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William John Paul Gallagher (born September 21, 1972), better known to the world as Liam 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.
Liam, more than his brother or his band, is one of the most polarising forces in the British music industry. Although it is difficult to deny his arrogance, aggressiveness and obnoxiousness, many debate whether these are attributes necessary to a true "rock and roll star" or detriments showing Gallagher to be little more that an intensely unpleasant person, who, through chance, has been thrust into the public eye.
Biography
Liam was born in 1972, to Thomas 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". When Liam was a child, he was often called "Peggy's shadow" as he regularly clung to his mother. When he was 14, his mother took Liam and his brothers and left Thomas due to his alcoholism.
Paul and Noel often contend that even from a young age, Liam had gone out of his way to annoy people, especially his two brothers. When Liam was around 8 years old, he went through a stage in which he claimed that he hated music and would often insult people walking down the street with guitars in their hands. Noel has made much of the fact that at the point he was becoming quite affluent with guitars. Because they shared a bedroom, they often fought with each other.
At school, Liam met Paul McGuigan, nicknamed Guigsey, and the two became friends. In the early 1990s, Guigsey informed Liam that his band, "The Rain", was in need of a vocalist, and so Liam offered his services. When he joined, Liam changed the band's name from "The Rain" (which was the name of a Beatles song) to "Oasis"; a name which he apparently saw on a poster in his bedroom. Liam also became the band's song writer, along with Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (who was the also band's guitarist). Noel has since openly mocked this writing partnership, whose output was not strong. The band only rehearsed one day a week and didn't get many gigs. It was after one of their rare gigs in 1992, Noel, having recently returned from touring America with the Inspiral Carpets, saw them perform. He was highly critical of his younger brothers band, describing them as "utter shite". However, Noel clearly saw some potential and offered to join if he was given complete control of the band and wrote all of their songs.
Under Noel's guidance, Oasis acquired a record contract and recorded the album Definitely Maybe, which became the fastest selling British debut album ever. Liam was praised for his vocal contributions to the album, and his presence made Oasis a popular live act. The second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? was equally successful.
Liam's life in the eye of the public has not been without its share of controversy. He is regularly involved in scuffles with members of the media, famously trying to drag a photographer into a fight outside the hospital where his girlfriend had just given birth to his son Gene. On December 1 2002 he broke several of his teeth and sustained injuries to his face after a fight broke in a Munich hotel. He and Alan White were arrested, but were released without charge. Oasis had to pull out of the show in Munich due to Liam's injuries. He has been embroiled in disputes with celebrities ranging from Robbie Williams and John Lydon to former Oasis drummer Tony McCaroll and his own big brother, Noel.
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.
Upon the departure of Bonehead and Guigsey in 1999, Liam became the only remaining original member of Oasis.
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 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 is a famously aggressive character and occasionally gets into fights. One of his most high profile disputes was with Robbie Williams. Following Williams split from Take That, the two became close friends. However, it was not to last. In his autobiography "Feel", Williams claimed "Liam was really paranoid about everything. It's dreadfully sad for him." The two battled through the press and the dispute finally came to a head when Robbie offered to fight him for a £100,000 charity purse. Liam never reciprocated. When James Walsh of Starsailor approached Noel to question him about negative comments made in the press, Liam chimed in and ended up squaring up to Walsh. The two were to feud for some time afterwards. It is alleged that he once tried to crush the testicles of an NME photographer with his bare hands.
Liam also has a habit of making strange, incomprehensible statements. For a period, he seemed adamant that he was possessed by the spirit of John Lennon, even going so far as to suggest he is John Lennon in a re-incarnated form (he was eight years old when Lennon was murdered.) However strange Noel claims to find this obsession, he occasionally indulged him, going so far as to buy him Lennon's "dreamcatcher" necklace. However, in typical Liam fashion, "It came in a glass case, but I wanted to try it on," he says. "So one night I came in, tanked up and took a hammer to it. All these beads started falling off and rolling across the floor. I thought, 'Fuckin' hell, John Lennon's beads! It's back in a case now.'" When questioned about his opinions on the terrorist attacks on theWorld Trade Center in 2001, he claimed "I know who fuckin' did it. It was the Scream. I'm gonna send a letter to President Bush telling him who did it: Scottish cunts. Havin' it large. Skinny fucker Gillespie."
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 recognizable. 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.
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. There are only a handful of known incidents where the two have actually come to blows. During their first American tour in 1994, Liam took to changing the words of Noels songs so that they were offensive to both Americans and Noel. A confrontation after the show led to a chair being thrown and Noel leaving the tour and heading for Las Vegas. Whilst on tour in Barcelona in 2000, Oasis were forced to cancel a gig when Alan White's arm seized up, the band spent the night drinking instead. During the night, Liam made a derogatory comment about Noel's then wife Meg Mathews and Noel punched him, knocking him down. Following this, Noel declared he was quitting touring overseas altogether, and Oasis were forced to finish the tour without him.
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!