Brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher might be the leading members of Oasis, but other figures helped form the rock band. One of those individuals was Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan, the original bassist. During the early days of Oasis, Guigsy formed a band named Rain with Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs. This led to Liam Gallagher shortly joining, before Noel followed in his footsteps. Their first encounter wasn’t completely smooth, as Guigsy recalled: “It was just three geezers and a drum machine, trying to do something. We didn’t find our feet for a long time.
“Anyway, Noel came down to the rehearsal one time and said, “Your tunes are s***. I’ll show you some tunes.” However, Guigsy’s ride to fame and fortune didn’t last long with Oasis, as he temporarily left the band in 1995 due to a diagnosis of nervous exhaustion.
Speaking about his health, he said, “There was talk of it all stopping ‘cos I wasn’t there, but it’s bigger than that. It was down to me to get my head together.”
Guigsy also added: “My body was fucked and my head was gone. Nervous breakdown, whatever you want to call it. The plot got lost.”
His replacement also struggled in Oasis during their American leg of the (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Tour. Scott MacLeod only lasted a couple of months before he left the band, blaming “homesickness.”
McGuigan did eventually rejoin Oasis, but this lasted until 1999, and he was officially replaced by Andy Bell. He wasn’t the only one, either, as rhythm guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs also left in the same year.
He cited his desire to spend more time with his family, saying in a statement: “Aside from the band, everyone had their own little thing they had to deal with, but no time to deal with it, which sort of made for an atmosphere that wasn’t fun anymore.”
However, Paul has now rejoined Oasis for their 2025 reunion tour. Guigsy has continued to keep a very low public profile. He lives in Mill Hill with his family and apparently hasn’t seen Liam Gallagher since 1999.