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Liam Gallagher (born September 21, 1972 as William John Paul Gallagher) is the vocalist of Britpop band Oasis. Although his brother, Noel Gallagher, is acknowledged as having written the majority of the band's songs, Liam has written the songs Born On A Different Cloud, Better Man, Songbird and Little James.

Biography

Liam was born in 1972, to Tommy and Peggy Gallagher. He is the youngest of three sons, his brothers being Paul (b. 11th January 1966) and Noel (b. 29th May 1967), to whom he is affectionately known as "our kid".

Liam met his first wife, Patsy Kensit in 1994 and married her on April 7, 1997. A son, Lennon Francis, was born September 13, 1999. They divorced in September of 2000, shortly before Noel announced he was to divorce Meg Matthews. Soon after his divorce, Liam began a relationship with Nicole Appleton of the British bands All Saints and Appleton. Their son, Gene, was born July 3, 2001. Liam's song Songbird is about Nicole.

Public Persona

Oasis appeared on the music scene in 1994 and quickly made a public image for themselves. Whereas other Britpop bands such as Elastica and Manic Street Preachers chose not to play the media 'game', or if they did it was usually un-inspiring (as was the case with Blur) Oasis chose to portray themselves, arguably realistically, as loud mouthed, arrogant and aggressive. This really caught the public's imagination. Though the other members of the band took this role lightly, Liam appears to have really taken it to heart, often verbally abusing photographers and members of the public in his Mancunian accent, with his trademark arrogant swagger. He also occasionally gets into fights. He was famously punched by a photographer he was trying to intimidate and in 2002 he had his front teeth knocked out by some Germans in a bar brawl. He also challenged Robbie Williams to a fight.

Brotherly Love

The Gallaghers famously share a turbulent relationship. Their arguments have achieved a status as something of Rock Legend. One of their arguments was even released on a bootleg single entitled 'wibbling rivalry'. The arguments seem to pit Noel's calm, complacent wit, logic and canniness against Liam's arrogance, tendency to fly off the handle, penchant for psychedelic non sequiturs (he once ended an on-stage argument by appealing to the crowd for biscuits) and his vocal dedication to any stand-point, no matter how incorrect or easy to dispel it is. Although Noel often ends up making Liam appear quite stupid in these exchanges, Liam's tendency to shout and swear his brother down appears an equally effective tactic.

Wibbling Rivalry

An excerpt of the argument released on the Wibbling Rivalry single:

Noel: Do you know John Lennon?
Liam: Yeah.
Noel: Well, you must be pretty old. 
      How old are you? 21?
Liam: No. About fuckin' thousand and five.
Noel: You're 22. and I watched you being born, 
      so shut the fuck up about John Lennon.

Knebworth - 1996

Noel: THIS IS HISTORY! RIGHT HERE, 
      RIGHT NOW! THIS IS HISTORY!
Liam: No it fucking isn't you daft twat.
      This is Knebworth.

An Award Ceremony, February - 1995

Liam had been trying to wind up Damon Albarn for some time when Noel walked in:

Liam: Arsed about the award. The award's 
      nothing mate. It's full of crack.
Noel: You're fucking stupid.
Liam: You can fuck off as far as 
      I'm concerned
Noel: You're just a fucking pop star.
Liam: Yeah, yeah! I am!

Lead Singer

Liam is renowned for his particular style of singing and his stage presence. Grating, arrogant and often nasal, Liam's voice in the Oasis tracks is instantly recognisable. Noel has hinted that he uses certain words regularly in his songs because of the way Liam pronounces them when he sings. For example, Noel has included the word 'Shine' in several songs because Liam famously sings it as 'Sheee-yienn-ah'. Noel jokes that Liam now does this all the time, imitating Liam phoning him up and asking "D'yer wanna go for a piiiiiint-ah?"

Liam's stage presence has also been praised. Subtle to say the least, he is famed for going against rock and roll tradition by rarely touching the microphone or its stand. Instead, he stands, hands behind back, leaning towards the microphone. His popularity and praise as a performer is accentuated not by his actions (his stance, in essence fairly dull), but the prospect of his actions, his acclaimed vocal style and the arrogance with which he carries himself.

• 1972 births