Liam Gallagher Once Said He Was the Reincarnation of John Lennon
Throughout their history, Liam and Noel Gallagher, formerly of Oasis, have gained headlines for the outlandish things they've said, often about each other. However, a new quote from Liam may be the craziest. He once claimed to be the reincarnation of John Lennon.
The story comes via actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who is not playing Freddie Mercury in a biopic about the late Queen singer, on Conan a few nights ago (embedded above). Cohen says that he was receiving an award in London from GQ one night in which Gallagher and Bono were in attendance. At the party following the ceremony, the three of them, and a friend of Cohen's, are sitting on a couch, at which point Gallagher turns to him and asks, "Who was the f---ing greatest living rock star?"
Cohen first guesses Stevie Wonder, then, after being told he was incorrect, suggests Bono. Again, he was wrong. Gallagher says, "John Lennon." Cohen's friend reminds Gallagher that he said that the rock star had to be alive. Gallagher responded by saying, "John Lennon is alive," at which point he stood up, threw his arms out and exclaimed, "I am John Lennon!"
He may have been telling the truth because, according to Cohen, Gallagher's next action was straight out of Lennon's "Lost Weekend." "He falls over, hits his head on the table, looks up and looks directly at me as if I pushed him over."
Gallagher then took Cohen to task for not making a joke about him during the ceremony, as Cohen had promised to do earlier. Cohen claimed Gallagher then threatened him. "He goes, You know what? I'm going to stab you. I'm going to stab you in the eye." I thought to myself, 'Wow, I've never heard such a specific threat before.' It's one thing to stab someone but to have that, that's a good aim."
Conan O'Brien then called Gallagher "the least pleasant guy I've ever heard of."
As a method of getting revenge, Cohen had the character for his new movie, The Brothers Grimsby, in which he plays a soccer hooligan, to have his hair styled exactly like Gallagher's.
See Oasis and Other Rockers in the Top 100 Albums of the '90s