Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Annabel Nugent

Noel Gallagher calls Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran ‘s***’ and bemoans lack of ‘proper rock stars’

Photograph: The former Oasis guitarist is a Manchester City fan

Noel Gallagher has criticised today’s pop stars such as Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, calling the pair “s***”.

The musician made the disparaging comments when he appeared on Matt Morgan’s podcast Funny How?.

He said: “The biggest-selling acts are s***, whereas when I was growing up, the biggest-selling acts were the best acts. The biggest band in the world was usually the best band in the world.

“Now the biggest things in the world if f***ing Taylor Swift? What? F*** off.”

The 53-year-old went on to lament the lack of “proper rock stars” these days. He said: "There’ll never be another David Bowie, there’ll never be another Marc Bolan, there’ll never be another Freddie Mercury, proper rock stars.

“There’ll never be people like that because musicians will never make that kind of money and the ones that do like Ed Sheeran, f****ing whatever.”

Gallagher added: “There’ll be no more private jets or David Bowie rocking into King’s Cross Station dressed as a Nazi, they’ll be none of that any more because ­people will be cowed by social media.”

“Music now is style over substance. I find that these young ­people in the music game – they f***ing look great, they’ve all got tattoos and the image and all that f***ing bollocks,” he said. “But really they’re just shit, they’re not saying anything.”

Gallagher’s comments come shortly after his claims that the US is largely responsible for the sexualisation of female artists and that “British culture would never sexualise a female”.

The former Oasis member recently also declared that he refuses to wear a face mask amid the coronavirus pandemic, stating: “There’s too many liberties being taken away from us now.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.