The Chief says he didn’t want fame when he started his career and has “never considered himself a rock star” despite being in one of the biggest-selling British bands ever.
The singer-songwriter, who grew up on a council estate in Manchester, said he “just wanted to be rich” when he joined brother Liam in Oasis in 1991.
Now 50 and set to hit the summer festival circuit with his band Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, he launched a trademark rant at the state of the music scene, declaring: “Rock stars today? There are no rock stars left.”
He said: “When I started, I didn’t want to be famous. I wanted to be rich. Fame? Meh. I’m good at fame. Fame doesn’t bother me. But it wasn’t the driving force. I’ve never considered myself a rock star. Technically speaking I am, sure, but I don’t walk like a rock star. I can talk like one.” In an interview with Red Bulletin magazine he added: “Rock stars today? There are no rock stars left. Rock stars now in England? They’re either really f***ing naff or the wrong side of 40. Or they don’t write their own music and they have nothing to say. Or they have bad hair and even worse shoes.”
Oasis sold more than 70 million records worldwide before splitting in 2009. Gallagher said: “You know, when I think of rock music now, I think of Dave Grohl and it’s like, ‘Can you stop shouting, please?’ And I think of Green Day and it’s like, ‘Can you stop moaning, please?’ All dressed the same, all with tattoos, f***ing earrings and dyed hair. “That’s not where I’m coming from. I’ve never been like that.” The musician, who has amassed a reported £46 million, said rock ’n’ roll used to be about “the swagger and the sex and the girls” — but social media had changed that.
“Bands are owned by their fans because they’re in touch with them on social media, and their fans dictate to them what they want, and their record company dictates to them what they should be doing,” he said.
“I’m sorry, but nobody f***ing owns me. They don’t own my thoughts or what I wear or who I want to be in my band.” High Flying Birds will be performing material from their latest album Who Built The Moon? during their festival tour this summer.
Source: EveningStandard