Biography for
Noel Gallagher (II) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

29 May 1967, Longsight, Manchester, England, UK

Birth Name

Noel Thomas David Gallagher

Nickname

The Chief
Wrinkly Rocker

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Biography

Noel born in Manchester, England to a poor family, was constantly put down by counselors and friends not to go into music. Received his first guitar as a present when a kid from his mum Peggy, he taught himself how to play despite being left-handed and owning a right handed guitar. As a teenager he got into trouble for stealing cars and bikes, but it was one night that both he and his brother Liam Gallagher were at a Stone Roses concert, coincidentally not together, that he realized that music was the only thing for him. Noel auditioned to be the lead singer for a band called the Inspiral Carpets, and although he was turned away due to a lack of voice strength, he toured with them as their roadie. When his brother convinced him that he could do much more in his band, Rain, he agreed only if he had total control and could change the band name to Oasis. That was ten years ago, now 5 albums, millions of pounds, and several bandmates later, Noel and Oasis rate amongst the greatest bands of all time and one of the greatest in the world today.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Michael Marino <Anderson9@aol.com>

Spouse

Sara MacDonald	(18 June 2010 - present) 2 children
Meg Matthews	(5 June 1997 - 19 January 2001) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Mother: Margaret Sweeny Gallagher, better known as Peggy.

Father: Thomas Gallagher (or Tommy).

Parents got divorced when Noel was 15 after his father hit his mother over the head with a hammer.

Pets: Two stray cats that he adopted named "Benson" and "Hedges" (after his favorite brand of cigarettes), and also, five dogs (Ruby, Reno, TinTin, Charlie & ??).

His childhood nickname was Breshnev after the former Russian president who was known for his bushy eyebrows.

Older brother of Liam Gallagher.

Former lead guitarist for British rock group Oasis.

Daughter, Anaís, with Meg, was born. [27 January 2000]

Collaborated with the techno duo The Chemical Brothers on the songs "Setting Sun" and "Let Forever Be", both of which recall The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows."

The first concert he went to was the Damned at the Manchester Apollo in 1980.

He is a long-time fan of Pink Floyd, and regards their album "The Wall" as one of the three greatest albums of all time.

Readers of Total Guitar Magazine voted his riff to "Cigarettes and Alcohol" the 99th greatest riff of all time. [June 2004]

He's a Manchester City fan.

Wrote the smash hit "Wonderwall" for his then-girlfriend (later wife) Meg Mathews and initially wanted to sing it but gave his brother Liam Gallagher the choice.

His favorite songs are "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley, "We Love You" by The Rolling Stones, "Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, "Strange Town" by The Jam, "I Am The Walrus" by The Beatles, "I've Gotta Get A Message To You" by The Bee Gees, "My Generation" by The Who, "Hand In Glove" by The Smiths, "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks and "Looking Glass" by The La's. (Source: BBC Radio 2 "Tracks of My Years").

His partner, Sara MacDonald gave birth to a baby boy named Donovan Rory MacDonald Gallagher at 11.15am on Saturday 22nd September 2007 weighing 7lb 5oz.

Got the nickname "Wrinkly Rocker" on Russell Brand's Saturday night Radio 2 show.

Lives in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom.

During the 2005 UK general election, Gallagher told the press that he was continuing to vote for Labour in order to prevent Phil Collins from coming back to Britain under a Conservative government. This related to press reports during the 1992 general election that the multi-millionaire Collins was going to leave Britain if the Conservatives lost that election and Labour won power. Collins responded to Gallagher's comments on his website, denying that he was a Conservative Party supporter and claiming that his reasons for leaving Britain were unrelated to Labour's election win in 1997 (Collins actually left in 1994). At the end of 2005, Collins appeared on the BBC series "Room 101" (1994) and chose the Gallagher brothers as one of his dislikes, telling host Paul Merton: "They're horrible guys. They're rude. They're not as talented as they think they are".

Brother-in-law of Nicole Appleton, Natalie Appleton and Liam Howlett.

Father, with Sara MacDonald, of son Sonny Gallagher, born in November 2010.

On 28 August 2009 Noel quit Oasis after a fight with his brother, Liam Gallagher. A little before midnight on Friday he posted a statement on his message board called "Tales from the Middle of Nowhere" on the band's website announcing his departure.

Formed a new band called Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds shortly after departing Oasis. His bands eponymous album was released 17 October 2011.

Close friend of comedian Russell Brand.

The album Standing of the Shoulders of Giants was taken from the words made famous by Sir Isaac Newton: "If I can see further than anyone else, it is only because I am standing on the shoulders of giants". Noel Gallagher saw the quote on the side of a £2 coin while in a pub and liked it so much he thought it would be a suitable name for Oasis' new album. He then wrote the name on the side of a cigarette packet while drunk. When he awoke in the morning, he realised he had written "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants".

Is naturally left-handed but plays guitar right handed. He once claimed that the only thing he could do with his right hand is play the guitar.

When Michael Hutchence presented Oasis with a "Best Video" award at the 1996 BRIT Awards, Noel pointed at him onstage and declared "Has-beens shouldn't be presenting awards to Gonna-be's." This comment deeply hurt Hutchence, who responded by adding the background vocals "We're better than Oasis" to the chorus of the INXS single "Elegantly Wasted.

Personal Quotes

Actually, me and Our Kid [aka Liam Gallagher] are just using this band as a stepping stone for our double act on the "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) as comedians, cheers!

Just because you sell lots of records it doesn't mean to say you're any good. Look at Phil Collins.

I wasn't put on this earth to amass money or personal wealth. I was put on this earth to play guitar and write songs.

I'm proud of my Irish background. That's where I get my sense of humour from.

There was a big hole in my life after the Jam split up and then came the Smiths. They were just so different from anything else. And they had great songs!

Politics is like football for me. Labour is my team and even if you don't like a striker you don't give up supporting the whole team.

You pick up your guitar, you rip a few people's tunes off, you swap them around a bit, get your brother in the band, punch his head in every now and then, and it sells.

We dragged English guitar music out of the gutter.

Once I got sort of quite good then it was 'sit down, take a deep breath and attempt to copy the Beatles', which is very difficult, although I have to say I've mastered it to a tee.

Phil Collins sold five times as many records as I did. Does that make him nearly as influential as I am? Nope.

Cat Deeley bands, that's what The Flaming Lips and The Darkness are. But nothing against Cat Deeley, I'm sure she's a very nice girl.

"Liam knows a version of that, It's called Me and Me." (remarking about the old kids TV show "You and Me" (1974).)

I envy drummers. It must be the ultimate to sing and play drums at the same time. Phil Collins, no wonder he's so fucking happy.

I'm a great songwriter, but I'm not the most talented musician.

I was playing guitar before I heard The Beatles, but as I got older and listened to their tunes I realised they were amazing. They inspire me more now than they did when I was a kid and are still the greatest.

I'll do one eventually as life's too short and none of us is getting any younger. I'd like to make one while I still look good and before I look like Phil Collins, which, eventually, I will. (On recording a solo album)

I don't get the Britney (Britney Spears) thing. I certainly don't get the *NSYNC, the Robbie Williams or the Gorillaz thing. There's a lot of things I don't get.

Kylie Minogue is just a demonic little idiot as far as I'm concerned. She gets cool dance producers to work with her for some bizarre reason, I don't know why. She doesn't even have a good name. It's a stupid name, Kylie, I just don't get it.

I fucking despise hip hop. Loathe it. Eminem is a fucking idiot and I find 50 Cent the most distasteful character I have ever crossed in my life. It's so negative. Eminem's new song about his kid - isn't it the most ridiculous piece of music you have ever heard in your life? I just don't like the dragging women around on dog leads and all that stuff. I'm not fucking having that. I'm not saying they're directly responsible but that's how you end up with these fucking' gangs of youths with hoods stabbing people. I'm not saying they need to sit around listening to 'All You Need is Love'. But kids are so fucking' thick these days that they are very easily influenced, aren't they?

The boy bands of the day such as Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran could all play their instruments. It's so far removed from the bands of today like Westlife and Boyzone, who are utter shit. I am not a fan of Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet, but now there is pop music and alternative music and there is nothing in between the two.

I'm not sure about this Live 8 thing. Correct me if I am wrong, but are they hoping that one of these guys from the G8 is on a quick 15-minute break at Gleneagles and sees Annie Lennox singing 'Sweet Dreams' and thinks, 'Fuck me, she might have a point there, you know.' It's not going to fucking happen, is it? Keane doing 'Somewhere Only We Know' and some Japanese businessman going: 'Aw, look at him ... we should really fucking' drop that debt, you know.' It's not going to happen, is it?

(on London's O2 Arena) Any gig you can get to by boat that hasn't got a beach is wrong.

The scumbags are taking over the streets. I don't know what David Cameron and Gordon Brown are going to do about it. It all goes back to the Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher) years. It sounds like a cliché but that's when the rot set in.

We like annoying people. It's a Manchester thing. It's a trait. We just like pissing people off.

Phil Collins knows he can't say anything about me because I'm the fucking bollocks and that's the thing that does his head in, and the fact that he's bald.

Traditionally speaking, the three biggest twats in any band are the singer, the keyboardist and the drummer. I don't need to say anything else. (On Keane)

I fucking love U2 and I always have done - I love the size of that band. Whether you like them or not, you cannot deny that U2 have written some great fucking songs. People will not accept that Bono is sincere - in this cynical age, they think he's really just a c**t. But he's not.

Domestically, whatever Blair (Tony Blair) did will be overshadowed by Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction. But they brought in the minimum wage and for that alone it was worth it.

It would be with a heavy heart that I became a tax exile, but then again if you're earning a pound and somebody's taking 98 pence of it, what's the point?

We went to see them (Spinal Tap) in Carnegie Hall. He (Liam Gallagher) loved the film and thought they were a real band.

People fucking hate Phil Collins, and if they don't - they fucking should.

[on breaking up his act with brother Liam, who had threatened him]: It was a really unnecessary violent act, and he was swinging his guitar around and nearly took my face off with it. He doesn't like me, in a violent way. I don't get on with him, but he takes it to a *new* level. There's no point in being in a band with people you fight with. I kind of did everybody a favor.

I would like to thank NME for bestowing upon me such a great accolade. I have dreamt of this moment since I was 43 years old. I accept that I am now a genius, just like God. (On winning NME's Godlike Genius Award in 2012)

Madonna was hardcore. She took it to the edge musically as well as everything else. Twenty years from now, will we listen to Lady Gaga? No. She might think she is making a stand for the freaks and the weirdos but they're not going to have any decent fucking music to play are they?

It's all about the meat suit and the controversy. Is it about the music? Really? She's got the publicity side sorted out, but where's the fucking music? (On Lady Gaga)

[onstage at the 1996 BRIT Awards, when Michael Hutchence presented Oasis with the 'Best Video' trophy] Has-beens shouldn't be presenting awards to gonna-bes.