The Oasis legend Noel Gallagher may have parted ways from the Mancunian band over a decade ago now, but the megastar sure hasn’t stopped providing us with huge tunes over the years!
From Oasis through his on-going ‘feud’ his brother Liam, to High Flying Birds, there’s a lot to know about Noel Gallagher.
Recently he has flatly denied Liam Gallagher’s claim that he refused £100m to reform Oasis.
Then he discovered a previously-unreleased song ‘Don’t Stop’ during lockdown that was thought to be lost, relasing it to the world.
Let’s have a timely reminder of the man they call “The Chief” and why he’s happy with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
Where is Noel Gallagher from?
Born in Longsight on 29th May 1967, Noel Gallagher spent his youth in Burnage, Manchester.
He learned to play guitar at 13-years-old as self-taught.
But his first real venture into the world of music was when he became a roadie of Inspiral Carpets.
When did Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds form?
Though presented as a band, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds is the name for the former Oasis guitarist’s solo activity.
Despite the ugly split, Noel Gallagher brought in former Oasis members Gem Archer and drummer Chris Sharrock.
Both of them also played in Liam Gallagher’s post-Oasis band, Beady Eye.
To date, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have released three albums: ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’, ‘Chasing Yesterday’, and ‘Who Built The Moon?’.
Noel Gallagher also recorded an album with electronic production duo Amorphous Androgynous.
Which are Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds biggest songs?
Some of their biggest hits include ‘Holy Mountain’, ‘The Death Of You And Me’ and ‘AKA… What A Life!’
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: The origin of the band name
Speaking to chat show host Jonathan Ross on The Jonathan Ross Show, Noel explained that the idea to use the prefix “Noel Gallagher’s…” came to him whilst listening to Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac as he washed the dishes.
The second half of the name is taken from the song ‘High Flying Bird’, which was recorded by Jefferson Airplane, among others.
Just think: they could’ve been called Noel Gallagher’s Dirty Dishes.
What guitar does Noel Gallagher play?
Noel is most associated with the thinline, hollow body, semi-acoustic guitar, the Epiphone Casino, which he used in the early days of Oasis.
He also used to play a cherry sunburst Epiphone Les Paul.
Since then, he’s used a Gibson Les Paul and a Gibson ES-355 semi-acoustic.
He’s also got a few Fender Telecasters, and one of those was a present from actor Johnny Depp.
Which other musicians has Noel Gallagher worked with?
He does like his collaborations. To date, he worked with Paul Weller, most notably on ‘Stanley Road’, ‘Illumination’ , ’22 Dreams’ and ‘True Meanings’.
You’ll also find him on records by The Prodigy playing bass on ‘Shoot Down’, Miles Kane‘s ‘Colour Of The Trap’, The Chemical Brothers’ ‘Setting Sun’ and ‘Let Forever Be’, and Goldie’s ‘Temper Temper’.
And, most surprisingly, he sings with former Blur nemesis Damon Albarn on Gorillaz’ ‘We Got The Power’.
Who is Noel Gallagher’s wife?
Noel was married to Meg Matthews for almost four years and they have one daughter, Anaïs Gallagher.
He later married Sara MacDonald in 2011. They have two sons, Donovan Rory MacDonald Gallagher and Sonny Patrick MacDonald Gallagher.
Will Noel reconcile with Liam for an Oasis reunion?
It’s unlikely at this moment in time.
After Liam claimed that Noel ‘begged’ him to reunite Oasis, Noel denied this, saying that Liam’s tweets on the matter are making him more unwilling to reform the band.
In February 2020, Liam alleged that Noel had turned down a whopping £100m offer for an Oasis reunion and of Noel has denied this too.
In March 2020, Liam called on Noel for a reunion gig saying it “will happen” with or without Noel.
Read up on everything that’s been said about an Oasis reunion.
How much is Noel Gallagher worth?
Although there is no certain way of knowing, various reports suggest that as of 2021, Noel Gallagher’s net worth lies around the £70 million mark.
Source: Planet Radio
Image: Getty