Liam Gallagher in 'freefall' and fleeing to Spain to retire until intervention

Daily Mirror

19-06-2025

A new book A Sound So Very Loud reveals how Liam Gallagher was on the verge of moving to Majorca to retire like the gangster played by Ray Winstone in the 2000 movie Sexy Beast - until his partner made him see the light
To borrow a catchphrase from Liam Gallagher, we are all about to witness a comeback of biblical proportions. In exactly two weeks, the Gallagher brothers will take to the stage for the first night of the Oasis reunion.
More than 1.4 million tickets have been sold across 17 UK dates for the tour, 16 years after the Britpop favourites' acrimonious split.
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But according to a new book, the reunion might not be happening at all if it wasn't for Liam's fiancee, Debbie Gwyther.
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In Ted Kessler and Hamish MacBain's new Oasis book, A Sound So Very Loud, the former recalls meeting Liam in a London pub in 2016, two years after his group Beady Eye disbanded.
And he says we have Debbie to thank for persuading Liam to keep performing. Ted says: 'In the pub, over pints, Liam explained what had been going on for the past two years.
'Since he'd dispensed with the intricate management scaffolding that keeps rock megastars afloat, he'd spent a while in freefall.'
Ted says that just like the gangster played by Ray Winstone in the 2000 movie Sexy Beast, Liam also considered retiring abroad.
He explains: 'He had tumbled out of the bubble to such an extent that for a while, he considered jacking it all in and moving to Majorca, living 'Sexy Beast-style'. Debbie, who had previously worked at Beady Eye's management company, put paid to that.'
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The book reveals how Liam listened to Debbie's wise, albeit harsh advice.
Liam explains: 'She just told me to stop being a d**khead. She got me out the house, introduced me to new people outside my world, got me doing new things.'
The book adds: 'She also firmly reminded him that he was the greatest rock 'n' roll frontman of his generation, he was only 43 and there was lots of mileage left on his engine.
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'Perhaps he just needed to work with different people – which is exactly what he did, going to LA and collaborating with songwriter-producers Greg Kurstin, Andrew Wyatt and Dan Grech-Marguerat, demoing and recording new songs, some of which Liam played via Debbie's laptop when we were drunk in the pub, miming the words and dancing as I listened through headphones, giving them a thumbs-up.'
Liam, 52, and Debbie, 41, his former personal assistant, got together in 2014 – the year Liam divorced his second wife, former All Saints singer Nicole Appleton.
He was married to actress Patsy Kensit from 1997 to 2000 and has four children – Lennon, 25, with Patsy, Gene, 23 with Nicole, and two daughters, Molly, 27, with singer Lisa Moorish and Gemma, 12, with journalist Liza Ghorbani.
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Liam's period of self-doubt came after five years with Beady Eye. The band formed in 2009 and was made up of Liam, former Oasis members Gem Archer and Andy Bell and drummer Chris Sharrock.
They released two albums, Different Gear, Still Speeding in 2011 and BE in 2013 – but neither enjoyed anything like the success of Oasis. Both reached the top 5 in the UK album chart, but they had just one top 40 single with The Roller in 2011.
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A Sound Very Loud – dubbed the inside story of every song Oasis every recorded – also details other interactions the authors had with the band.
Ted was with the NME when he went to Camden, North London, with the band in May 1994, three months before Definitely Maybe came out. He took them to famous boozer The Good Mixer, which was often frequented by musicians.
'Liam immediately spied Graham Coxon of Blur at a table and marched up to him, bombarding the introverted guitarist with aggressive bonhomie,' Ted writes. ''You're him out of Blur!' he boomed. 'Good band… sh*** clothes though'.
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'They met again at the urinal, where Liam jostled the mid-flow Coxon, splashing his strides.
'An upset Graham complained to the landlord, who foolishly ushered Oasis out forever.'
Later, the Gallaghers and their entourage got into a row at a rock venue with 'several dozen fans of a long-forgotten techno-punk group' who played that night.
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Ted writes: 'Confusingly, this dispute became physical and a bundle of goths, record company employees and perhaps some Gallaghers ensued.
'Once more, Oasis were shown the door, bringing the curtain down on our evening tog-ether. So I wombled off into London's orangey black, swaying at the night bus stop at 2am, wondering when the next night out with the Gallaghers might be.'
Last week, Noel, 57, told pals the band sounded good in rehearsals.
He and Liam will walk on stage together for the first time since 2004 on July 4 at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. There will also be dates in Manchester, London and Dublin on the UK leg of the tour.
A Sound So Very Loud: The Inside Story of Every Song Oasis Recorded by Ted Kessler & Hamish MacBain is published by Pan Macmillan on July 3 costing £25 for hardback – ebook and audiobook also available. Preorder book here