Do we like Noel Gallagher?
Our score: 6 out of 10. A big-hearted charity record and no campaigning against anyone, but a few nasty off-the-cuff remarks keep it from the top end.
Noel Gallagher is the songwriter behind Oasis, the Manchester band he fronted the brains of alongside his younger brother Liam. He's known as the sharp-tongued one who says the thing everyone else is thinking, whether or not they wanted it said. After the 2025 reunion tour he told Hello he was proud of Liam and said it was 'great being back in the band' with him.
The most recent big moment was the 2026 BRIT Awards in Manchester, where he collected Songwriter of the Year. Singer Låpsley told The Times the win was 'highly offensive to our careers', and sections of the crowd booed him. He shouted 'Up the f**king Blues!' on the way off, which didn't help. Nothing newer and nastier has turned up since.
Now the harm check. In a 2023 Dutch radio interview he called Sam Smith a 'f**king idiot' in a rant about pop stars, and PinkNews reported that he misgendered them. PinkNews reported no apology from him. It's a swipe at one person, not a campaign against trans or non-binary people, but it's not a good look.
In 2024 he told The Sun that Glastonbury was 'getting a bit woke now', and said bands should 'play your f**king tunes and get off'. That's a grumpy take on political speeches at festivals rather than a policy position. On Brexit he told Big Issue in 2019 he thought the UK should not have left but had to respect the vote. Nothing on climate or migrants from him turned up in the sources we read.
The ugliest episode was in 2022, when he told a podcast about watching a Glastonbury set from the disabled viewing platform. Asked whether he would have shoved a wheelchair user aside, he said 'If I had to I would've'. Disability charity Scope called the comments insulting, and Liam apologised on the family's behalf, but no apology from Noel himself appeared in the reports we read. It was a joke told by a bloke who should know better.
So where does that leave us? He passes the harm test with an asterisk: plenty of lip, but no campaigning against anyone. The good-person test is a close call, with real charity work on one side and the disabled-fans joke on the other. We'd lean yes, with a raised eyebrow.