Noel Gallagher’s no saint, but his foul-mouthed brother, Liam, has been positively cruel to him as of late. There was the whole “potato” thing, that “creepy” diss, and, most recently, his characterization of Noel as a “sad fuck” for not attending Ariane Grande’s Manchester benefit concert. There, Liam performed “Live Forever” alongside Coldplay, while the latter’s Chris Martin covered Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger” with Grande. Coldplay, for the record, gracefully clarified on Twitter that everyone knew in advance Noel wouldn’t be able to make it.
Noel’s absence wasn’t a matter of disinterest, however. NME reports that the elder Gallagher is donating all royalties from “Don’t Look Back in Anger” to help the families of the victims of the Manchester attack. He apparently made the decision after video surfaced of a crowd outside the Manchester Arena spontaneously singing the song while mourning the tragedy. This revelation comes from Radio X host Gordon Smart, who shared Noel’s charitable act as a rebuff to Liam’s criticism.
“It’s only right to point out, and I don’t think this is public knowledge because I’m sure he would never mention it, but I found out today that as soon as ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ started to appear spontaneously at the vigils, he made sure all the royalties went to the families,” Smart said. “That was before any gig was mentioned.”
A representative for Gallagher confirmed this news to Pitchfork.
Who’s the potato now, Liam?