Both on and offstage, musicians have played an important part in the public discourse for decades. By lending their famous voices to movements against war, poverty and famine, the likes of John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Bono have reached millions and helped to enact lasting change.
And then there's Liam Gallagher.
Music: The National listens
Music reviews, festivals and all things sound related
The former Oasis singer, who performs on Friday night at the Flash Forum on Yas Island with his new band Beady Eye, once claimed to be "Lennon reincarnated". A bold assertion, particularly for a man who was actually born eight years before the Beatle's death.
The Mancunian singer's mantra has also differed somewhat from that of his idol. While Lennon urged us to "give peace a chance", Gallagher has usually been more interested in starting wars of his own, albeit with other artists. With his singular wit and eye-wateringly colourful language, the singer has provided an unmissable commentary on the past 20 years of rock 'n' roll. Here are some of the finest sound bites from the man that New York magazine called "the most quotable person alive".
On being a rock 'n' roll singer:
"There's Elvis and me. I couldn't say which of the two is best."
- Q, 2010
On naming his new band Beady Eye:
"People will be calling their kids Beady Eye by the end of the year."
- Q, 2010
On the high-profile break-up of Oasis:
"I'm not going to get all sentimental. I've got too much still to do. You get your hankie out if you want to. Not me. I'm a busy man."
- The National, 2010
On loving his brother Noel:
"I'd do time for him. I love him. Me and him are cool. If anyone stepped on his toes, I'd cut them off."
- Melody Maker, 1995
On falling out with his brother Noel:
"We had a ding-dong in the airport and I think he started crying then - that was it - doesn't travel with me [on tour] any more."
- NME, 2009
On his current relationship with brother Noel:
"I haven't got one."
- NME, 2010
On suing his brother Noel:
"I didn't want this to happen. It's not nice suing your family but like I said, he was telling porkies for the sake of his mates and journalists to get a wise crack on me."
- BBC, 2011
On Oasis's rivalry with Blur:
"We can rock'n'roll, Blur can only make pop music. They ain't nothing to do with us. Blur are bobbins and that is it. That Damon Albarn? He's not good looking. I am good looking."
- M6, 2005
On Coldplay's activism:
"Chris Martin looks like a geography teacher. What's all that with writing messages about free trade? If he wants to write things down I'll give him a pen and a pad of paper. Bunch of students."
- NME, 2006
On Coldplay and Radiohead:
"I don't hate them; I don't wish they had accidents. I think their fans are boring and ugly and don't look like they're having a good time."
- The Guardian, 2008
On Victoria Beckham becoming an author:
"She can't even chew gum and walk in a straight line, let alone write a book."
- NME, 2001
On liking the paparazzi:
"It's good; people living on your doorstep and looking through your bins. Gives me a kick up the a**. Otherwise I'd just sit around getting fat."
- The Guardian, 2006
On Oasis's live experience:
"You've seen one of our gigs, you've seen 'em all."
- The Times, 2007
On why Americans don't like him:
"Americans want grungy people stabbing themselves in the head onstage. They get a bright bunch like us, with deodorant on, they don't get it."
- NME, 2006
On performing:
"I refuse to dance. And I can't dance anyway. I'm not in a band for that."
- NME, 1994
On (not) being an entertainer:
"It's about the music and that's it. I'm not an entertainer. But I do entertain people, see what I mean?"
- NME, 2007
On what the public really thinks of him:
"Loudmouth blagging gobshite from Manchester ... and they'd be totally correct."
- The Times, 2008
On what he really thinks of himself:
"I suppose I do get sad, but not for too long. I just look in the mirror and go, 'What a good-looking f*** you are.'"
- NME, 2006
On his Twitter account:
"I only use my Twitter as a weapon or to say thanks to people or if people are getting a bit fresh. Instead of waiting six months to do an interview, put them into place, do it on Twitter."
- live4ever.uk.com, 2010
On comparisons with the Beatles:
"The Beatles play guitars; we play guitars. The Beatles got hair; we've got hair. The Beatles got arms; we've got arms."
- Gigwise, 2010.
On being barred from celebrity hangout The Groucho Club after fighting with someone who made fun of an Oasis song:
"[Footballer] Gazza was at the bar, using that old joke: 'D'you want a "Roll With It"? D'you want a roll with your soup? So I squirted him with a fire extinguisher."
- NME, 2009
On celebrity friends:
"Our kid [brother Noel] hangs around with all these strange people with long hair - Russell Brand sorts - and that's just not my cup of tea."
— Manchester Evening News, 2008
On Yoko Ono showing him around John Lennon's apartment:
"It were dead spooky the feeling I got in that place. She was top. She made the tea. But I was a bit weirded-out by being in there. In a good way, though. I felt his [Lennon's] presence."
- The National, 2010
On the big questions in life:
"I guide myself. If I bump into walls, I bump into walls. I'm like a little bumper car, I keep bumping into questions and answers and it's a top buzz, man."
- The Times, 2002
On the current state of music:
"The world is crying out for a great rock'n'roll band. It has been for ages, man. That's why the time is right for Beady Eye."
- NME, 2010
Liam Gallagher and Beady Eye play at the Yas Island Flash Forum Friday night. Tickets start at Dh295 and go up to Dh495, available through www.thinkflash.ae.