Harry Styles and Noel Gallagher Shutterstock (2)
One man’s opinion. Noel GallagherHe likely made some enemies after claiming that Harry Styles is not a “real” musician because of his reality TV past.
“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,” the former Oasis member, 54, recently told the Daily StarNewspaper, arguing that X Factor alums don’t work as hard as “real” musicians do.
The “Watermelon Sugar” singer, 28, entered The X Factor UKIn 2010, as a solo artist Simon CowellHe was a member of the group that would become One Direction. Styles and bandmates Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Niall HoranAnd Louis TomlinsonAfter finishing third in the competition, she signed a recording contract. The Dunkirk actor released his first solo single, “Sign of the Times,” in April 2017, one year after the band announced their hiatus.
“You’re not telling me Harry Styles is currently in a room somewhere writing a song,” Gallagher continued. “With any joy, he’ll be surrounded by a lot of girls. I can assure you he’s not got an acoustic guitar out trying to write a middle eight for something.”
Many Styles fans did not take kindly to the rocker’s comments, and they didn’t hesitate to share their displeasure via social media. “Flops always trying to stay relevant by mentioning Harry’s name,” wrote one Twitter user (who had a picture of Styles as their profile photo). “Noel gallagher, yet again, has an opinion no one asked for,” another fan tweeted.
Gallagher did question the Eternals star’s songwriting abilities, Styles defenders were quick to note that he is credited as a writer on every track on both of his albums. His third album. Harry’s House, is due out next month,And he is listed among those who penned the lead single, “As It Was.”
This isn’t the first time that the Britpop icon has trashed Styles and his music. In 2017, Gallagher argued that his pet cat could have written “Sign of the Times” in “about 10 minutes.” He went on to claim that someone else probably wrote the track for the “Golden” singer.
“People of my age have let themselves go, they’re fat, balding idiots with fading tattoos,” the Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds founder told Absolute Radio at the time. “They sit in their garage and write s–t like ‘Sign of the Times’ for Harry Styles.”
The “Wonderwall” writer previously made similar claims about Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, who he believes prioritize “style over substance” when it comes to their music.
“I find that these young people in the music game — they f–king look great, they’ve all got tattoos and the image and all that f–king bollocks, but really they’re just s–t. They’re not saying anything,” Gallagher said during a September 2020 appearance on the “Matt Morgan’s Funny How?” podcast. “The biggest-selling acts are s–t, whereas when I was growing up, the biggest-selling acts were the best acts. The best band in the entire world was often the biggest. Now the biggest thing in the world is f–king Taylor Swift. What? F–k off.”
Six months after Gallagher’s comments, the “Lover” singer, 32, took home her third Album of the Year Grammy for her eighth album, Folklore. Her ninth album, Evermore, was nominated for Album of the year at the Grammys in 2022.
