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

Spouse

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 his 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.

Lives at "Supernova Heights" in St. John's Wood in London, England, UK.

He has brown hair and blue eyes.

His favorite colour is brown.

Brother of Liam Gallagher.

Guitarist with 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.

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.

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