William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher (born 21 September 1972 in Burnage, Manchester) is an English musician and songwriter best known as the lead singer of the rock band Oasis.
One of the figureheads of the 1990s Britpop movement, Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press. He remains one of the most recognisable figures in modern British music. Although his brother Noel Gallagher writes the majority of Oasis's songs, Liam has penned such songs as "Songbird", "The Meaning of Soul", and "I'm Outta Time". He was also the founder of Pretty Green clothing range. Liam Gallagher was born in Burnage in 1972, the third and final child of Irish parents Thomas and Peggy Gallagher. Thomas was often violently abusive to his family. Although his older brothers Noel and Paul took the most abuse, Liam has said that the abuse affected him deeply and inspired him to become an artist - his true inspiration in life coming from his love of Manchester City FC. When Liam was 10, Peggy took the boys and moved away from Tommy. Although Liam maintained sporadic contact with his father throughout his teens, he says that today their issues remain unresolved. Paul & Noel often contend that even from a young age, Liam went out of his way to antagonise people, especially Noel, with whom he shared a room. The Gallagher brothers were troubled children, especially in their teens. Liam was expelled from school at age 15 for fighting, and would often steal bicycles from local shops.
Noel Gallagher has said that Liam showed little interest in music until his late teens. Liam became confident in his abilities to sing and began listening to bands like The Stone Roses, The Who, The Kinks, The Jam, T.Rex and The Beatles. In the process he forged a life long obsession with John Lennon; Liam would later claim to be Lennon re-incarnated. When school friend Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan, invited Gallagher to join his band, The Rain, as a vocalist, he agreed. Liam was the band's co-song writer, along with guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. Noel Gallagher has since openly mocked this writing partnership, describing them as being "just awful"; even Liam admits that "We were shit". The band only rehearsed one day a week and didn't get many gigs. It was after one of their rare shows in 1992, that Noel, having recently returned from touring America as a roadie with Inspiral Carpets, saw them perform. Although Noel disliked the band, Liam asked him to join and Noel agreed on the condition that he be the sole songwriter, ending Liam and Bonehead's songwriting partnership. Noel later went on to say "If you think some of my early stuff is bad, you should have heard the stuff that those two were coming out with." It was around this time that Liam pushed for the band name to change to Oasis.
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