"I don't say that as a joke"
Noel Gallagher has said that his brother Liam Gallagher “needs to see a psychiatrist” following comments made by the latter about Noel’s performance at the We Are Manchester benefit concert last month.
Noel headlined the benefit gig, which was held in memory of the 22 people who were killed in the terrorist bombing at the Manchester Arena on May 22. Liam, who didn’t play at the show, later tweeted his belief that Noel’s performance at the gig was “a PR stunt” – though he later claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked, saying: “I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t say stuff like that. Can you believe that?”
In a new interview with The Sunday Times (subscription required), Noel gave his take on a number of the comments that have been made by Liam towards his sibling in the past few months. He was first asked about why he didn’t perform at the One Love Manchester concert, which was put on by Ariana Grande back in June, as Liam did.
“I didn’t get asked,” Noel said, adding that what was said about his no-show didn’t bother him. “It’s just noise. Ill-informed fuckwits.”
Noel was then asked about the donation of his royalties from Oasis’s ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ to help the families of those killed and affected by the Manchester terror attack – a gesture that was initially meant to be kept secret.
“Until Mr Angry bombarded the internet with his hate.” Noel said in reference to Liam, explaining that he then had to go public with the news about the donation. “So I’m getting calls saying, ‘Surely you want to do an interview?’ No. People died. This is not about me or some other idiot. A woman’s just woken up from a coma to find her daughter’s dead. Have some respect.”
Conversation then moved on to Noel’s headline performance at the benefit gig at the Manchester Arena last month, which was also held to re-open the venue following the atrocity.
“It was a strange night,” he said. “Because you live for moments when everyone is arms in the air with a song you’ve written, but you’re wishing this moment was never taking place, that ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ was still about this woman of a certain age, toasting her life passing by, rather than being an anthem of defiance.”
Asked about Liam’s “PR stunt” tweet, Noel responded: “For the second time. He needs to see a psychiatrist. I don’t say that as a joke. Because young Mancunians, young music fans, were slaughtered, and he, twice, takes it somewhere to be about him. He needs to see somebody.”
Source: www.nme.com
