The Epiphone Les Paul that Noel Gallagher used to record Oasis’ iconic album ‘Definitely Maybe’ is set to go to auction later this month.
The axe was used by the singer, songwriter and guitarist throughout the writing and recording process of the Britpop icons’ 1994 breakthrough debut.
It can also be seen in the music video and single cover for their hit song ‘Supersonic’ – the debut single that put them on the map – as well as on ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Shakermaker’.
Now, in an upcoming auction hosted by Sotheby’s, Noel’s Cherry Sunburst Les Paul is set to go under the hammer, and is expected to fetch between £60,000 and £80,000.
It’ll be held as part of the auction house’s ‘Popular Culture’ range and will be displayed alongside other memorabilia, including a Vox guitar used by Prince and an Abbey Road Steinway Grand Piano, used by Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Lady Gaga, Foo Fighters and more.
A guitar used by Johnny Marr – and also by Gallagher during the recording of Oasis’ track ‘Cigarettes And Alcohol’ – is also going under the hammer, and expected to reach bids between £20,000 and £30,000.
The auction will run between August 29 and September 12, visit here for more information.
While Noel has yet to comment directly on the guitar going to auction, he did recently look back at the Oasis debut album during an interview with The Sunday Times Culture magazine, in which he hailed the record as being “definitive” of the band as a whole.
“I guess it’s the definitive Oasis album,” he said. “It has the spirit, the arrogance of youth. Teenage anthems. It’s live – no bullshit. If we’d made only that album, then I’d still be as happy as I am now.”
News of the Sotheby’s auction also comes as the guitarist joined forces with Gibson to create a limited-edition run of Gibson ’78 Les Paul Customs for charity earlier this year, and as the band have been celebrating the 30th anniversary of the breakthrough LP.
To mark the milestone, the band have announced an anniversary reissue of ‘Definitely Maybe’ via Big Brother Recordings, set for release on August 30 (pre-order it here), and Liam Gallagher embarked on a run of arena shows, which saw him play the setlist in full.
There has also been consistent rumours of a reunion at play, which have gathered more momentum because of the members themselves.
Before the aforementioned tour kicked off, Liam shared that Noel turned down an opportunity to reunite for the shows, and even suggested that he would “send him a box of chocolates” as an apology for being “really mean” to him around the time of Oasis’ break-up in 2009.
More recently, Liam told his audience that Noel was “still playing hard to get” regarding a comeback for the band, and also replied to a fan who asked if a reunion of the band is happening next year.
Speculation about a reformation spans much further back than that though. For instance, speaking to NME in 2020, Liam said an Oasis reunion was “gonna happen very fucking soon”, and Noel revealed in early 2023 that he would “never say never” to the idea.
A dampener was soon put on any hopes though, as LG subsequently argued that his older brother had “done a lot of damage to Oasis as a brand”, and Noel claimed that his brother was too much of a “coward” to follow through with the idea, later accusing Liam of trying to “rewrite history” regarding Oasis’ “dreadful” final year together.
Since then, Noel discussed the possibility of an Oasis comeback during an interview with NME, adding that the reason why it hasn’t happened yet was because there had “never really been a serious offer about ‘The Big O’ getting back together”.
Other musicians have weighed in on the debate too. For instance, former Oasis guitarist Bonehead has said that he would like a reunion to go ahead because of what it would mean to the “younger fans” of the band, and Andy Bell – who played bass for the band between 1999 and 2009 – said Oasis would “probably” get back together at some point in the future.
Liam would later respond to Bell’s comments about a potential Oasis return, criticising him for “getting people’s hopes up”. Noel also took aim at Dave Grohl for bringing up the idea of a reunion at this year’s Glastonbury – adding that he told him to “wind his fucking neck in about Oasis”.
The band’s members did recently share a previously unheard version of both ‘Up In The Sky’ and ‘Sad Song’, Liam’s son Gene said his dad was looking to reunite with the band, and Noel admitted that he is still trying to “live up” to the success of Oasis‘ first two albums.
Although finishing his run of shows across the country, Liam Gallagher is still expected to bring his ‘Definitely Maybe’ set to Reading and Leeds Festivals, as he will be performing as one of the headliners next week. He will be topping the bill alongside Lana Del Rey, Blink-182, Fred Again.., Gerry Cinnamon and Catfish & The Bottlemen. Tickets are on sale now here for Reading and here for Leeds.
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