It’s official: Liam Gallagher is back in the spotlight. The chances are that he’ll very soon claim another Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart.
The Official Charts Company has recently confirmed Liam’s newly released second solo album Why Me, Why Not is currently outperforming the rest of the Top 5 combined. If – or rather, when – it happens, it will become Liam’s tenth total Number 1 album if we count Oasis’ eight previous Number 1 records. The future looks bright and promising to Liam – and in an exclusive new interview with Billboard the rock icon reveals he’s finally given up on the idea of Oasis ever getting back together.
‘If Oasis were putting this record out, people would be losing their shit’, he says of his new solo album. In general, Liam doesn’t have much to complain about these days: he keeps selling out all his gig venues while the fans unanimously praise his new music endeavour. Liam preserves close ties with his fanbase: after all, in the new album’s notes we all saw a dedication to the fans along with Liam’s words of gratitude and appreciation. Nevertheless, Liam stresses he’s not here to try and please everybody. He also can’t resist the temptation to make a dig at his estranged brother Noel.
“People that come to my gigs will like my new record, and I’m sure there will be people that hate it, which is equally important. The minute you’re loved by everyone, you’re doing the wrong thing. I hope I’m sticking out like a sore thumb in 2019. I’m not being cocky, but I’ve never really felt the pressure. I stick to my formula, and it works. Neil Young has been doing the same thing for 40 years, and no one seems to give him shit. I’ve got no urge to start bringing in drum machines and scissor players and trying new things to make some new kind of shit. You ain’t going to beat Rock’n’Roll”.
Liam is obviously hinting at Noel’s new music experiments. Apart from feeling offended on the personal level, Liam seems filled with genuine contempt towards Noel’s new chosen path.
“The people that Noel is surrounded by want to keep us apart. I’ve got no more olive branches to give. I’ve done my bit. Everyone goes, ‘If you stop calling him a potato, then he might get the band back together’. The geezer doesn’t want the band back together because he likes to be the main man. He’s better off in that world. If the music he’s writing now was going to be any part of Oasis, I’d fucking blow my brains out. We’re probably better off apart”.
It’s heartbreaking to hear such words from the person who seemed the most faithful believer in the Oasis reunion. The nostalgic and wistful music video for One of Us released on the anniversary of the Oasis split has failed to get any feedback from Noel. And now even Liam admits that a reunion is further away than ever.
“I’ve done stupid things in the past on the Internet, tweeting shit, but that’s life. He’s done a few shitty things as well. But I think it was over before that anyway. You don’t split Oasis up lightly. I think he wanted to do a solo career and he wanted to write his little disco music for all his little disco mates, and they knew that wouldn’t fly with me. It’s nothing to do with me calling him a potato”.
It’s a well-known fact that Liam has an amazing sense of humour. After 25 years in the spotlight, the legendary frontman remains hilarious and entertaining as ever. When the interviewer asks him if he thinks Oasis would’ve shot to superstardom in the same way as they did in the 90s if they had instead started off in 2019, Liam’s answer doesn’t disappoint.
“No, we’d all be in fucking jail. Everything’s so politically correct these days that you even have to fart in the right way. The world is very uptight to me. We wouldn’t have even got a record deal”.
Some things certainly never change. The singer who has recently turned 47 admits he still has the same fire running in his veins as he did as a young rock star.
“I’ve got too much fire in my belly. I need to get on Prozac at some point, because I’m singing some of the softer songs as if my life depended on it. I need to chill out sometimes, but that’s passion”.
These days we can see a more mature and a definitely happier Liam. He spends more time with his family, regularly goes for a run and despite still ‘having a party now and then’, he claims to know now ‘when to go to bed’. It’s about time, we might say, but one thing is for sure: these days Liam isn’t the hedonistic rock icon he was in the glory days of Oasis. Almost straight after Liam’s 47th birthday, the interviewer asks him if he’s planning to still keep performing when he starts growing old. Liam’s answer is filled with passion and determination.
“When you come into this business, you’re in for a long haul. I love Rock’n’Roll and I want to do this for as long as I can. It’s the only thing I can do half decent. Everything else I’m fucking shit at. So as long as my voice holds up and people want to see me, then I’ll do it forever”.
Liam has released Why Me, Why Not less than two years after its predecessor As You Were. The reason behind it, as Liam claims, is the desire to make up for the wasted time after the Oasis split.
“First of all, I love making music. Oasis should have never split up, and Beady Eye obviously shouldn’t have happened, but it did. I had four years of my personal stuff going on, so I’ve got some catching up to do. I’ll bang another one out as well. If people are into it, I’ll just keep going. You do need time between records to have a bit of a break and for people to miss you. But I think for this solo thing it was important I did two albums straight away”.
Liam also admits that the mere thought of As You Were flopping two years ago ‘fills him with dread’.
“When I think about it, I start going into a sweat. If it’d happened, I’d have probably left the country for a bit and just gone chill somewhere and maybe left England. It’s because England would have been hell. There’s nothing worse than not having anything to do but still being famous”.
Luckily, it didn’t happen. As You Were became a Number One album, and Liam now surpasses himself with Why Me, Why Not. The new record sounds more optimistic, and rightly so. Liam seems to be enjoying life more than ever these days.
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. My kids are all healthy. I have a relationship with my daughter for the first time. Debbie is blowing my mind, so all is good in the world. I’ve got two lovely cats. My mam is still alive. And I’m not surrounded by dickheads for the first time in my life”.
There’s not much else you can possibly ask for in life, is there?
Source: Billboard