Damon Albarn opens up about Bobby Womack

Damon Albarn spoke on his experiences working with Bobby Womack as part of a tribute to the singer on BBC Radio 4's The Last Word. Albarn first collaborated with Womack on the Groillaz' 2010 album Plastic Beach and Albarn produced Womack's 2012 album The Bravest Man In The Universe.

"I didn’t really give him any kind of brief and he literally just stood there for 45 minutes just singing," Albarn described of the experience. "Finally at the end there was a silence. I put my arm around him and he was quite cold. I thought maybe he was going to collapse. ... Some sort of inner voice said to me, 'Go and get him a banana'. And I came back and gave him the banana and he was absolutely fine, but I had no idea he had diabetes."

Albarn was still trying to accept the fact that Womack was gone.

"In a strange way, I find it very hard to sort of accept that he's not there anymore. For me, he feels very present and I don't quite understand way."

Womack passed away on June 27 at the age of 70. The cause is currently unknown.