Liam Gallagher on how Noel Gallagher changed Oasis

Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher and brother Noal Gallagher at the opening night of Steve Coogan's comedy show in the West End, London — (Image credit: Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

With their criss-crossing solo careers, Twitter jibes and constant slandering of each other in interviews, Noel and Liam Gallagher have constantly been at odds with each other since Oasis split in 2009. But an old interview with MTV’s 120 Minutes from 1994, oddly hosted by Miles Hunt of grebo stars The Wonder Stuff, shows that once upon a time Liam was more than happy to welcome his older brother into the band.

The group that became Oasis were initially a four-piece called The Rain, but their evolution into one of the defining British guitar bands of their generation was sparked when Noel joined as their fifth member. As it happened, the ex-Inspiral Carpets roadie had an arsenal of huge rock’n’roll anthems up his sleeve and, accordingly, made it be known that he was taking over songwriting duties. No-one stood in his way.

“I was the saving grace,” Noel opines in the interview, with Liam agreeing that the band weren’t exactly going places before Gallagher Sr joined. “It was needed,” states Liam. “He’s took over the songs, but he’s not took over the way the band is run or the way I’m going to run my life, he’s not took over me,” Liam continues. “Yes I have!” Noel butts in. “No, he hasn’t. He’s took over the structure of the songs, it gives us a bit of discipline. But he’s not took over the vocals, the guy who stands in front like that, cos that’s me.”

Little did Liam know that Noel would begin to encroach on his territory on their very next album, taking over singing duties for Don’t Look Back In Anger – a move that Liam vetoed until Noel said he could choose between singing on that or Wonderwall. It was the beginning of a brotherly tension that would make Oasis great, until it led to the Oasis split. If the band’s much-talked about reunion is to ever get off the ground, they’ll need to evoke the fraternal spirit of ’94. Maybe they could get Miles Hunt along to moderate?

Watch the full interview below.

Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, Champions Journal, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleague Ted Kessler. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Radiohead, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Florence + The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more.