Noel Gallagher on Manchester Attack: Atrocity, Aimed at Young Music Fans
Noel Gallagher conveyed his dismay about Monday’s Manchester, England terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, which killed 22 people, in a new radio interview. Speaking with U.K.’s Radio X, the Oasis co-founder said that when he heard the news on the radio Tuesday morning, he was “speechless.”
A native of Manchester, Gallagher spoke of the victims. “Having played that arena and all that and stood in that foyer, and being from Manchester, as it’s dawning on you that it’s aimed at young music fans… I say there are no words, there are words. Unfortunately you can’t broadcast those words,” he said.
He also empathized with Grande. “I suppose Manchester Arena will open again, and yeah, you’ve gotta keep going, you know? I mean, I don’t know what Ariana Grande’s going to do. I couldn’t imagine that.”
“I don’t know what I would feel or how I would react. I mean, I’m pretty upset about it now, but if it was your fans? Wow,” he continued. “I’ve got a teenage daughter… she may well have been there… But bar a couple of friends of friends who were in hospital and two very close shaves, all the people that I know didn’t get involved in it or weren’t caught up in it.
“And [I’m] lucky in that sense. But, you know, I think this particular atrocity will take quite a while to heal,” he said. The full interview, which will reflect on Gallagher’s life and career in celebration of his 50th birthday, will air on Monday. Watch a video from the Radio X interview.
On Thursday, during a tribute to the victims held in Manchester’s St. Ann’s Square, the crowd began singing a moving, spontaneous rendition of Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger.”
“In total shock and absolutely devastated about what’s gone down in Manchester … Sending Love and Light to all the families involved,” Noel’s brother and Oasis co-founder Liam Gallagher tweeted.