Richard Ashcroft is the man of the moment. Fresh from supporting Oasis as the self-proclaimed \u201conly man for the job\u201d, the former Verve singer is back with an (almost) sold-out arena tour for 2026, and some more Oasis dates in South America, not to mention a seventh solo album, Lovin\u2019 You. We caught up with Ashcroft to chat about loving Abba, being inspired by Serge Gainsbourg and fighting Liam Gallagher.<\/p>\n
Hi, Richard! Always a pleasure to interview another Richard \u2013 who else is in the club?
Madeley \u2026 Hammond \u2026 It\u2019s dying out. I\u00a0wonder if it\u2019s because of the Dick abbreviation? Back in the day, old actors were very happy being Dickie. I\u00a0went into an off licence in Chiswick and this lad went: \u201cAll right, Dickie?\u201d I said: \u201cDo you know what happens to people who call me Dickie?\u201d He said: \u201cOh no, sorry mate.\u201d I\u00a0said: \u201cI\u2019m only joking. I don\u2019t give a shit. Call me what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything\u2019s so fractured, we\u2019ve almost forgotten what it\u2019s like to come together and have a good time<\/p>\n
How does it feel to be selling out arenas in 2025? Have the Oasis<\/a> shows helped introduce you to new fans? What did you think of that viral clip<\/a> of\u00a0someone Shazamming Bitter Sweet Symphony at an Oasis show? You came out on stage the next week and said: \u201cGet your Shazams out!\u201d Do people still shout \u201cthe Bitter Sweet Symphony video\u2019s over, mate\u201d when they see you walking down the road? Your 2018 appearance on BBC Breakfast<\/a> was legendary: from dissing Kellogg\u2019s Krave to complimenting Charlie Stayt on his hair and jumping over the sofa claiming the studio was The Truman Show. Would you like your own chatshow? Did you get to go on a Supermarket Sweep-style, grab-all-you-can binge around John Lewis for letting it use Sonnet in its 2024 Christmas advert<\/a>? Songs for the lovers \u2026 Ashcroft with the Verve, performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2008. Photograph: Anthony Devlin\/PA<\/p>\n Hang on \u2026 You mean you could have moved in with the PG Tips monkey in\u00a0place of Johnny Vegas? Sir Paul, Sir Bob, Sir Cliff, Sir Elton, Sir\u00a0Rod, Sir Brian \u2026 when can we expect Sir Richard? As an artist, I\u2019m happy so many people put up AI things on YouTube that get zero views. People are bored already<\/p>\n Liam Gallagher reckons you\u2019d have him in a fight<\/a> (\u201cHe\u2019s a lean machine,\u201d Gallagher said). But who\u2019s got the best\u00a0hair? skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Inside Saturday<\/p>\n The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend.<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n You were briefly on the books of Rotherham United. What would Richard Ashcroft the professional footballer be up to today? What scares you? Have you seen Abba Voyage<\/a>? You could send a hologram Richard Ashcroft out on tour and stay at home\u00a0with your feet up. What will you say to God when you meet him? You once said you\u2019ve never had a bad review from a good-looking person. Is\u00a0this still true?
The seeds have been germinating. The\u00a0summer Oasis gigs shone a light on them. Now, the plants have grown faster. The older fans thought: \u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0forgotten how much I love these\u00a0songs.\u201d The younger fans are getting introduced to your Bitter Sweets via cover versions<\/a> and TikTok. My ability to communicate to the audience is reaching the zenith. Everything\u2019s so\u00a0fractured, we\u2019ve almost forgotten what it\u2019s like to come\u00a0together and have a fucking good time. I remember seeing what looked like a proper football hooligan crying his eyes out to The Drugs Don\u2019t Work<\/a>. These songs and moments have that power. There are so few spaces left on this planet where we can create that kind of energy.<\/p>\n
My set was only 45 minutes. People thought: \u201cI want to see this guy do his\u00a0life\u2019s work over two hours.\u201d I\u2019ve\u00a0already built up a good following. It\u00a0can be hard when you lose the Verve\u00a0and just become Richard Ashcroft. It can take people time to\u00a0rediscover you.<\/p>\n
I see that as a beautiful thing. That\u2019s a brand new fan, joining the team.<\/p>\n
Exactly. Be proud! Why should everyone know everything? They may have only heard that song before England play football on ITV. If someone doesn\u2019t recognise a famous painting, so what? We can\u2019t be cultural snobs. I\u2019d love to get her on stage with her phone when I\u2019m doing Bitter Sweet. That would be really funny.<\/p>\n
Back in the day, I\u2019d walk around in literally the same jacket, T-shirt, corduroys and Wallabees [as in the video]. It doesn\u2019t happen so much now, thank God. I\u2019m supposed to get\u00a0retribution outside this pub, but\u00a0we\u00a0edited that out<\/a> because it looked ridiculous.<\/p>\n
In my mind, jumping over the couch, doing the whole Truman Show thing, was a deeper analysis than people thought. Live TV just makes you \u2013 me \u2013 want to do something stupid, mess the thing up. I\u2019d like my own chatshow, but I\u2019d take it back to the 70s and interview Peter Sellers and Peter Cook. I want to be able to smoke, because that was the great heyday for smokers. If you look at the old chatshows, like Parkinson, there were some amazing moments \u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s funny you should say that. The first\u00a0thing I thought was: \u201cDo I get a Christmas run at midnight?\u201d I just got paid and that was it. I don\u2019t think it was\u00a0loud enough. If you\u2019re going to use\u00a0a beautiful song like that, make sure people can hear it. But it was cool. I\u00a0was offered PG Tips, but like nearly all adverts, I turned it down.<\/p>\n
This was post-monkeys, when monkeys were no longer politically correct. I\u2019ve always loved [French songwriter\/actor] Serge Gainsbourg and all the eclectic, crazy cultural things he would do. He\u2019d do a reggae album, then an advert for sausages. The way he looked at it was: \u201cI\u2019m going to be omnipresent from high up to the\u00a0lowest of the low.\u201d Then it all becomes pop art.<\/p>\n
Years ago, I got invited to Windsor Castle to meet the queen, but it was a\u00a0solo invite without my wife, and I\u00a0didn\u2019t want to go on my own. Maybe it was a vetting process? People who were knighted used to have acted in the greatest films of all time. These days, you\u2019re like: \u201cFucking hell? What\u00a0has he done?\u201d There are people who give their lives to ensure society doesn\u2019t crumble who never get recognised. Recognising people who are getting paid for their passion can be distasteful. Why should you get the\u00a0cold steel on your shoulder just because you run around a track or jump over some hurdles? So, no. I\u00a0firmly believe you will never hear that moment \u2013 even though Sir Richard has a great ring to it. Where\u00a0are Sir Liam and Sir Noel? Who\u00a0else has\u00a0brought billions into the\u00a0economy this summer?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a tough one. Other than when\u00a0I\u00a0go skinhead, my hair has been\u00a0the same for 30 years. If he\u2019s going to give me the fight, I\u2019ll give him\u00a0the hair.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a great question. I wasn\u2019t good enough when I was a kid, so that\u2019s why\u00a0I wasn\u2019t a player. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll slow\u00a0down but, bizarrely, I\u2019ve got better as I\u2019ve got older. I\u2019d probably be\u00a0managing Manchester United. They\u00a0need to get fucking grounded fast. It\u2019d\u00a0be like Don Corleone had taken over: zero tolerance for any bullshit. I\u2019d have them going to the match on the bus, like the Busby Babes. I tell you what, they\u2019d be a sight better than they are at\u00a0the moment.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always projected into the future and read the tea leaves to see where we\u2019re heading. AI feels inevitable, but\u00a0there\u2019s nothing to be scared of, because we can see that dystopia and\u00a0technocratic future slapping us in\u00a0the face. If we went back to the 70s,\u00a0we\u2019d think smartphones are from\u00a0Star Trek. As an artist, I\u2019m happy\u00a0so many people put up AI things\u00a0on YouTube that get zero views.\u00a0People are bored already. But\u00a0technology is only going to grow to\u00a0the point where it becomes even more difficult to say: is that Frank Sinatra? Is\u00a0that Elvis? But I have always wanted a doppelganger who went around the world, did all the\u00a0press.<\/p>\n
I went the other week. It was like Oasis\u00a0\u2026 song after song. I\u2019ve always appreciated them as songwriters. That\u2019s the thing about great songwriting. Anyone can make an avant garde experimental record. Not\u00a0everyone can make songs that communicate to a guy painting a wall at 2pm as much as they do a student stoned out of his head at 4am.<\/p>\n
\u201cForgive me. Let me in \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
I must admit, I have looked them up. When I see their profile picture, I\u2019ve\u00a0thought: \u201cFair enough. I\u2019d hate me\u00a0as well if I were you.\u201d<\/p>\n