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Noel Gallagher “gobsmacked” after London clubber fails to recognise him, tells stranger to use Google to find out

January 18th, 2023

After years of being treated like a BritPop god, Oasis' former leader Noel Gallagher was left "gobsmacked" recently when a girl failed to recognise who he was, and asked him what he does for a living.

Speaking on Absolute Radio yesterday (January 17) to announce his new album Council Skies, the Mancunian singer-songwriter recalled the bewildering moment, after detailing how socialising and going out is still a huge part of his life.

"Every Thursday you can catch me in the West End – not on stage – usually in the [Chiltern] Firehouse, talking nonsense to somebody," he explains.

“Somebody asked me in the Firehouse the other night, ‘What do you do?’ And I was like… I didn’t know what to say.”

Elaborating on how he reacted to this rare interaction, Gallagher continues, “Well, I didn’t know what to say because I’d never been asked before. I was like, ‘Really?'”.

In the interview, he then points at his face in an exaggerated manner before singing a fragment of Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger.

“[The girl said], ‘So what is it you do?’ and I was like, ‘I change people’s lives for the better’. She was like, ‘Oh, what – you’re in the medical profession?’

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I was like, ‘Of sorts’.”

Gallagher then goes on to explain how the encounter left him feeling "genuinely gobsmacked".

“I was like, ‘Look, Google it, love… just put in ‘Noel Gallagher’, ‘High Flying Birds’… owt you want. ‘Oasis”, before quipping: “Put in Liam Gallagher, you’ll probably see a picture of me.”

In the same interview, the singer weighed in on the current "nepo baby" debate, in which examines whether the successful children of famous couples have been given an unfair advantage in the industry.

"It depends which way you look at it” he began. “My daughter she follows me around with a camera and she films me and all that. She did a film about the making of the [upcoming High Flying Birds] album [Council Skies].

“I guess you want to keep things close to home, but they have to be good at what they do. She’s good at what she does. She’s not just wondering around pointing a camera going, ‘Muhh there’s my dad’, she is great.”

Curated By

Maya Gupta
Investigative Journalist | Grassroots Movement Organizer | Economy Consultant/Speaker
Maya Gupta writes from the fault lines of a world that refuses to stay quiet. Focused on the collisions between culture, power, and accountability, her work cuts past polished narratives to expose what’s really moving beneath the surface. From the rise of creator-driven influence to athlete activism and grassroots resistance, she tracks the momentum shaping a generation unwilling to wait its turn. Her reporting doesn’t cater to comfort, it confronts it, challenging institutions that lean on legacy instead of legitimacy. With a voice rooted in urgency and a lens tuned to those often ignored, Maya delivers coverage that reflects the stakes as they are, not as they’re packaged. This is journalism that doesn’t just observe change, it stands in the middle of it, documenting the push, the backlash, and the undeniable shift underway.

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