Don't Look Back in Anger Trivia Quiz

Answer:

'Don't Look Back in Anger' is one of the few Oasis singles to be sung by guitarist and main songwriter Noel Gallagher instead of his little brother Liam.

Noel said that it was inspired by Moot the Hoople's 'All the Young Dudes' and 'something the Beatles might have done'. (Presumably he is referring to John Lennon's 'Imagine', as the piano intro is somewhat similar.) When asked if 'Sally' was a reference to anyone, Noel stated that he just liked the sound of the name; Liam had heard him playing a song on his guitar while Oasis were touring with The Verve, asked him if he was singing 'so Sally can wait', and Noel liked the line so much he kept it and used it as the basis for a song - and thus, 'Don't Look Back in Anger' was born. (Liam would later claim that 'Lyla', released many years later, is about Sally's sister.)

'Don't Look Back in Anger' had three B-sides, 'Step Out', 'Underneath the Sky' (which is on 'The Masterplan', a B-sides compilation), and a cover of Slade's 'Cum On Feel the Noize'. Oasis performed both 'Don't Look Back in Anger' and 'Cum On Feel the Noize' on 'Top of the Pops', being the second band to perform two songs in a row on the show (The Jam being the first).

Oasis played 'Don't Look Back in Anger' at the vast majority of their gigs, with Noel encouraging the crowd to sing along, and it remains both a band and a fan favourite, rating high in various polls (such as 'Q' Magazine's greatest singles of all time in 2006). At a gig at Manchester Apollo in 2005, Tori Amos covered the song as part of her 'Tori's Piano Bar' section, a part of her gigs on the 'Beekeeper' tour where she would play two cover versions, some of which were sent in by fans. She had only learned to play the song that day and introduced it as being by a band from Manchester.

'Don't Look Back in Anger' took on a new meaning in 2017 after a terrorist bombing at an Ariana Grande gig at the Manchester Arena on 22nd May, where 22 people were killed. After a minute's silence was held in Manchester city centre the next day, the crowd began to sing it. At the One Love Manchester concert, a benefit concert organised in response to the bombing, Coldplay's Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland sang the song along with Grande. Liam also sang it a cappella during his set at Glastonbury that year.