text: noel gallagher noel thomas david gallagher ( born 29 may 1967 ) is an english musician , singer , guitarist , and songwriter . he served as the lead guitarist , co - lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the rock band oasis . raised in burnage , manchester , gallagher began learning guitar at the age of thirteen . after a series of odd jobs in construction , he worked for local manchester band inspiral carpets as a roadie and technician in 1988 . whilst touring with them , he learned that his brother liam gallagher had formed a band of his own , known as the rain , which eventually took on the name oasis . after gallagher returned to england , he was invited by his brother to join oasis as songwriter and guitarist . oasis ' debut album , definitely maybe ( 1994 ) , marked the beginning of the band 's rise to fame as part of the britpop movement . oasis ' second album , ( what 's the story ) morning glory ? ( 1995 ) , reached the top of the album charts in many countries and their third studio album , be here now ( 1997 ) , became the fastest - selling album in uk chart history . britpop eventually declined in popularity and oasis ' next two albums failed to revive it . however , the band 's final two albums , don 't believe the truth ( 2005 ) and dig out your soul ( 2008 ) , were hailed as its best efforts in over a decade and found renewed success . on 28 august 2009 , following an altercation with liam prior to a gig in paris , noel gallagher announced his departure from oasis and on 23 october 2009 , he confirmed he would embark on a solo career . gallagher would go on to form noel gallagher 's high flying birds . gallagher 's run with oasis was marked by turbulence , especially during the peak of britpop , during which he was involved in several disputes with liam , and the brothers ' fights and wild lifestyles regularly made headlines in british tabloid newspapers . gallagher ( along with oasis ) also shared a personal rivalry with fellow britpop band blur . however , he was often regarded as the spear - head of the britpop movement , and at one point of time , nme termed a number of britpop bands ( including kula shaker , ocean colour scene and cast ) as " " , citing gallagher 's influence on their success . many have praised gallagher 's songwriting , with george martin claiming him to be ' the finest songwriter of his generation ' . early life gallagher was born in longsight , manchester , the son of irish parents peggy and thomas gallagher . he was the couple 's second child , after the birth of paul anthony gallagher . soon after the birth of younger brother liam in 1972 , the gallaghers moved to ashburn avenue in the manchester suburb of burnage . gallagher had an unhappy childhood . he and his brothers were often beaten by their father , who was an alcoholic , and he was often reclusive . liam described him as " the weirdo in the family " . due to their unease around their father , he and paul both developed stammers . as the oldest child , paul was given a room to himself , and noel was forced to share with liam . peggy gallagher acquired a legal notice of separation from her husband in 1976 . six years later , she finally left him , taking the three boys with her . as teenagers , the gallagher brothers ( especially noel ) were regular truants , often getting into trouble with the police . when his mother took a job working in the school canteen , gallagher ensured that he stopped by to visit her during lunch before skipping the rest of the day . he was expelled from school at the age of 15 for throwing a bag of flour over a teacher . he used to hang around with the football hooligan firms maine line crew , under - 5s , and young in the 1980s , and at the age of 13 , he received six months ' probation for robbing a corner shop . it was during this period of probation , with little else to do , that he first began to teach himself to play a guitar his father had left him , imitating his favourite songs from the radio . gallagher was particularly inspired by the debut of the smiths on top of the pops in 1983 , performing their single " this charming man " . he later reflected that " from that day on ... [ he ] wanted to be johnny marr " . he also appeared ( and scored ) for manchester gaelic football outfit clg at croke park , dublin in 1983 . as teenagers , the gallagher brothers maintained limited contact with their father in order to secure jobs in construction . however , the relationship between father and sons continued to be tempestuous ; gallagher said that " because we were always arguing we 'd still be working at nine o 'clock every night " . having left his father 's building company , he took a job at another building firm sub - contracted to british gas . there he sustained an injury when a heavy cap from a steel gas pipe landed on his right foot . following a period of recuperation , gallagher was offered a less physically demanding role in the company 's storehouse , freeing up time for him to practise guitar and write songs . he claimed to have written at least three of the songs on definitely maybe in this storehouse ( including " live forever " and " columbia " ) . he later called the storehouse " the hit hut " and claimed the walls were painted gold . much of the late 1980s found gallagher unemployed and living in a bedsit , occupying his time with recreational drug use , songwriting , and guitar playing . he is left - handed , but plays right - handed . in may 1988 , gallagher met guitarist graham lambert of inspiral carpets during a stone roses show . the two struck up an acquaintanceship and he became a regular at inspiral carpets shows . when he heard singer steve holt was leaving the band , gallagher auditioned to be the new vocalist . he was rejected , but became part of their road crew for two years . singer tom hingley said gallagher owes his own career to the band , since " his business sense , work ethic , message , and humour are inspiral down to the core " . he struck up a friendship with monitor engineer mark coyle over their love of the beatles , and the pair spent soundchecks dissecting the group 's songs . career with oasis joining the band in 1991 , gallagher returned from an american tour with the inspiral carpets to find that his brother liam had become a singer with a local band called the rain . he attended one of their concerts at manchester 's boardwalk , but was unimpressed by the group 's act . after rejecting an offer from liam to be the band 's manager , gallagher agreed to join the band , on the condition that he take creative control of the group and become its sole songwriter . according to another source , gallagher told liam and the rest of the group after having heard them play for the first time : " let me write your songs and i 'll take you to superstardom , or else you 'll rot here in manchester " . his control over the band in its early years earned him the nickname " the chief " . in may 1993 , the band heard that a record executive from creation records would be scouting for talent at king tut 's in glasgow . together , they found the money to hire a van and make the six - hour journey . when they arrived , they were refused entry to the club because no one notified the venue that oasis had been added to the bill . the band eventually secured the opening slot and played a four - song set that impressed creation founder alan mcgee . mcgee then took the live demonstration tape to sony america and invited oasis to meet with him a week later in london , at which point they were signed to a six - album contract . gallagher has since claimed that he only had six songs written at the time , and has put his success in the interview down to " " . however , mcgee believes that when they met , gallagher had fifty or so songs written , and merely lied about how prolific he had been following the contract . richard ashcroft was so impressed with oasis during the time , that he invited them to tour with his band the verve as an opening act . gallagher claimed to have written oasis ' first single , " supersonic " , in " the time it takes to play the song . " " supersonic " was released in early 1994 and peaked at no.31 on the official uk charts . the single was later followed by oasis ' debut album definitely maybe , which was released in august 1994 and was a critical and commercial success . it became the fastest - selling debut album in british history at the time , and entered the uk charts at number one . despite their rapidly growing popularity , gallagher briefly left oasis in 1994 during their first american tour . the conditions were poor , and he felt the american audience — still preoccupied with grunge and metal — did not understand the band . gallagher stated that his early songs , especially " live forever " , were written to refute grunge 's pessimism . tensions mounted between him and liam , culminating in a fight after a disastrous l.a. gig . having effectively decided to quit the music industry , he flew to san francisco without telling the band , management or the crew . it was during this time that gallagher wrote " talk tonight " as a " thank you " for the girl he stayed with , who " talked him from off the ledge " . he was tracked down by creation 's tim abbot and during a trip by the pair to las vegas , gallagher decided to continue with the band . he reconciled with his brother and the tour resumed in minneapolis . britpop and the height of fame gallagher followed up the debut in 1995 with oasis ' first uk number one single in " some might say " . this preceded their second album , ( what 's the story ) morning glory ? , released later that year . though it suffered initial critical apathy , the album became the second fastest - selling album ever in the uk , entering the uk album charts at number one and peaking at number four on the us billboard 200 chart . the success of oasis and his newfound fame and fortune were not lost on gallagher , and both he and his brother became famous for their " rock and roll lifestyle " . they drank heavily , abused drugs , fought fans , critics , peers , and each other , and made celebrity friends such as ian brown , paul weller , mani , mick jagger , craig cash , kate moss and johnny depp . gallagher spent extravagantly , buying various cars and a swimming pool , despite the fact he can neither drive , nor swim . he named his house in belsize park in london " supernova heights " ( after the song " champagne supernova " ) , and his two cats " benson " and " hedges " after his favourite brand of cigarettes . oasis went on to have greater success with their next two singles , " wonderwall " and " don 't look back in anger " charting at number two and number one respectively ; the former becoming their sole top 10 hit in the us . originally , noel had wanted to take lead vocals on " wonderwall " , but liam insisted on singing it . as compensation , he decided he would sing lead vocals on " don 't look back in anger " . 1995 also saw gallagher play two songs for the charity album help ! : " fade away " , accompanied by friend and oasis fan johnny depp and depp 's then - girlfriend kate moss ; and the beatles ' 1969 hit " come together " , along with paul weller , paul mccartney and others in a supergroup called smokin ' mojo filters . he began collaborating with the chemical brothers , ian brown , the stands , the prodigy and weller , amongst others . gallagher became so influential that a june 1996 nme article argued that " if noel gallagher , the most successful songwriter of his generation , champions a group , then said group are guaranteed more mainstream kudos and , quite possibly , more sales . and since noel has taken to championing only five or six groups , then it 's a powerful cabal he 's promoting . " the nme article grouped the bands gallagher praised , including the boo radleys , ocean colour scene , and cast , under the banner of " " . john harris typified these bands , and gallagher , of sharing " a dewy - eyed love of the 1960s , a spurning of much beyond rock 's most basic ingredients , and a belief in the supremacy of ' real music ' " . in march 1996 , gallagher and his brother liam met their father again when the news of the world paid him to go to their hotel during a tour . he left for his room , later commenting " as far as i 'm concerned , i haven 't got a father . he 's not a father to me , y 'know ? i don 't respect him in any way whatsoever " . in august 1996 , oasis sold out two nights at knebworth , playing to over 250 , 000 fans . following the worldwide success of morning glory ? , be here now ( 1997 ) became oasis ' most eagerly anticipated album to date . as with the previous two albums , all the tracks were written by gallagher . after an initial blaze of publicity , positive critical reviews , and commercial success , the album failed to live up to long - term expectations , and public goodwill towards be here now was short - lived . the album was ultimately regarded by many as a bloated , over - indulgent version of oasis , which gallagher has since blamed on the drug - addicted state and indifference of the band at the time . gallagher began to suffer drug - induced panic attacks during this period . his depression and paranoid well - being inspired the song " gas panic ! " , subsequently included on the 2000 album standing on the shoulder of giants . he claimed to have quit using illicit drugs on 5 june 1998 . gallagher stated in 2001 , " i liked drugs , i was good at them . but i 'd had panic attacks for about a year and i stopped because i wanted to . after you make the decision , it is quite easy . " between 1993 and 1998 , gallagher claims , " i can hardly remember a thing . " post - britpop years after the hype surrounding the release of be here now had started to wane , critical response to the band became calmer and more considered , leading to a media backlash . in 1997 , gallagher was criticised for attending a high - profile and well - publicised media party at 10 downing street , hosted by the newly appointed prime minister , tony blair , along with other celebrities and industry figures who had supported new labour in the run - up to the general election . both brother liam and blur 's damon albarn declined their invitations , with albarn commenting " enjoy the , comrade . " the perception of gallagher as someone now mixing with politicians — or , in particular , a famous photograph of him sipping champagne with blair — conflicted with the " working class hero " status championed through songs such as " up in the sky " . in 1999 , rhythm guitarist paul " bonehead " arthurs quit the band , with bassist paul mcguigan following soon afterwards . as a result , the fourth studio album , standing on the shoulder of giants , was recorded by just the gallaghers and drummer alan white , with gallagher playing all guitar parts . he later commented on bonehead 's departure , " it 's hardly paul mccartney leaving the beatles , is it ? " . after the recording sessions were completed , gallagher selected gem archer to join in place of bonehead . later that year alan mcgee decided to leave creation and sold the rest of his 51 % stake in the label to sony . gallagher took this opportunity to set up big brother recordings , which took over oasis ' distribution in the uk , but sony imprint epic records continued to handle the band 's international distribution . around the time of the album 's release , andy bell , formerly of ride , joined the band as bassist . in 2001 , gallagher formed his own label , sour mash records , which released records by the likes of shack and proud mary . the incorporation of the label followed gallagher 's debut as a producer , working with proud mary on their debut , the same old blues . in late 2006 , gallagher toured the uk , europe , japan , america and australia in a series of acclaimed intimate semi - acoustic gigs accompanied by gem archer and terry kirkbride on percussion . the show proved successful and a further series of sets took place in 2007 . march 2007 saw gallagher perform in moscow — the first time an oasis member has performed in russia . yet gallagher dismissed claims that he was planning to embark on a solo career . in early 2007 , gallagher joined the rest of oasis to collect the " outstanding contribution to music " award at the brit awards 2007 . gallagher , along with the band recorded their seventh studio album between 2007 and the next year at abbey road studios and in los angeles , and started at the end of the summer of 2008 a tour that will last at least 12 months . in march 2009 , the times in conjunction with itunes released a selection of live recordings by noel gallagher taken from his semi - acoustic performance at the royal albert hall on 27 march 2007 in aid of teenage cancer trust . the dreams we have as children features classic and rare tracks from the oasis canon along with several cover versions of some of gallagher 's favourite artists . departure from the band on 28 august 2009 , he quit oasis after a fight with his brother , liam . a little before midnight on friday gallagher posted a statement on his message board called " tales from the middle of nowhere " on the band 's website announcing his departure . post - oasis solo performances gallagher 's first concerts without oasis were announced on 1 february 2010 to be at london 's royal albert hall on 25 and 26 march 2010 for teenage cancer trust . he was supported by the courteeners and plan b respectively . terry kirkbride and gem archer joined him on - stage , as did jay darlington , all of whom gallagher had previously worked with while he was still a member of oasis . he played a mostly acoustic set , and played a variety of oasis album tracks and b - sides . it was almost the same set he played at the royal albert hall in 2007 . gallagher also joined friend paul weller onstage in london on 21 april 2010 , and played the oasis song " mucky fingers " and a song he co - wrote with weller , " echoes round the sun " . returning to the studio gallagher confirmed that he would be returning to the studio in august 2010 to record drums for an unnamed artist , later confirmed to be paul weller . he also denied rumours that he would be the best man for russell brand 's marriage to katy perry . in august , it was mentioned on a uk music blog , music , that gallagher had been working with liverpool group the sand band . lead singer david mcdonnell has been co - writing with gallagher and are looking to collaborate on future solo projects together . on 24 november 2010 , miles kane revealed that gallagher sang on a track from his debut solo album entitled my fantasy . kane also revealed that he will appear on gallagher 's forthcoming album , playing guitar . on 10 february 2011 , gallagher stated he has " not even started " his first solo record , despite liam that he ' swiped ' material from the dig out your soul sessions . " i am not recording new stuff , not just yet , " he said to talksport . " it 'll be out when it 's finished i guess . well i 've not even started it , so i don 't know . " noel gallagher 's high flying birds noel gallagher 's high flying birds released a self - titled album on 17 october 2011 ; a collaboration album with amorphous androgynous was to be released in 2012 but has now been shelved indefinitely . he began touring in dublin on 23 october 2011 . the touring band announced for noel gallagher 's high flying birds included david mcdonnell ( guitar ) , russell pritchard ( bass ) , mikey rowe ( keyboards ) and jeremy stacey ( drums ) ; mcdonnell left during rehearsals and was replaced before the tour with tim smith who had played with rowe and stacey previously . on 20 july 2011 , gallagher released a 47 - second trailer of his first single " the death of you and me " . the video for the debut single was released on 25 july at 8 : 21 am ( gmt ) . following the self - titled debut , noel gallagher 's high flying birds released their second album chasing yesterday march 2 , 2015 . noel gallagher has confirmed he is working on high flying birds ' third album . future projects when promoting his debut album everyday robots , in an interview with nme , damon albarn hinted at a collaborative project with gallagher . despite the years of animosity during blur and oasis ' respective heyday , albarn said : " we ’ re talking . it ’ s not anything to get excited about yet . i mean , he ’ s doing his thing . he ’ s finishing a new record . i ’ ve got my record coming out , but the principle of us making music together is something , you know . it would be fair to say , we have discussed it at least once . " in march 2015 , gallagher revealed that he was considering retirement from live shows within the following 10 years . he stated : " it 's not fun being on a bus for six weeks in america . it 's fine when you 're young , but i 'm almost 50 " personal life relationships at the age of 18 , gallagher became engaged to his then - girlfriend diane , but they never married and eventually separated . in 1988 , he moved out of his family home to live with louise jones , whom he described as his " soulmate " and for whom he wrote " slide away " . they had an on - again , off - again relationship before finally separating in june 1994 , with gallagher stating , " i don 't think i 'll ever get over it . " in june 1997 , gallagher married meg mathews in las vegas , nevada . he had met her in 1994 through her roommate , mtv presenter rebecca de , whom he was dating at the time and whom he left for mathews . mathews gave birth to a daughter , anaïs gallagher , on 27 january 2000 . gallagher and mathews divorced in january 2001 on grounds of his adultery with scottish publicist sara macdonald . after the divorce was finalised , gallagher admitted he had only claimed to have cheated in order to speed up the divorce process and that he had never actually been unfaithful . since his separation from mathews , gallagher has been in a relationship with macdonald , whom he met at club space on ibiza in june 2000 . he wrote " waiting for the rapture " about their meeting . they have two sons , donovan rory macdonald gallagher ( born 22 september 2007 ) and sonny patrick macdonald gallagher ( born 1 october 2010 ) . gallagher and macdonald were married on 18 june 2011 in a private ceremony at the lime wood hotel in the new forest national park . gallagher 's best friend russell brand was best man at the wedding . other he was a frequent guest on the russell brand show on bbc radio 2 , appearing on almost every show , leading brand to dub him an unofficial " co presenter " . he is also a regular on the digital radio sports show , " " other notable friends of his are , mani of the stone roses , richard ashcroft of the verve – for whom he dedicated a song , " cast no shadow " , the band members of the chemical brothers , - sex pistols members john lydon and steve jones the members of the rock band kasabian , andy nicholson , boxer ricky hatton , paul mccartney , former liverpool f.c. footballer jamie carragher , chris martin and jonny buckland of coldplay , johnny marr , morrissey , bono , paul weller , ian brown , john squire , lee , craig cash , kelly jones and johnny depp ( who played slide guitar on the oasis song fade in - out ) . he was also good friends with kate moss who used to stay with him when she was visiting london . in 2001 he was reported to have an estimated personal fortune of £ 25 million . in 2009 , the sunday times rich list estimated he and liam 's combined personal fortune at £ 52 million . gallagher is a fan of football , being a lifelong manchester city f.c. supporter ( gallagher admitting he " cried like a baby " when city won the premier league title ) . he is a friend of former city midfielder joey barton , as well as italian striker alessandro del piero , who described gallagher as italy 's " lucky mascot " during the 2006 fifa world cup , and appears in the oasis video " lord don 't slow me down " . gallagher along with kasabian lead guitarist sergio pizzorno took part in drawing teams for the fa cup third round in 2011 . coincidentally pizzorno drew his hometown team leicester city with gallagher 's manchester city for the third round tie in which both teams drew 2 - 2 and manchester city preceded to win 4 - 2 in the replay . he participated in the unveiling of umbro sponsored football kits with captain vincent kompany . in the advertising campaign , the two men are pictured wearing the new manchester city home and away shirts for the 2012 – 13 season . formerly , the footballer introduced gallagher to 80 , 000 fans during rock werchter music festival in belgium . gallagher also supports the republic of ireland national football team and has said " i don ’ t consider myself to be english at all " . nevertheless , he did serve as an official ambassador for england 's bid to host the 2018 fifa world cup . gallagher stated in a 2006 radio interview with russell brand that he does not believe in god or " an all - guiding force " . despite this assertion , throughout his career , many of his songs have mentioned god ( " carry us all " , " gas panic ! , " " the hindu times " and " little by little " ) , and all the tracks he had contributed to dig out your soul , as well as the other bandmates ' songs , have lyrics and references to god and other biblical terms . dig out your soul has been described by gallagher as a " religious armageddon " . but in recent interviews for dig out your soul regarding religion , he stated " see , i don 't know what i am . if i was an atheist i 'd just write songs about not believing in god – but i don 't know what i am . " in 2008 , it was announced that gallagher would sell his home in ibiza located near fellow musician james blunt 's , saying while in los angeles on the russell brand bbc radio 2 show that he " can 't stand living there in the knowledge that blunt is nearby making terrible music " . he was reportedly asked by simon cowell to be a judge on the x factor after dannii minogue , cheryl cole and cowell himself declined to participate in series 8 , which gallagher subsequently declined as well . songwriting and musicianship gallagher was the primary songwriter in oasis , and on the group 's first few albums he was the sole songwriting contributor . he is often criticised for the praise he gives to his own songs . he points out " if you 'd written ' live forever ' , you 'd be walking to a different tune the next day too . " gallagher has often been accused by critics of plagiarising the music of his heroes , but he has maintained outright homages in his music are his intention . in a 1996 guitar world interview , he described himself as " a fan who writes songs " and stated , " i 'm not saying , ' i 'm the greatest songwriter in the world . listen to me . ' usually , i 'm saying , ' these are the greatest songwriters in the world . and i 'm gonna put them all in this song " ' . his response to critics about the topic of " blatantly pinching riffs " was , " no , i don 't feel guilty . but you feel pissed off because you didn 't do it first . " though naturally left - handed , gallagher plays guitar right - handed , which he claims is the only thing he can do with his non - dominant hand . gallagher has said he sometimes does not understand his own lyrics , commenting in 2005 that " when i 'm halfway through ' don 't look back in anger ' i say to myself . ' i still don 't know what these words mean ! ' " gallagher has declared to be dyslexic , which slows down the process of his songwriting , nor can he read or write music . changing band dynamic gallagher 's role as chief songwriter for oasis changed over time as he allowed a greater level of lyrical input from the other band members . standing on the shoulder of giants included oasis ' first ever album track written by his brother liam . heathen chemistry included a further three tracks by liam ( including the single " songbird " ) , one by archer and one by andy bell . don 't believe the truth featured another three tracks by liam ( though one of them , " love like a bomb " was co - written with archer ) , one from archer , and two from bell . the latter two albums have been greeted with increasing critical and commercial success in the uk , particularly don 't believe the truth . yet the second single from don 't believe the truth , " the importance of being idle " became the second oasis track sung by gallagher to top the uk charts and was named 2005 's finest track by q magazine , as well as being nominated for the nme 's " best song of 2005 " award . however , on the last oasis albums , his increasing role as lead singer , apparently to compensate for his diminished role as songwriter , caused some tension with liam . zak starkey , son of former beatles drummer ringo starr and previous drummer for gallagher 's heroes the who and johnny marr , replaced long - time drummer alan white during the recording sessions for don 't believe the truth . the loss of white prompted gallagher to comment in a 2005 interview , that he puts oasis ' trouble with drummers , in part , to the fact that he is himself a talented drummer , saying " i get a lot of stick for it , but i 'm the best drummer in the group . " controversy gallagher is well known for his controversial , outspoken statements in the press ; he acknowledged his tendency for faux pas in the song " my big mouth " on the album be here now . yet gallagher has defended himself , saying " people think [ i 'm ] controversial for the answers [ i ] give to silly questions in interviews , but ... i 'm not thinking about insulting ... people ; i say what i genuinely feel is in my heart . my conscience is clean , d 'you know what i mean ? y 'know , i 'm true to myself — fuck everybody else . " damon albarn and blur the most infamous of gallagher 's controversial statements was in a 1995 interview with the observer , where he expressed a wish for damon albarn and alex james of rivals blur to " catch aids and die " , a comment which he quickly apologised publicly for , and stated that " aids is no laughing matter " . this statement was preceded by the success of ( what 's the story ) morning glory ? , which led to a well - documented feud with fellow britpop band blur . the differing styles of the bands , coupled with their prominence within the britpop movement , led the british media to seize upon the rivalry between the bands . both factions played along , with the gallaghers taunting blur at the 1996 brit awards by singing a rendition of " parklife " when they collected their " best british band " award ( with liam changing the lyrics to " shite - life " ) . gallagher maintains that the rivalry was conceived by the magazine nme and members of blur 's entourage as a ploy to raise their respective profiles , and that since this point he has had no respect for either party . however , albarn has suggested the roots of the feud were much more personal . by 2007 , the tension between the two had cooled , and in an nme interview , gallagher said " i 've got a lot of respect for damon , i really do mean it . because i 'm indifferent to damon he thinks that i think he 's a cunt . our liam will talk to him , i won 't because he 's just another singer in a band to me , but i don 't think he 's a cunt . good luck to him ! " on 23 march 2013 , gallagher , damon , graham coxon and paul weller performed the blur hit " tender " at the teenage cancer trust . liam gallagher the gallagher brothers famously share a turbulent relationship ; one of their arguments was even released on a 1995 bootleg single entitled rivalry . although in recent years their relationship had stabilised , during the band 's early career there were a handful of incidents where the two have actually come to blows . in an l.a. show during their first american tour in 1994 , liam took to changing the words of the songs so that they were offensive to both americans and gallagher . a confrontation after the show which led to a chair being thrown and a brawl caused him to leave the tour and head for las vegas ; gallagher later claimed he had " visions of fear and loathing flashing in [ his ] eyes " . during recording sessions for the second oasis album , ( what 's the story ) morning glory ? , the brothers had a violent fight involving a cricket bat , when liam invited everyone from a local pub back into the studio while he was trying to work . in 1995 , noel was obliged to sing " wonderwall " on later ... with jools holland when liam failed to turn up . in 1996 , he provided lead vocals at a performance for mtv unplugged when liam backed out minutes before the set was due to start . liam claimed to have been struck down with a " sore throat " ; the band later found out that liam did not like performing acoustically . gallagher was further angered when liam proceeded to heckle him from the balcony and nurse his " sore throat " with beer and cigarettes while the band performed . just before the band were about to board a plane to the united states for their important make - or - break us tour , liam left the airport , claiming he had to find a house for his then - wife patsy kensit . he later joined the band for their last few gigs and the infamous mtv awards performance ; the remaining dates were scrapped . the band 's future was daily tabloid news . while on tour in barcelona in 2000 , oasis were forced to cancel a gig when alan white 's arm seized up , and the band spent the night drinking instead . liam made a derogatory comment about gallagher 's then - wife meg mathews , and attempted to cast doubt over the legitimacy of his daughter anais , causing gallagher to head - butt liam . following this , he declared he was quitting overseas touring , but returned for an oasis gig in dublin on 8 july 2000 . during the performance , the two brothers shook hands at the end of " " . however , the relationship between the two brothers had become strained throughout 2009 , leading eventually to a last - minute cancellation of an oasis concert scheduled to take place on 28 august 2009 in paris , due to an " altercation within the group . " later that evening , gallagher confirmed he had left oasis as he " simply could not go on working with liam a day longer . " through the oasis website , he said " it 's with some sadness and great relief to tell you that i quit oasis tonight " . on 29 august , gallagher expanded further on his blog , stating " the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me , my family , friends and comrades has become intolerable . and the lack of support and understanding from my management and band mates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new . " when asked in 2012 about his brother and an oasis reunion gallagher said " i last texted liam at christmas after the city match . i don 't think it 's gonna happen . it would be great for everyone else except me . it 'd be mega for the millions and millions and everybody else it would be brilliant but i wouldn 't be very happy about it . i guess you don 't know what you 're gonna feel like in 20 - odd years but right now , i mean i was in oasis for nearly 20 years . i 've been doing this what i 'm doing now for one year and i 'd like to see what it 's like to do it for longer . i don 't think anyone is pushing for a reunion either . nobody ever brings it up in any seriousness – i mean liam does publicly but he says a lot of things publicly . i wouldn 't take anything he says seriously " . after their performance of wonderwall at the london olympics closing ceremony ( which gallagher had originally turned down ) , he referred to liam 's band beady eye as ' stratford 's finest oasis tribute band ' . jay - z and glastonbury gallagher reportedly blasted the organisers of the 2008 glastonbury festival for scheduling us hip - hop artist jay - z as a headliner for the traditionally guitar - driven festival : " if it ain 't broke don 't fix it . if you start to break it then people aren 't going to go . i 'm sorry , but jay - z ? no chance . glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music and even when they throw the odd curve ball in on a sunday night you go ' kylie minogue ? ' i don 't know about it . but i 'm not having hip - hop at glastonbury . it 's wrong . " emily eavis , the organiser of the festival , said she was honoured jay - z was headlining the event saying : " he is absolutely the right act for our festival , " she said . " there is no reason why we should not have the greatest living hip - hop artist on at glastonbury . " eavis also cited that jay - z was far from the first hip - hop artist to appear at the roots , cypress hill , and de la soul had all previously performed at the glastonbury festival . in response , jay - z said , " we don 't play guitars , noel , but hip - hop has put in its work like any other form of music . this headline show is just a natural progression . rap music is still evolving . from afrika bambaataa dj - ing in the bronx and run dmc going platinum , to jazzy jeff and the fresh prince winning the first rap grammy , i 'm just next in the line . we have to respect each other 's genre of music and move forward . " jay - z opened his set at glastonbury 2008 with a cover of oasis ' song " wonderwall " . when gallagher was asked about the incident he replied , " the way it 's played itself out is that i said jay - z had no right to play glastonbury , which is a crock of . i got off a plane and someone asked me about the fact that glastonbury hadn 't sold out for the first time in years , and if it was because of jay - z. from there it grew into this crap that i was standing on an orange crate at speakers ' corner saying , ' gather round , brothers and sisters . have you heard what 's happening at glastonbury this year ? ' i have a certain turn of phrase . so if i say , " chicken sandwiches in mcdonald 's are just plain fucking wrong , " it doesn 't mean i 'm attacking all chickens or all sandwiches . i 've hung out with jay - z in tokyo . i 've seen his show . it 's not my bag , but it 's all right . we have a mutual friend in chris martin . so i am a guy who doesn 't like hip - hop — shock , horror . i don 't dislike rappers or hip - hop or people who like it . i went to the def jam tour in manchester in the ' 80s when rap was inspirational . public enemy were awesome . but it 's all about status and bling now , and it doesn 't say anything to me . " when jay - z was asked about gallagher 's comments he said " i haven 't spoken to him [ gallagher ] , i heard he was reaching out . i don 't bear any grudge , it 's all good . i just believe in good music and bad music , i 've always said that . you look at any interview from the beginning of time , i 've always stated that i don 't believe in the lines and classifications that people put music in so they can easily define it " . when asked who he would be interested in collaborating with in the future , the rapper said , " anyone . oasis as well – it doesn 't matter to me . " political views gallagher has spoken about his political views on several occasions , most notably when he visited tony blair at no. 10 downing street in 1997 . in an interview in 1997 when he was asked about why he visited blair he replied , " i 've taken a lot of flack for going to no. 10 downing street but the thing about that is , i never considered myself a rebel anyway . i wasn 't going there representing the ' indie community ' . i wasn 't representing anyone . i was going there for me . you have to understand that from when i went to school and from when i was born all we ever knew was conservative , tory , right - wing government . what people don 't mention is , they say ' he went to meet tony blair . ' no . i went to meet the labour prime minister . our parents always drummed into us that the labour party was for the people and the tory party was not . i went to meet the labour prime minister . " gallagher has been quoted : " politics is like football for me . labour is my team and even if you don ’ t like a striker you don ’ t give up supporting the team . " prior to the 2005 general election , gallagher stated that he was still supporting the labour government partly because of his concern that " phil collins is threatening to come back and live here . and let 's face it , none of us want that " . in an interview in 2007 when asked about politics he said , " i 'd been unemployed all my life . it was a big deal for me when they ( labour ) got in . now david cameron is no different from tony blair and gordon brown is no different from david cameron . they 're all cut from the same cloth and it annoys me that the biggest political icon in the last 30 years has been margaret thatcher . someone who tried to destroy the working class . it freaks me out . so i don 't really think there 's anything left to vote for . i believe that i , as a person , can only change things once every 5 years and that 's by voting , and my point is that even casting that vote means that the same guy gets in , the only difference is one has a red tie and the other has a blue one . " gallagher was passionate in his support for barack obama 's successful bid for us president , calling his acceptance speech to the 2008 democratic national convention " spellbinding " . in 1997 , he played a 5 song set at the tibetan freedom concert in new york city . as a result , oasis were deemed " unsuitable " by the chinese government , forcing a planned tour of the country in 2009 to be cancelled . gallagher has also been very vocal about knife crime . in 2008 he was quoted : " the scumbags are taking over the streets . i don 't know what david cameron and gordon brown are going to do about it . it all goes back to the thatcher years . it sounds like a cliché but that 's when the rot set in . " when the interviewer suggested it was for status he replied , " in my day status was about trying to be somebody , not trying to kill somebody , so how 's that all changed ? " in october 2011 , gallagher told newsnight he believed the then labour leader ed miliband was " utterly uninspiring and dull " , and said he had no idea what he stood for . speaking out about the august 2011 riots that took place in england , gallagher stated , " last august i was on tour in europe and people were asking me about the riots . all over the world , syria and egypt , people were rioting for freedom . and these kids in england are rioting for tracksuits . it 's embarrassing . " gallagher claimed that violent video games and violent television shows which children were being exposed to were partially to blame for social problems . in february 2012 , he implied that the uk under the premiership of margaret thatcher was a more fertile ground for dissent in the arts : " under thatcher , who ruled us with an iron rod , great art was made . amazing designers and musicians . acid house was born . very colourful and progressive . now , no one 's got anything to say . ' write a song ? no thanks , i 'll say it on twitter ' . it 's a sad state when more people retweet than buy records . " in a february 2015 interview with the quietus , gallagher elaborated on his disillusion with current politicians and how they 'll do anything to say they 're just regular people : and now the conservatives are just ... i mean [ ... ] david cameron , he 's trying to be your mate . " oh , i really like the jam . " gallagher then went on to say that thatcher was brutal but more direct , and " you can kind of respect that " in 2016 , gallagher stated that while he remained left - wing , he opposed labour leader jeremy corbyn , deeming him to be a communist . he said that " the tories don 't care about the vulnerable , and the communists don 't care about the aspirational " . musical equipment throughout his career , gallagher has used a wide range of different guitars , effect pedals and amplifiers from his large collection . most of it emerged from the standing on the shoulder of giants sessions , where he decided to drop the equipment used in the three previous albums and instead buy " loads of really weird pedals , old guitars , and small amps " , as the lack of deadline to deliver the album allowed gallagher to " take quite a few days just messing around . " guitars electric guitars epiphone les paul – gallagher played a cherry sunburst model in the early years of oasis . gibson les paul fender telecaster – gallagher uses several , one of which , a ' 60s model , was given to noel by johnny depp as a birthday present . epiphone casino gibson es - 355 vintage model – since 2001 , this has become gallagher 's main stage guitar . effect pedals in the early days of oasis , gallagher did not use pedals : " i used to just turn up the amps as full as i could get them " . since then , he has begun using a large number of effects , but singled out the ibanez tube screamer . amplification gallagher has said that he used only 100 - watt marshalls early in his career . after definitely maybe , he began using smaller amps , singling out fenders ( princeton and bandmaster ) , and also a combo made by clark amplification , which builds amplifiers based on vintage fender and marshall amps . discography albums 2009 : the dreams we have as children – live at the royal albert hall 2011 : noel gallagher 's high flying birds 2015 : chasing yesterday also featured on : 1995 : stanley road by paul weller , acoustic guitar on " i walk on gilded splinters " 1997 : dig your own hole by the chemical brothers , vocals on " setting sun " 1998 : return by goldie , guitar on " temper temper " 1998 : the x - files : the album , the track " teotihuacan " 1998 : more than us e.p. by travis , the track " all i want to do is rock ( live version ) " 1999 : surrender by the chemical brothers , vocals on " let forever be " 2000 : by , drums 2000 : the same old blues by proud mary , production , plus additional vocals , guitars , bass and percussion 2002 : illumination by paul weller , drums , percussion & bass on " one x one " 2003 : live at the royal albert hall by the who , guitar , backing vocals on " won 't get fooled again " 2004 : by ian brown : collaboration on the song " keep what ya got " . 2004 : all years leaving by the stands , guitar on " some weekend night " 2008 : 22 dreams by paul weller , bass , piano , mellotron and on " echoes round the sun " 2011 : colour of the trap by miles kane , backing vocals on " my fantasy " 2015 : a head full of dreams by coldplay , guitar on " up & up " high flying birds other charted songs as featured artist other 2004 : " free love , freeway " – ricky gervais ft . noel gallagher ; credited as ' a special guest ' on backing vocals for the ' office christmas special dvd ' , on which the video of the recording session featuring noel & ricky is available 2011 : well ... all right ! – compilation album compiled by gallagher , released into mojo magazine