Liam Gallagher, 49, is the former lead singer of Oasis turned solo artist. He spoke to Esquire in March from his home in London.
I’ve been there, bought the T-shirt. If you ever need to have a chat about anything, I’m your man.
One day, I’m in school having a cigarette and minding me own business. I think I was fifteen, sixteen. A couple of lads were looking for a bit of a fight. We got into a fight, and one of ’em hit a hammer over my head. Then a couple of weeks later music started creeping in. It hadn’t before. I’m like, You know what? I like that song, that’s pretty cool. Whoever it was whapped me on the head, I’d like to thank him.
I enjoy getting up early. I like the morning. I like the quiet. You go out at eleven and all the lunatics are out.
Money changes a lot of people, but it don’t change me.
If I wasn’t a rock star, I don’t think I would’ve played football as a professional because I like to go out and have a pint every once in a while, and you’ve got to be a bit of a numb to be an athlete these days, haven’t you?
Playing them big concerts, you’ve got to be match fit. Make sure you get plenty of early nights and look after yourself.
I never had a stylist, never ever. If you can’t dress yourself, you might as well pack it in, you know what I mean? What’s the point of living, you know what I mean?
You’ve got to talk a lot of shit to get to the nitty-gritty truth. The more shit you say, the more you get to the absolute point.
Why did I get an Elvis tattoo? Because he’s cool.
I do believe I was supposed to be on a stage singing songs. I’ve got some good lungs on me.
When people say, “Oh, I’m really offended”—no you’re not, you just fucking want a moment. It didn’t offend you. You just like to pile on people and give people shit.
Fifty pounds is too much to be paying for a pair of socks.
There’s no one way to bring up a child. Hopefully you use common sense. Let them get on with it. It’s their life. As long as they’re nice people and they’re not going around mugging old ladies and shit like that, then I think it’s all right. No one is perfect.
It’s important to give back, but I don’t think I do more than anyone else.
Everyone goes on about us being the biggest. There were plenty of places where we could’ve been bigger. We were the biggest thing in England. And we were pretty big in Japan. But we weren’t that big in America, not at all. We never played stadiums in Spain. There was a lot more work to be done, so we shouldn’t have split up, because we could have made more records. It’s a shame. I’m talking about Oasis.
I like to think Oasis will get back together, but not this week.
The door is ajar on everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if space aliens landed tomorrow. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already here. I wouldn’t be surprised if God walks among us. I wouldn’t be surprised by all sorts.
The last time I saw Noel was at a football match about ten years ago. It’s a shame, isn’t it?
The good times outweigh the bad times. I think it’s best to just leave it at that.
If you don’t like what you’re doing, it must be strange.
All good about turning fifty. The longer you’re there for, the better it is. I like being alive.
Life is there to be loved and lived, you know what I mean? Even though we were having shit times at home, who wants to hear it? We wanted to go out and fucking say little things make us happy. When the sun shines, it was great. When we were kicking the football around in the park or we had enough money to buy a beer, it was great. Other than that, me dad was kicking the fuck out of me mum. So little things made us happy. We just loved the escapism of guitar music from rock ’n’ roll. Everything was a bonus.
I’m afraid of going in the ground and that being it.
Recently, we’ve been playing “Wonderwall” at the end of our concerts, and it blows people’s heads, even though people go, “Oh, I’ve heard it a million times.” Well, you’re going to fucking hear it another million times.
Just get out there and do your bit.
I’d like to be remembered for: He did exactly what it said on the tin. And I looked good while I fucking did it as well.
Being knighted? It’s not for me. I don’t need that shit. I’m quite happy just being mister. Who are you going to get to call you sir? Your kids? Your missus and your mum and your mates?
I don’t think I’ve put a foot wrong. I think it’s gone pretty much to plan.
Liam Gallagher's third solo album, C'mon You Know, is out May 27.
