That Eric Alper

Happy birthday to the Chief. Noel Gallagher turns 59 today, and if there is one thing the man has never been short of, it’s material. Here are 59 facts about one of the greatest songwriters Britain has ever produced.

1. Noel Thomas David Gallagher was born on May 29, 1967 in the Longsight area of Manchester, to Irish Catholic parents.
2. He considers himself Irish, once telling the Irish Independent, “We’re really snotty Irish upstarts.”
3. He has described himself as “the weirdo in the family” — Liam’s words, actually, but Noel has embraced them.
4. Both he and his brother Paul were beaten regularly by their alcoholic father. In the documentary ‘Supersonic’, Noel quipped that his dad “beat the talent into him.”
5. Both he and Paul developed stammers as a result of the abuse, which took four years of weekly speech therapy to resolve.
6. He was expelled from school at 15 for allegedly throwing a flour bomb at a teacher. He has always maintained he didn’t do it.
7. He received six months’ probation at 14 for robbing a corner shop.
8. It was during that probation period, with little else to do, that his mother gave him a guitar. He taught himself to play.
9. The moment that changed everything: watching the Smiths perform “This Charming Man” on Top of the Pops in 1983. He decided that day he wanted to be Johnny Marr.
10. He also appeared and scored for Manchester Gaelic football team CLG Oisín at Croke Park in Dublin in 1983. Multi-talented.
11. He worked in construction as a teenager alongside his father, and the arguments were so bad they were still working at nine o’clock every night.
12. He wrote at least three songs from ‘Definitely Maybe’ — including “Live Forever” — while working in a gas company storehouse. He called it “The Hit Hut” and claimed the walls were painted gold.
13. He wrote “Live Forever” as a direct rebuttal to the pessimism of grunge. “I was trying to write something that was the opposite of all that,” he said.
14. He became a roadie and technician for Inspiral Carpets at 21 after failing an audition to be their singer.
15. He struck up a friendship with monitor engineer Mark Coyle on the Inspiral Carpets crew and spent soundchecks dissecting Beatles songs.
16. When he heard his younger brother Liam had joined a band called the Rain, he went to see them and was unimpressed. He agreed to join on one condition: total creative control and sole songwriting duties.
17. According to legend, his pitch to the band was: “Let me write your songs and I’ll take you to superstardom, or else you’ll rot here in Manchester.”
18. In May 1993, Oasis crashed a gig at King Tut’s in Glasgow — they weren’t on the bill — and ended up impressing Creation Records founder Alan McGee enough to get signed.
19. McGee took their demo to Sony America and Oasis were offered a six-album deal. Noel has said he only had six songs written at the time and got through the meeting by “bullshitting.”
20. He wrote Oasis’ first single “Supersonic” in the time it takes to play the song.
21. ‘Definitely Maybe’ became the fastest-selling debut album in British history at the time, entering the charts at number one.
22. He briefly quit Oasis in 1994 during their first American tour and flew to San Francisco without telling anyone in the band or management.
23. He wrote “Talk Tonight” as a thank-you to the girl in San Francisco who, in his own words, “talked him from off the ledge.”
24. He was tracked down by Creation’s Tim Abbot, and a trip to Las Vegas together convinced him to return to the band. Of course it was Las Vegas.
25. He originally wanted to sing “Wonderwall” himself but Liam insisted. As compensation, Noel took lead vocals on “Don’t Look Back in Anger.”
26. In 1995, he played guitar alongside Johnny Depp, Kate Moss, Paul McCartney, and Paul Weller on a charity supergroup called Smokin’ Mojo Filters.
27. Beatles producer George Martin called him “the finest songwriter of his generation.”
28. In August 1996, Oasis played two nights at Knebworth to over 250,000 fans.
29. ‘Be Here Now’ sold 813,000 copies in its first seven days, making it the fastest-selling album in UK history at the time. Noel’s response: “Just because you sell lots of records, it doesn’t mean to say you’re any good. Look at Phil Collins.”
30. He stopped using drugs on June 5, 1998, after about a year of drug-induced panic attacks and depression. Of the period from 1993 to 1998, he has said: “I can hardly remember a thing.”
31. He once ended up in a hospital in Detroit for an overdose, and the doctors couldn’t understand what was wrong with him because of his accent.
32. He named his house in Belsize Park “Supernova Heights” after “Champagne Supernova” and named his two cats “Benson” and “Hedges” after his favourite cigarettes.
33. He bought several cars and a swimming pool during the peak of Oasis fame despite the fact he can neither drive nor swim.
34. He was banned from visiting China in 1997 after performing at the Tibetan Freedom Concert. The ban appears to be permanent.
35. In 1997, he attended a party at 10 Downing Street hosted by Tony Blair, and has never entirely lived it down.
36. When Bonehead quit Oasis in 1999, Noel responded: “It’s hardly Paul McCartney leaving the Beatles, is it?”
37. The feud with Blur and Damon Albarn dominated the mid-90s. Noel has since said he believes the whole thing was manufactured by NME, and the two are now genuine friends.
38. Jay-Z opened his 2008 Glastonbury headline set — which Noel had publicly questioned — with a cover of “Wonderwall.” Noel’s position on hip-hop at Glastonbury has softened considerably since.
39. His feud with Phil Collins is one of the great one-sided rivalries in British music. He once said he voted Labour partly because “Phil Collins is threatening to come back and live here.”
40. Collins responded by appearing on Room 101 and nominating the Gallagher brothers to be banished, calling them “rude and not as talented as they think they are.” Phil Collins, fighting back.
41. When Ewan McGregor found out he had been cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi, his next-door neighbour Noel challenged him to a lightsaber fight in the garden the following morning after a party.
42. A Gibson Les Paul given to Noel by Johnny Marr was used to write “Cigarettes & Alcohol” and “Slide Away.” Before Marr owned it, it belonged to Pete Townshend.
43. Johnny Depp gave him a 1960s Fender Telecaster as a birthday present.
44. His main stage guitar since 2001 has been a Gibson ES-355 Vintage Model.
45. He is naturally left-handed but plays guitar right-handed. It’s the only thing he does with his non-dominant hand.
46. Paul Weller described his guitar playing as “rudimentary” but added that his chord sequences and rhythm playing are distinctive and recognisable. Noel has agreed with the assessment.
47. He has said he doesn’t always understand his own lyrics. About “Champagne Supernova”: “Slowly walking down the hall faster than a cannonball — what does that mean? I don’t know. I don’t care.”
48. He is dyslexic, which slows down his songwriting, and he cannot read or write music notation.
49. On 28 August 2009, he quit Oasis after a fight with Liam backstage in Paris, posting a statement at midnight: “It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight.”
50. He went on to form Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, built a home studio in Hampshire, and has released four solo number one albums.
51. He became the first artist in UK chart history to reach number one with ten consecutive studio albums.
52. He has twelve UK number one albums in total — eight with Oasis and four with the High Flying Birds.
53. He co-wrote “Birth of an Accidental Hipster” with Paul Weller for the Monkees in 2016.
54. He co-wrote three tracks with the Black Keys for their 2024 album ‘Ohio Players’, also playing guitar and adding backing vocals.
55. In 2025, he reunited with Liam for the Oasis comeback tour, confirming there is no animosity between them anymore.
56. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.
57. He is a lifelong Manchester City supporter who “cried like a baby” when they won the 2011-12 Premier League title.
58. He has said he considers himself equally British and Irish, supports the Irish national football team, and in one memorable quote said he does not consider himself “to be English at all.”
59. He has nine UK number one singles, twelve UK number one albums, seven Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, and one of the most quotable mouths in rock and roll history. Not bad for a kid from Burnage who taught himself guitar on probation.

Happy birthday, Noel. Here’s to the next 59.