Noel Gallagher Reveals 10-Year-Old Son Taught Him How to Play AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’

Not every guitarist has attempted or knows how to play every single song on guitar, but there are certain riffs you'd think just about everyone would have tried. That said, Noel Gallagher revealed during a recent interview that he had just learned to play the main riff from AC/DC's "Back in Black," and the person who taught it to him may come as a surprise.

While speaking with Radio X (as shared by Music Radar), the former Oasis guitarist and songwriter revealed that his youngest son, Sonny, taught him the famous riff. The 10-year-old has been learning guitar and Gallagher admits the kid has even taught him a few things along the way.

"He’s doing good on the guitar. He rattles around on it every night," Gallagher stated. “He showed me, and I genuinely did not know how to play this riff, 'Back In Black,' which is a famous riff."

Noel added, “He’s a rocker, he likes AC/DC and Queen, it’s fucking great. I hope he hasn’t started too early so that when he gets to 18 he’s bored of it. He’s my little protégé."

While Gallagher is proud of his son, he's tried not to be obvious in his hopes that the child would follow in his musical footsteps. "My plan was always not to say, 'Right, dad's a musician, you're going to be a musician, because I know loads of kids who have done that and by the time they get to 21 they've given it up," he explained, adding, "They're just not interested. So my plan was just to leave musical instruments around the house. Sonny's always had little keyboards in his room and a guitar. He literally picked it up and he's had a go. He's into it."

The AC/DC discussion led to a little father-son needling, with Gallagher admitting "Back in Black" wasn't the only AC/DC riff that had initially stumped him. During the conversation he recalled, "[Sonny] was practicing a few things – 'Smoke on the Water.' And then he came home from school one night and said, 'Can you play 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC?' I sheepishly went, 'No'. He was like, 'Guy, in our school, can play it and he's grade 2. What grade are you?' I was like, 'I'm grade £76 million, son. That's what I am, how about that?"

Gallagher says his son eventually took part in a four-piece performance at a school concert, with the singer-guitarist stating of see his son play live, "I've never been so proud of anything or anyone in my life. It was amazing."