Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free
Noel Gallagher has admitted that forming Oasis with his “irritant" singer brother Liam led to the Britpop band’s downfall.
The 48-year-old guitarist spoke to Radio 4’s Kirsty Young about the famous family feud while taking part in Desert Island Discs on Sunday morning.
“You gain some kind of strength from being in a band with family when eveyone around you is a complete stranger,” he said, before adding that such familiarity also means that “you know how to push each other’s buttons”.
Arguments between the Gallaghers were a regular occurrence long before the group eventually split in 2009, with others always leaving the room until they were “just stood there arguing about something that just became completely irrelevant”.
Show all 12 1 /12On brother! Famous fraternal rivals On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Liam and Noel Gallagher The Mancunian brothers behind Oasis are just famed for their music as their turbulent relationship. Even as children, younger brother Liam used to antagonise his older brothers Paul but particularly Noel. While Noel started playing the guitar from the age of 13, he says Liam only showed an interest in music in his late teens. Since the early years of Oasis the pair had numerous quarrels and things have not changed when Noel left the band in 2009 saying that he 'simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer'.
Getty
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Ed and David Miliband Ed Miliband Dave was the Labour rising star under Blair but Ed pipped him to the leadership and the elder brother soon departed from politics. Whole books have been written about the fierce rivalry that has led to accusations of party plotting and bad blood at family gatherings. But they look pretty affectionate, above.
GETTY
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Alistair and Jonny Brownlee As fraternal rivalries go these two are closer than some. Alistair Brownlee (right) celebrates gold in the men's short distance at the ITU Triathlon World Championships Series in Kitzbühel last year with his brother Jonny, who came second. Alistair won gold at the Olympics and Jonny won bronze.
Getty Images
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals David and Jonathan Dimbleby (sons of Richard) Sons of legendary Word War II correspondent Richard Dimbleby, the brothers, both political journalists and television presenters, are constantly battling to be the nation’s most esteemed broadcaster. While David presents Question Time on the BBC, his younger brother presents Radio 4's Any Questions. They covered the election for rival channels; David on the BBC and Jonathan on ITV. During the BBC’s coverage of the1997 general election, while Jonathan made his debut as ITN's election night host, David famously said: 'My instinct will be what it always is, to smash ITV into the ground and grind them under my heel.'
Getty
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Kray twins Reginald and Ronald Not just brothers but twins, the infamous gangsters Ronnie and Reggie wreaked havoc on London committing a series of violent murders and assaults. Even as children they were tearaways: Ronnie nearly died from a head injury sustained during a fight with his brother when they were only 11. Ronnie, born 10 minutes before his brother, ended up serving 28 years in prison before dying of a heart attack. Reggie was released after 32 years and died of cancer shortly after. Their lives were immortalised in the 1990 film The Krays which starred the brothers Gary and Martin Kemp from Spandau as the deadly pair.
Getty
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Ben and Casey Affleck Being the older brother, Ben has had a higher media profile which has included his recent Oscars success with Argo and his well-publicised relationship with Jennifer Lopez. However, in recent years Casey recently starred in Michael Winterbottom’s controversial film The Killer Inside Me. But Casey didn’t win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar he was nominated for in 2007, whereas Ben had won one for Good Will Hunting a decade earlier. But Casey has been making headlines lately for I’m Still Here, a mock-documentary showing Joaquin Phoenix’s decline into drugs and mental health problems.
Getty
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Paul , Stephen, Mark and Joseph McGann Despite all being actors, Paul best know, having starred in cult comedy Withnail and I. Despite losing the role of Doctor Who to his older brother, Mark was the first person in his family to become a professional actor. Eldest brother Stephen has portrayed classical composer Johann Strauss and was a regular on soap Emmerdale as Sean Reynolds between1999-2002. While Joseph’s made a turn as Charlie Burrows on comedy The Upper Hand. All four starred in the BBC drama ‘The Hanging Gale’ in 1995.
BBC
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Alec, Danie, Stephen and William Baldwin In this band of actor brothers, Alec is the eldest brother and has been the most successful. He was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actor in 2003's The Cooler. He has also won many accolades for his role in NBC sitcom 30 Rockwhich co-stars Tina Fey. The youngest of the Baldwin brothers, Stephen is a born-again Christian who makes his rounds on the reality television circuit. His most notable role was in The Usual Suspects. Second-eldest Daniel has had some success on the small screen with his roles on Homicide: Life on the Street and Cold Case. He appeared with his younger brother Stephen on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here! Similarly, William has enjoyed success in television roles from Dirty, Sexy Money and Gossip Girl.
Getty
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Sirs David and Frederick Barclay Businessmen twins, the Barclays are the owners of the Daily Telegraph and Littlewood. They reclusive brothers have featured on The Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £1.8 billion. Although little is known about them, Sir David’s son Aidan is chairman of the Ritz and is increasingly taking on more responsibilities from his father.
Getty
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals John and Patrick McEnroe John is former tennis world no. 1, winning seven Grand Slam titles including three at Wimbledon, known for his colourful courtside confrontational behaviour and the catchphrase 'You cannot be serious!' While Patrick or 'P-Mac', who is seven years younger has won the men's doubles at the French Open in 1989 and served as captain of the U.S. men's tennis team at the 2004 Olympics.
Getty
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Andy and Jamie Murray Jamie Murray is used to standing in the shadows while the spotlight's glare falls upon his more feted, more talented sibling. 'I'll always be Andy's brother regardless of how good or bad my career goes from here,' he told The Independent quite cheerfully in an interview two years ago.
GETTY IMAGES
On brother! Famous fraternal rivals Jimmy and Billy Carter Billy Carter, the younger brother of former US president Jimmy Carter, gained notoriety for some nefarious dealings with Libyan government as well as a failed beer business. He came under scrutiny from the Senate in 1979 after it was revealed that he'd received a $220,000 loan from the Libyan government and was accused of abusing his position as the president's brother. Although he repaid the loan and was not charged with a criminal offence his actions still sullied 'right-on' America's view of the Carters and may have contributed to Jimmy's election defeat in 1980. Billy was known as a 'good time guy' and once urinated on an airport runway in full view the press.
Getty Images
“The way it worked was, when were not slagging each other off, that’s when were telling each other that we loved each other," Noel continued.
"That’s it. Clearly there was a point where he was the greatest singer in the world and it was great. It just so happens that the two of us we like to call a spade a spade. But it was very sarcastic mud-slinging.”
Despite his issues with Liam, however, Noel is still mighty proud of heyday Oasis. “On our day we were great," he said. "People are there now at my concerts that weren’t even born then and they are crying at Oasis songs.
"All over the world people are still in massively in love with that band – and none more so than me.”
During the programme, Noel chose “Hand In Glove” by The Smiths, “Ticket to Ride” by The Beatles and “Voodoo Ray” by A Guy Called Gerald as his desert island discs, a guitar as his luxury item and travellers bible On the Road by Jack Kerouac as his book, revealing that it is the only novel he has ever read.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies