Since when did Noel Gallagher become the gatekeeper of music?

Apparently Noel Gallagher is the arbiter of what makes a musician or artist.

This week the former Oasis musician stirred the anger of, dare I say, millions when he called into question ’ musical credentials, as well as anyone who has gone on to find fame through shows such as .

Yes, while he’s never shied away from espousing the gift such a talent show brought to his career, you’d be forgiven for forgetting Harry got his start on The X Factor – but .

The 54-year-old said this week: ‘The X Factor is a TV show, it’s got nothing to do with music, it’s got nothing to do with music whatsoever, and anything that has come from that, that’s got nothing to do with music.’

Oh Noel, just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times…

He went on: ‘You’re not telling me Harry Styles is currently in a room somewhere writing a song.

‘With any joy, he’ll be surrounded by a lot of girls.’

The High Flying Birds singer continued on the Through The Decades podcast: ‘I can assure you he’s not got an acoustic guitar out trying to write a middle eight for something.’

This isn’t the first time he’s had a crack at taking down his musical comrades (or Harry, for that matter).

Recently Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix , after the guitarist suggested Little Mix didn’t write their own songs when Noel claimed Little Mix ‘with the greatest respect’ (of course) were not in the same league, ‘not even in the same f***ing sport’, as Oasis, despite them, both being nominated in the same Brit Award category suggesting they were, indeed, in the same league and sport.

Jade responded in a now-iconic moment on Never Mind The Buzzcocks: ‘Yeah, shame really. Because you know, we are definitely the most successful girl group in the country, but he’s not even the most successful performer in his family.’

And before that, Noel found himself in the middle of a rather hilarious feud with Lewis Capaldi – much to Lewis’s enjoyment – after declaring he had no idea who the star was.

He said: ‘Music is f***ing w**k at the moment. Who is this Capaldi fella? Who the f***’s that idiot?’

Cut to Lewis – who relished in the slagging off – beaming the moment onto screens at his packed (and I can’t stress this enough, it was rammed; I was there, sandwiched between what felt like tens of thousands of other punters on that sweltering day) Glastonbury set in 2019, donning a T-shirt with Noel’s face on it as he strolled onto the stage.

What I would have given to see Lewis bring out Noel’s brother Liam that day to stir the simmering beef; I settled for a photo of them shaking hands backstage at the festival.

But, by this summary, I think it’s fair to say Noel spends more time slagging off other artists than actually being one, non?

Both of the Gallagher brothers became just as famous for their (oh so bloody catchy, I’ll give them that) songs as they were for sharing unedited views about pop culture and its stars, but at least Liam leans into it as his currency. His tweets, as brilliantly unhinged as they can be, are entertaining and never hurtful for the sake of it. As you were…

Instead, Noel just comes across like this ageing, ‘man yells at cloud’ gatekeeper who, more than anything else, just appears threatened by his comrades.

At the risk of stirring Noel’s ire – even though I do assume he’d never read something like this on a site such as this, what with, according to his own estimation of artists, all the songwriting he’s doing instead – this is just a sad take on an industry he should know the ins and outs of more than anyone.

As the man who wrote Wonderwall, arguably one of the most commercial songs of the 90s and, thus, a pop song by definition, surely Noel is aware of the kind of industry he found himself in, even as a rock and roll star, and how these artists join this apparent ‘league’ he holds so dear.

I often think about the cruel comment he lobbed at the 1996 Brit Awards, in which Oasis accepted the gong for best video – for Wonderwall – from INXS icon Michael Hutchence as he declared to the crowd: ‘Has-beens shouldn’t present awards to gonna-bes.’

Right now I can’t help but wonder whether these unnecessary jibes are the kind that usually come from these ‘has-beens’ trying to tear down the ‘gonna-bes’, or when it comes to Harry and co, the ‘already-ares’, as a way to cling onto relevance.

Anyway, here’s Wonderwall (I had to).

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