Noel Gallagher Is Left Handed But ‘Plays Guitar and Eats Crisps’ Right-Handed

Whenever you see Noel Gallagher or Oasis in the news these days, it’s at best tangentially related to their musical output. But once upon a time, Gallagher and his brother Liam were faces of the Britpop movement that dominated the UK airwaves in the 1990s.

At their commercial peak, the band was a global phenomenon thanks to their guitar-pop stylings. In order to get to that level of fame, Noel learned to play his instrument in an idiosyncratic way. 

Noel learned to do many tasks with his off-hand

Left-handed people learn early in life that the world is not built for them. (Shoutout to everyone whose hand gets covered in pencil residue after writing in a notebook for too long.) Some items such as scissors, golf clubs, or keyboards are now made specifically to be more intuitive for southpaws. 

There are also left-handed guitars, but Noel Gallagher learned how to play the instrument the traditional way despite it not being on his natural side. 

Gallagher interviewed with British radio station Radio X to answer the most Googled questions about him. Three minutes into the video, he talks about becoming adept with his right hand for his chosen profession and other, more mundane activities. “[I play] guitar right-handed and eat crisps right-handed, but I am left-handed, I’m ambidextrous,” he says.  

Every leftie has to learn to do some things with their off-hand to get through the day, but in typical Gallagher fashion, he determines that his ambidexterity is down to him being “special.”  

The music of Oasis is overshadowed by the constant controversies caused by the two brothers 

Oasis emerged to become one of the leading forces of Britpop. Born in the aftermath of Margaret Thatcher-led conservative politics in England and partly in response to the popularity of grunge bands in America, Britpop became defined as a more optimistic and catchy brand of alternative rock that heavily relied on British reference points for musical influences and aesthetic choices. 

Oasis were heavily inspired by the Beatles, and while it would be wrong to say that they reached a similar level of fame or success, the band were all-conquering rock stars for a short stretch of time. Their debut album, Definitely Maybe, was critically acclaimed and was certified platinum on both sides of the pond.

The follow-up, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? went bigger in every way. String sections and sweeping choruses underpinned singles like “Wonderwall,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” and “Champagne Supernova,” which would push Oasis to even greater heights. Morning Glory was the best-selling album of the decade in the UK and is considered a seminal record of the era. 

But the combustible relationship between Liam and Noel was such that their stardom would only be short-lived. The other five Oasis albums are not remembered fondly, and the brothers soon became known more for fighting each other, slinging complimentary and incendiary hot takes about other bands, and being fans of Manchester City more than anything else.

Oasis disintegrated in 2009 after Noel left the band hours before a performance. He eventually started his own band, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, and has released three albums under the moniker. 

Noel’s far from the only famous left-handed guitarist

There is a long lineage of renowned guitarists that were left-handed. Duane Allman, Robert Fripp of King Crimson fame, and Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler all learned to play guitar right-handed even though they, like Noel Gallagher, were left-handed in other facets of their life. 

Jimi Hendrix was also a leftie, but he approached his situation by flipping guitars upside down and restringing them to play with his left hand. This technique contributed to the unique tone he could conjure out of his instruments and cemented him as one of the greatest guitarists ever. And, like Gallagher, Hendrix did certain things with his right hand, like writing and eating.

Kurt Cobain was another left-handed genius who died too soon, even though he was taught to write with his right hand. 

Paul McCartney is probably the most financially successful southpaw in music history, while Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi insisted on playing left-handed even after losing the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand in an industrial accident at his job at a sheet metal factory. He did so by fitting covers to his fingers, using lighter strings, and detuning his guitar to compensate for the damage.