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Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds are an English rock band formed in 2010 as the solo moniker of former Oasis songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Noel Gallagher. The touring band consists of former Oasis members Gem Archer (guitar), Mike Rowe (piano), and Chris Sharrock (drums), as well as former Zutons bassist Russell Pritchard. The band has also had a variety of guests contribute to albums such as the Crouch End Festival Chorus, Amorphous Androgynous, Johnny Marr, and Paul Weller. Since his departure from Oasis in August 2009, many speculated that Gallagher might record a solo album. In July 2011, he held a press conference to confirm this, after denying rumours from his brother Liam had already heard the tracks featured on it. Later that year, Noel released the project's self-titled debut album. Several singles from the album were released, including "The Death of You and Me", "If I Had a Gun...", "AKA... What a Life!", "Dream On", and "Everybody's on the Run". In 2015, High Flying Birds released their second album, Chasing Yesterday. Their third, Who Built the Moon?, was released in November 2017, which was followed by 3 EPs released between 2019 and 2020. Their fourth studio album, Council Skies, was released in June 2023. Gallagher stated in an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show that the inspiration for the band's name was from two sources: the idea to prefix the name with "Noel Gallagher's" was formed while he was listening to the album Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, while the latter part of the name is taken from the song "High Flying Bird", most notably recorded by Jefferson Airplane. History Break-up of Oasis (2009–2010) On 12 July 2009, rumours began to spread that Noel Gallagher intended to go solo, but these appear to have had no foundation. However, two months later, a fight between the Gallagher brothers took place in a backstage area, reportedly resulting in Noel's guitar being smashed by Liam, and Noel subsequently storming off. On 28 August 2009 Oasis' manager announced the cancellation of their concert at the Rock en Seine festival near Paris just minutes before it was about to begin, along with the cancellation of the European tour and a statement that Oasis "does not exist anymore". Two hours later, a statement from Noel appeared on the band's website writing that "with some sadness and great relief...I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer." High Flying Birds and scrapped Amorphous Androgynous album project (2011–2012) Gallagher's solo career plans began in earnest after Oasis disbanded. On 6 July 2011 Gallagher held a press conference in London during which he announced that Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds would release a self-titled album on 17 October 2011, and a second collaboration with Amorphous Androgynous would be released in 2012. In August 2011, he released his debut single "The Death of You and Me", to positive reviews. Following the success of "The Death of You and Me", Gallagher confirmed on his website that the band's next UK single would be "AKA... What a Life!" which was released on 11 September 2011. "If I Had a Gun...", Gallagher's first US single, was made available on iTunes on 20 September 2011. Gallagher's second album was to be a collaboration with Amorphous Androgynous, due in late 2012. He said, "It sounds a bit like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The sound is similar to High Flying Birds, but more psychedelic and tripped out. It's not an electronic project. People are jumping to that conclusion because Amorphous Androgynous used to be an electronic outfit." In the press conference, explaining solo album material and collaboration talk, Gallagher admitted the collaboration is "fucking far out. It's got like 18 tracks on it, some of it's krautrock, some of it's soul, some of it's funk and that's just the first song." Then later confessing, that he was nervous about releasing his second solo album with Amorphous Androgynous. "A lot of people are looking forward to it, which I'm a bit nervous about. They're building it up in their own minds, thinking it's going to be something it might not be when they hear it." He later found it hard to say "no comment" to journalists, adding, "I'm just cursed with an absolute endless stream of one-liners. I'm sorry about that. People say it's the way I talk in interviews that makes people interested. But they just mean I'm honest. 'Oh, he's got a way with honesty, that lad…' How depressing is that?" On 16 March 2012, Gallagher announced that an EP titled Songs from the Great White North would be released exclusively for Record Shop Day on 21 April 2012. The EP is made up of B-sides and includes a collaboration with Amorphous Androgynous, "Shoot a Hole into the Sun". For the High Flying Birds touring band, Gallagher recruited keyboardist Mike Rowe and drummer Jeremy Stacey, both of whom continued their roles from the album sessions. Former The Zutons bassist Russell Pritchard, upon hearing that Gallagher had recorded an album and was putting together a band, got in touch and offered his services. David McConnell of The Sand Band was originally chosen for the lead guitarist role but dropped out four weeks before the band's first show; American musician Tim Smith, whom Rowe and Stacey had known from their time together as part of Sheryl Crow's backing band, was hired as the new guitarist. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds sold 55,000 copies after two days of sale, more than twice as many copies as its nearest rival, Letters by The X Factor winner Matt Cardle. On 23 October 2011, the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 122,530 copies. In comparison, the debut album by the band of Noel's brother Liam Gallagher, Beady Eye's Different Gear, Still Speeding, sold 66,817 copies when it debuted at number three on the chart in March 2011 and has since sold 166,609 copies in the UK as of January 2012. On 11 November 2011, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 300,000 units in the UK. As of February 2012 the album has sold 600,000 copies in the UK. The album was the fourteenth best-selling album in the UK in 2011. It was also the second biggest-selling rock album of 2011 in the UK, behind Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto. As of 2 January 2013 the album has sold 739,000 copies in the UK. As February 2015 the album has sold 2.5 million copies worldwide. Chasing Yesterday (2013–2016) On 15 August 2013, Noel Gallagher appeared on the TalkSPORT show "The Sports Bar", presented by Andy Goldstein and Jason Cundy, to discuss Manchester City and other sports topics. When confronted with questions from fans on Twitter and through Email, Andy Goldstein read through speculations of rumours of an Oasis reunion for Gallagher while on the show. Once again, Gallagher swatted away any possible Oasis reunion fo.... Discover the Sara Macdonald popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sara Macdonald books.