page_title: Noel Gallagher
section_title: Oasis
hierarchical_section_title: Noel Gallagher / Career / Oasis
caption_attribution_description: Noel Gallager performing at an Oasis concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, September 11, 2005Oasis Concert.
context_page_description: Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He served as the songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis. After leaving Oasis in 2009, he formed and became the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.
  Gallagher began playing guitar at the age of 13, and became a roadie and technician for Inspiral Carpets at the age of 21. He learned that his brother Liam had formed a band called The Rain, which eventually became Oasis, and Liam invited him to join them as the lead guitarist. He agreed on condition that he would write their material. The band's debut album, Definitely Maybe, was a critical and commercial success. Their second album, Morning Glory?, reached the top of the album charts in many countries, and their third studio album, Be Here Now, became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history. Britpop eventually declined in popularity and Oasis failed to revive it, though their final two albums, Don't Believe the Truth and Dig Out Your Soul, were hailed as their best efforts in over a decade.
context_section_description: In 1991, Gallagher returned from an American tour with the Inspiral Carpets to find that his brother Liam had become a singer with a local band called the Rain. He attended one of their concerts at Manchester's Boardwalk but was unimpressed by the group's act. After rejecting an offer from Liam to be the band's manager, Gallagher agreed to join the band, on the condition that he would take creative control of the group and become its sole songwriter. According to another source, Gallagher told Liam and the rest of the group after having heard them play for the first time: "Let me write your songs and I'll take you to superstardom, or else you'll rot here in Manchester". His control over the band in its early years earned him the nickname "The Chief".
  In May 1993, the band heard that a record executive from Creation Records would be scouting for talent at King Tut's in Glasgow. Together, they found the money to hire a van and make the six-hour journey. When they arrived, they were refused entry to the club because no one notified the venue that Oasis had been added to the bill. The band eventually secured the opening slot and played a four-song set that impressed Creation founder Alan McGee.
  McGee then took the Live Demonstration tape to Sony America and invited Oasis to meet with him a week later in London, at which point they were signed to a six-album contract. Gallagher has since claimed that he only had six songs written at the time, and has put his success in the interview down to "bullshitting". However, McGee believes that when they met, Gallagher had fifty or so songs written, and merely lied about how prolific he had been following the contract. Richard Ashcroft was so impressed with Oasis during the time, that he invited them to tour with his band the Verve as an opening act.
  Gallagher claimed to have written Oasis' first single, "Supersonic", in "the time it takes to play the song". "Supersonic" was released in early 1994 and peaked at No. 31 on the official UK charts. The single was later followed by Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe, which was released in August 1994 and was a critical and commercial success.
  It became the fastest-selling debut album in British history at the time and entered the UK charts at number one. Despite their rapidly growing popularity, Gallagher briefly left Oasis in 1994 during their first American tour. The conditions were poor, and he felt the American audience—still preoccupied with grunge and metal—did not understand the band. Gallagher stated that his early songs, especially "Live Forever", were written to refute grunge's pessimism. Tensions mounted between him and Liam, culminating in a fight after a disastrous gig in Los Angeles. Having effectively decided to quit the music industry, he flew to San Francisco without telling the band, management or the crew. It was during this time that Gallagher wrote "Talk Tonight" as a "thank you" for the girl he stayed with, who "talked him from off the ledge". He was tracked down by Creation's Tim Abbot, and during a trip by the pair to Las Vegas, Gallagher decided to continue with the band. He reconciled with his brother and the tour resumed in Minneapolis.
  Gallagher followed up the debut in 1995 with Oasis' first UK number-one single in "Some Might Say". This preceded their second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, released later that year. Though it suffered initial critical apathy, the album became the second fastest-selling album ever in the UK, entering the UK album charts at number one and peaking at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart.
  The success of Oasis and his newfound fame and fortune were not lost on Gallagher, and both he and his brother became famous for their "rock and roll lifestyle". They drank heavily, abused drugs, fought fans, critics, peers, and each other, and made celebrity friends such as Ian Brown, Paul Weller, Mani, Mick Jagger, Craig Cash, Kate Moss and Johnny Depp. Gallagher spent extravagantly, buying various cars and a swimming pool, despite the fact he can neither drive nor swim. He named 
caption: Gallagher performing with Oasis at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on 11 September 2005
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