Andy Bell has been a part of some of the most venerated British rock music of all time, serving as vocalist and guitarist for Oxford band Ride – creators of two of the greatest shoegaze albums of all time in the form of Nowhere and Going Blank Again – as well as a member of Oasis, Beady Eye, and a solo artist. Forming Ride with Mark Gardener, Laurence Colbert and Steve Queralt in the late 80s, the band quickly signed to Creation Records and became one of the most successful acts on the label. Over the next decade, Ride would traverse a variety of sounds and styles and work with current and future stars including Nigel Godrich, John Leckie and George Drakoulias.
In the late 90s, Bell formed Hurricane #1, a new Britpop band featuring Alex Lowe, Will Pepper and Gareth Farmer. Finding success with their singles Step Into My World and Just Another Illusion, Hurricane #1 were notable for their genre fusion and surprising electronic elements. In the late 90s, Bell was drafted into Oasis, and began to contribute songs to the band on their later records, including Heathen Chemistry’s A Quick Peep and Don’t Believe the Truth’s Turn Up the Sun, which would later become a staple of the band’s live show. Shortly after Oasis’s dissolution, Bell formed Beady Eye with Liam Gallagher, moving from bass to guitar, and wrote songs for both of the band’s albums.
