under commercial pressure. In early March 2008 *The Odd Couple* leaked onto the Internet, and on 18 March Atlantic Records rushed it to digital and retail stores, weeks ahead of its planned 8 April release[9](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/music/06chan.html). The day after release it topped the iTunes albums chart, but first-week sales were only 31,000 copies, landing it at No. 18 on the Billboard chart; the duo's manager Jeff Antebi said many brick-and-mortar stores did not receive shipments until the end of the week[9](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/music/06chan.html). AllMusic records the album's US chart position at No. 12, eight places below *St. Elsewhere*'s peak of No. 4[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130).
The New York Times reported that the album carried a reputation for being a good deal weirder and darker than the million-selling debut[9](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/music/06chan.html). Apple Music's editorial view is consistent: the record streamlined the duo's brooding retro-futurism into slinky grooves such as "Who's Gonna Save My Soul," the downcast ballad AllMusic names as the album's lead track[7](https://music.apple.com/cd/artist/gnarls-barkley/129039724) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130).
After *The Odd Couple*, Mouse and Green put Gnarls Barkley on ice. AllMusic characterizes this as dormancy rather than a formal disbandment[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130).
## Musical style and production
The duo's sound blends soul, rock, hip-hop, psychedelia, and film scores; AllMusic describes "Crazy" specifically as mixing vintage pop-soul with spaghetti western soundtracks[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130). Apple Music calls the same track an infectious slice of neo-soul injected with Danger Mouse's bass-heavy, [Spaghetti Western](https://www.edgepedia.org/spaghetti-western)-flavored minimalism, powered by Green's booming bellow[7](https://music.apple.com/cd/artist/gnarls-barkley/129039724).
**Sampling method.** *St. Elsewhere* teems with giddy hooks, spliced-up beats, psychedelic riffs, a [Violent Femmes](https://www.edgepedia.org/violent-femmes) cover, and crate-digging samples drawn from Italian composers and obscure folk artists[7](https://music.apple.com/cd/artist/gnarls-barkley/129039724). The New York Times shorthand for the result was a "psychedelic post-hip-hop sound"[9](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/music/06chan.html).
## By the numbers
- "Crazy": Hot 100 debut 5/20/06, peak No. 2 on 7/22/06, 29 weeks on the chart[5](https://www.billboard.com/artist/gnarls-barkley/).
- "Going On": Hot 100 debut 4/05/08, peak No. 88[5](https://www.billboard.com/artist/gnarls-barkley/). Billboard's own page shows inconsistent week counts for this single (the row reads "12 Wks" while the summary figure is 1 week), so the duration is uncertain[5](https://www.billboard.com/artist/gnarls-barkley/).
- *St. Elsewhere*: US peak No. 4; multi-platinum in the UK and US[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130).
- *The Odd Couple*: US chart position No. 12[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130); 31,000 first-week US sales, No. 18 on the [Billboard](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-magazine) album chart in the NYT's accounting[9](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/music/06chan.html).
- *St. Elsewhere* was a million-selling album by the NYT's description[9](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/music/06chan.html).
## Members' parallel projects
During and after the hiatus both members stayed active. Danger Mouse's subsequent and parallel work includes [Broken Bells](https://www.edgepedia.org/broken-bells) with the Shins' James Mercer, *Dark Night of the Soul* with [Sparklehorse](https://www.edgepedia.org/sparklehorse), and the Black Keys' "Tighten Up"; he received his third nomination for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and won the category the fourth time he was nominated[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130). Cee-Lo resumed his solo career with *The Lady Killer* in 2010[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130).
## Awards
At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards (2007) the duo was nominated in four categories and won two: Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Crazy" and Best Alternative Music Album for *St. Elsewhere*[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130) • [6](https://www.grammy.com/artists/gnarls-barkley/8227/). The same ceremony carried nominations for Record of the Year ("Crazy") and Album of the Year (*St. Elsewhere*)[6](https://www.grammy.com/artists/gnarls-barkley/8227/).
Later nominations followed the second album: in 2008 "Gone Daddy Gone" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video, and in 2009 the duo was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album (*The Odd Couple*), Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ("Going On"), and Best Short Form Music Video ("Who's Gonna Save My Soul")[6](https://www.grammy.com/artists/gnarls-barkley/8227/). The Recording Academy's artist page lists no nominations after 2009[6](https://www.grammy.com/artists/gnarls-barkley/8227/).
## Return: Atlanta (2026)
Green had hinted at a third album as early as 2013, and it materialized thirteen years later under the title *Atlanta*, released on Tenthousand Projects and billed as the duo's last offering[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130). The album is promoted with the single "Pictures," a melancholy reflection on solitary train rides Green took as an eighth-grader in his home city[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130). The duo's official site announces the album as out now, alongside a "To Whom It Still Concerns Tour 2026"[10](https://gnarls-barkley.com/). This is the duo's first release activity since 2008[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130).
## Public image
The duo was known for its costumes and stage presentation; the New York Times, profiling the pair around the second album's release, described them as "the duo known for its funny costumes and psychedelic post-hip-hop sound" and noted they were "unmasked and at rest" in a quiet Beverly Hills hotel, a phrasing that reflects the costumed, persona-driven image the project carried[9](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/music/06chan.html).
## References
1. [Gnarls Barkley, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Oxford Reference](https://www.oxfordreference.com/viewbydoi/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.013.90173)
2. [Notice de collectivité "Gnarls Barkley", Bibliothèque nationale de France](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb15070113x)
3. [Gnarls Barkley (Musical group), LC Linked Data Service, Library of Congress](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2006057909)
4. [Gnarls Barkley — Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gnarls-barkley-mn0000913130)
5. [Gnarls Barkley | Biography, Music & News, Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/artist/gnarls-barkley/)
6. [Gnarls Barkley Grammy Awards and Nominations, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/artists/gnarls-barkley/8227/)
7. [Gnarls Barkley | Biography, Music & News, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/cd/artist/gnarls-barkley/129039724)
8. [Confound it — what IS Gnarls?, Los Angeles Times (24 March 2006)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-24-et-gnarls24-story.html)
9. [Gnarls Barkley — The Odd Couple — Cee-Lo — Danger Mouse, The New York Times (6 April 2008)](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/music/06chan.html)
10. [Gnarls Barkley | The album 'Atlanta' out now, official site](https://gnarls-barkley.com/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Rock, pop, and metal bands › Musical duos, supergroups, and collaborative projects › Hip-hop and R&B duos*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license