Liam Gallagher's swagger has made him one of rock's most formidable frontmen, but while filming the video for one of Oasis's biggest hits, the singer revealed a surprisingly self-conscious side.
British director Nick Egan reveals that Liam was so uncomfortable with having to act in the US music video for Live Forever that he punched a light and stormed off set. The unscripted moment, shocking at the time, later became the video's final shot.
Liam's self-conscious moment
"Noel and Liam did pretty much what I asked them to do, except for when Liam walked off," Egan told the Mirror. "Liam didn't want to be an actor. He was very self-conscious."
For the video's final scene, inspired by Mick Jagger's 1970 crime film Performance, Egan replaced pictures of racehorses on the wall with portraits of dead rock stars, including Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain.
He needed Liam to push a hanging light to trigger a special effect. "He really was fighting me on it," Egan recalled. "I managed to say, just give it one more time for me. And he did, but then he got up and walked out."
The rest of the band were going, 'F*** him, I'm over him, he's a baby' or whatever. I knew it wasn't the end of the world, but they never really got involved in the videos.
A career shaping music's biggest names
Oasis were just one chapter in Egan's extraordinary career. The London-born director and artist, 69, helped shape the images of stars including Duran Duran, Alanis Morissette, the Sex Pistols and Kylie Minogue.
Speaking to the Mirror at a private screening of an extended version of his 2024 documentary, Creative Vandal, he reveals what really went on behind the scenes with some of music's biggest names.
Egan, who shot six Oasis music videos including the US versions of Supersonic and Live Forever, as well as Go Let It Out and Sunday Morning Call, first encountered the Manchester lads at their chaotic 1994 Whisky a Go Go gig in Los Angeles, where Noel walked off stage after a bust-up with Liam.
"Every job I did with them, they always had a fight," Egan said. "Everyone would sit back, but the next day they were fine. They had that kind of relationship. But you always felt like you were treading on eggshells."
He added that Noel, 59, was easier to direct than Liam, 54. For Sunday Morning Call, Noel sang lead, leaving Liam unsure of his role.
The video, shot in 2000 and inspired by the 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was filmed in a disused psychiatric hospital in Vancouver.
"Liam felt self-conscious because he didn't have a place in the video," Egan said, recalling Liam "hated doing it".
Defiance beyond the set
The brothers' defiance extended beyond the set. While filming Who Feels Love? in California in 1999, they were refused entry to the restaurant at their five-star hotel, The Inn at Death Valley, because they were wearing jeans.
"They were wearing really expensive jeans, but they couldn't get into the restaurant," Egan recalled.
Although Noel has publicly complained about shooting music videos, Egan says his private messages told a different story.
"Noel put down every video they ever made, but I have faxes from him saying, 'We love this video, it's great!'" he said. "I never took offence because I realised that's just the way they are."
He admired their rejection of industry expectations, calling them "anti-rock star rock stars".
Kylie Minogue's Step Back In Time video was shot in Los Angeles.
Duran Duran and other challenges
Duran Duran presented a different challenge. Egan directed their 1993 comeback hit Ordinary World, but admits his first edit was "a complete nightmare".
"It was a really pivotal time for Duran," bassist John Taylor, 66, said. "We were trying to establish ourselves in a new era."
Egan crammed in so many ideas that editor Don Wilson had to send him away for a couple of days so he could assemble it.
The video followed a bride through the Huntington Botanical Gardens near Pasadena, California, encountering the band members between performance scenes.
Egan brought the group together barefoot in suits as a nod to The Beatles, but Taylor had other ideas.
"John, who is one of my best friends, was the difficult one," Egan admitted. "He didn't want to wear the suit, he wanted to wear leather pants and a jumper and coat."
The gamble paid off spectacularly. Ordinary World revived Duran Duran's fortunes, reaching No. 6 in Britain and No. 3 in America, while Egan's video earned an MTV Video Music Award nomination for its cinematography.
Egan also designed the band's famous Wedding Album artwork, combining old wedding photographs of the musicians' parents with pictures of the band taken in a north London photo booth. Royal Mail featured the album cover on a Duran Duran stamp last month.
Taylor said of working with Egan: "It never felt like a chore. It always felt like he's happy to do it. He loves Roger [Taylor], he loves Nick [Rhodes], he loves Simon [Le Bon], he loves me. And we all love him."
Another of Egan's most celebrated videos got off to a rocky start. Arriving in Death Valley to direct Alanis Morissette's 1995 video You Oughta Know, Egan had no concept for the shoot, and label executives were waiting.
"I was getting a bit of a panic," he said. "People were starting to go, Nick, we need to know what the first shot is."
Then, he spotted fabric poking out of a photographer's case and imagined Morissette crossing America, carrying a suitcase, to confront an ex-boyfriend who had rejected her.
"It created a different view of women in a band," Egan reflected. "Because women in bands then were just things to look at. This girl was really tough. And I laugh because I made it up on the spot!"
The video helped establish Morissette's defiant image; the song won two Grammys in 1996, including Best Rock Song.
Egan's roots were in punk: he designed artwork for the Ramones and The Clash and worked with Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood.
For the Sex Pistols' 1996 reunion, he turned the prostitute calling cards of London's phone boxes into a collage of the band's members, also designing their Filthy Lucre Live sleeve.
Now, he is focusing on painting. His new Live Forever collection at London's Karma Sanctum Soho hotel features portraits of late music legends including Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Marc Bolan.
Music videos, he fears, are dying out. "You've either got to do 15-second clips on TikTok or you've got Taylor Swift who's got millions to do it," he said.
Reflecting on the impact of his work, he added: "I'm not one with a big ego, but the bands I've worked with are iconic. And I'm glad I've helped with that."
Nick Egan's Live Forever exhibition, curated by Catalina Guirado, is on display at Karma Sanctum Soho, London. Limited-edition prints are available at theguiradocollection.com.
