Noel Gallagher has quietly donated the recent royalties from Oasis' hit Don't Look Back In Anger to the victims of the Manchester terror attack.
Sales and streams of the band's 1996 track have surged in the wake of the attack on Ariana Grande's concert at England's Manchester Arena after it was spontaneously sung by crowds at a memorial held for victims in the city.
The 50-year-old rocker was criticised by his brother Liam for failing to appear with him at Ariana's One Love Manchester benefit concert on Sunday (04Jun17).
According to journalist turned radio presenter Gordon Smart, Noel chose a more understated way of helping those affected by the attack.
"I've seen some unpleasant headlines about Noel and why he never played the gig in Manchester at the weekend," Smart said on his show on British station Radio X. "It's only right to point out, and I don't think this is public knowledge because I'm sure he would never mention it, but I found out today that as soon as 'Don't Look Back In Anger' started to appear spontaneously at the vigils, he made sure all the royalties went to the families. That was before any gig was mentioned."
Representatives for the musician confirmed he had made the donation to the victims' families to Pitchfork Media.
Don't Look Back In Anger was performed by Coldplay at the One Love Manchester event, with frontman Chris Martin later filling in for Noel on guitar and backing vocals to play another Oasis hit, Live Forever, with Liam.
Chris later thanked Noel on Twitter for encouraging him to play the two tracks, praising him for "being there in spirit" and "lending" him the songs.
Liam, 44, who has been estranged from his brother since Oasis' 2009 split, was less understanding, called his brother a "sad f**k" on the social media site for not playing the Manchester gig.
Ariana's concert raised more than $3 million (£2.3 million) for victims of the atrocity.
