“From Manchester and Wigan”: the entwined musical lives of Noel Gallagher and Richard Ashcroft
While most archival footage of Noel Gallagher in the 1990s consists of him spraying abuse at his musical contemporaries, there was one band that always slipped through the net of negativity set out by the gruff Mancunian.
The Verve were a band that the entirety of Oasis championed, right from the heady start of their career. Just before the Gallagher brothers broke through the cusp of the atmosphere and reached truly stratospheric heights of fame, they were simply just another band cutting their teeth on the circuit.
During that period, more specifically 1993, Oasis supported Richard Ashcroft’s band, where they cemented something of a brotherhood. Ashcroft briefly took the band under his wing before they spread their own and became the band we all know and love.
It meant that more recently, in 2025, when Oasis embarked on their mammoth comeback tour, rather than hand out the opportunity of a lifetime to a burgeoning contemporary band, the Gallaghers recruited their old mate, Richard Ashcroft, to trot him out for a string of support slots that he would look back on as some of the fondest moments of his career.
So simply put, no matter the era or no matter the subject matter, these are two artists who will regularly find themselves defending one another. In 2000, when Ashcroft’s career hit something of a sticky patch, embroiled in royalty battles over ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ and engaging in on-stage altercations, Noel Gallagher avoided any journalistic traps to engage with the controversy and instead, defended his old companion.
“I think that ‘A Song for the Lovers’ is fantastic,” he said, in reference to his latest song. “I like it. It wasn’t what I was expecting. I heard it sort of when we were down in Olympic Studios while they were recording it. It sounded great then. I heard it when it came out. Richard’s cool, man, he does what he does. I wish people would just fucking leave him alone.”
Such a passionate defence should come as no surprise, as Gallagher warned the press three years earlier that a wedge would never be driven between the pair. He said, “We go back so far, from Manchester and Wigan, that they will never be able to touch the bond and the friendship that we have.”
That loyalty has never been lost on Ashcroft. Through thick and thin, he’s been able to rely on the friendship of Noel in both a musical and personal sense. This latest opportunity to support Oasis and resurrect his career was one thing, but Ashcroft is quick to credit Noel for inspiring the music that tens of thousands of fans were singing back to him last year.
During an interview, amid last year’s madness, Ashcroft spoke about how ‘Live Forever’ ultimately salvaged his career. He explained, “You know, I’ve always thanked Noel for that because I really do think that song and those guys re-energised and refocused me as a musician to where I was going to end up.”
He concluded, “There wouldn’t be a ‘Lucky Man’ or a ‘Sonnet’ or a ‘Drugs Don’t Work’. I really don’t believe that without this moment, without hearing ‘Live Forever’.”
