Born on September 21: Liam Gallagher, Oasis' eternal rebel

The singer of the band Oasis was born into a family of Irish origin on September 21, 1972, under the official name of William John Paul Gallagher. He grew up in Manchester, in a housing estate of small working-class houses, alongside his two brothers, Noel and Paul.

Liam's childhood was marked by his father's alcoholism, and when he was ten, his mother took him and his brothers away from home and the violent father. Liam Gallagher confessed years later that he only had sporadic contact with his father. As a teenager, he was regularly expelled from the schools he attended and often clashed with his brother, Noel. A short-tempered and explosive temperament simmered within him, quickly earning him a reputation as a delinquent with social services. Fights, thefts, and drunkenness—everything went, and only music would, for a time, soothe Liam. He began listening to The Who, The Kinks, and especially The Beatles on repeat. He developed a genuine admiration for John Lennon and even named his first son Lennon!

In 1988, one of his school friends, Paul McGuigan, invited him to join his band, Rain, with Tony McCarroll and Paul Bonehead Arthurs. From gig to gig, they quickly became minor local stars. Their style and nonchalance were captivating. In 1991, the band changed their name to Oasis and welcomed Noel, who took over as guitarist and songwriter.

In 1994, the band's debut album, "Definitely Maybe," was released. It was an immediate success for the two fiery brothers. "Wonderwall," a global hit, attracted the attention of the band around the world, as well as that of the British tabloids, who were fond of the singer's antics, his drug dealings, and his female adventures.

Britpop proved to be much more than a popular musical movement; it became a true social movement, and the look of the Oasis members also revolutionised the wardrobe of young English people. Liam collected vintage tracksuit jackets, Dr. Martens, and his iconic retro sunglasses. A style straight from the English suburbs of his childhood, where hopes faded and often died under gray skies.

"(What's the Story) Morning Glory" was released in 1995, another success summed up in one statistic: 40% of English households owned a copy. At this time, their legendary rivalry with Blur, another British favourite, also began. The two leading figures of Britpop clashed through interviews and mutual provocations, a godsend for the tabloid press, which made a killing. Oasis' third album, "Be Here Now," was released in 1997. While it once again met with public and critical acclaim, it was later criticised, notably by Noel Gallagher himself. In 2000, he released a new album, "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants," which marked the departure of two of the band's founding members, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs and Paul "Guipsy" McGuigan. The band's fifth album was released in 2002 with "Heathen Chemistry," followed in 2005 by "Don't Believe the Truth."

A fashion enthusiast, Liam founded his own label, "Pretty Green." He passed on a style to his son Lennon, who has been walking the catwalks in recent years with his sulky gaze and pout, a fitting legacy of his father. He was spotted at the Burberry show in 2024, alongside his sister Anaïs and their mother (and Liam's former wife), Patsy Kensit. The new "it-boy" had walked for the brand a few months earlier, alongside his rock band, Automation.

Let's go back to the early 2000s. Liam and Noel's volatile relationship was increasingly impacting the band, and the two brothers regularly engaged in heated arguments, widely reported by the British press. Noel thus delivered one of the most memorable lines of their eternal feud: "My brother is like a man with a fork in a world where there's only soup." The irreverent Liam was quick to respond, sharing a video on his social media showing him trying to eat soup with a fork!

What could pass for slightly schoolboyish jokes, however, concealed deep disagreements within the duo, and the two brothers' setbacks ultimately led to the band's split in 2009. The argument was one too many when, just before a concert at Rock en Seine (Paris), with 30,000 people waiting in front of the stage, Liam, in a rage, smashed one of his band's favourite guitars. Noel left the festival, and one of the Rock en Seine organisers had the difficult task of announcing to the public, and to the whole world: "Noel and Liam had a fight backstage. The Oasis concert is cancelled, as is their European tour. The band no longer exists." Noel's comment a few hours later: "It's with a little sadness and great relief that I announce that I am leaving Oasis. People will write and say what they want, but it's impossible for me to continue working with Liam one more day."

Noel quickly founded Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds while his younger brother struggled with addiction and serious financial problems. His new band, Beady Eye (composed of former Oasis members), released its debut album in 2011 and embarked on a world tour. "BE," the band's second album, was released in 2013. An opus made up of "75% rock and 25% weird stuff," declared its frontman and singer, which, however, didn't save the band from breaking up a year later. Meeting his manager, now his wife, gave the fiery singer renewed momentum. In 2017, "As You Were" reached number one in the UK charts. Two years later, Liam Gallagher released "Why Me? Why Not."

Liam and Noel's relationship doesn't seem to improve over the years, and Liam declared in 2019: "We spend Christmas at our mother's every other year. Our children cross paths, but don't really hang out." In 2024, unexpected news shook fans: the children of British pop announced the resurrection of their legendary duo, as well as a tour in the summer of 2025 in England and Ireland. Have the feuding brothers finally made peace? Or do they need money? While many fans, despite their excitement, feared another fight before the tour even began, it was completed without generating any epic fights. Despite the extravagant price of some tickets, fans are therefore delighted and the bank accounts of the two brothers are largely restored to full swing!

(MH with Céline Massart - Photo : Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Liam Gallagher at a tense press conference before their concert in Stockholm, Sweden, on September 9, 1997.