The best celebrity Twitter fights in rock

16 July 2023, 18:00

It's all kicking off! Noel Gallagher had a Twitter beef with Lewis Capaldi, Liam had a Twitter beef with Noel and Johnny Marr had a Twitter beef with former PM David Cameron.
It's all kicking off! Noel Gallagher had a Twitter beef with Lewis Capaldi, Liam had a Twitter beef with Noel and Johnny Marr had a Twitter beef with former PM David Cameron. Picture: Guy Bell/PA Images/Independent Photo Agency Srl/Uwe Deffner/Alamy Stock Photo

Ever made a fool of yourself on Twitter, or said something you shouldn't have? Don't fret - the stars do it too.

Twitter went live to the public on 15th July 2006 and it's safe to say a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since Stephen Fry got stuck in a lift and social media began in earnest.

Since then, it has become the number one method to air grievances among celebrities. From the occasional brutal smackdown to the ongoing social media drama that is Liam Vs Noel, here are Radio X’s favourite Twitter beefs.

  1. Lewis Capaldi Versus Noel Gallagher

    Lewis Capaldi is obviously a hero, as he proved at Glastonbury recently, but he wasn't always everyone's favourite. The Scottish singer-songwriter was surprised and delighted when Noel Gallagher told Radio X in 2019: Who's this Lewis Capaldi fella? Who the fuck's that idiot?" Capaldi posted: “What a day. It's Father's Day and I'm getting slagged off by a man who's old enough to be my da'. I’ve never been more happy.”

    Noel retorted by posting a video of his son Donovan apparently “crying” to Capaldi’s hit Someone You Loved, adding “You might wanna try finding some joy in your tunes”. All of this was water off a duck’s back to young Lewis, even when the former Oasis star compared the lad unfavourably to celebrity Wookee Chewbacca - Lewis just changed his Twitter handle to “Chewis Capaldi” and updated his profile pic accordingly.

  2. Liam Versus Noel Gallagher

    The ongoing entertainment that is Liam Gallagher's official Twitter account is the scene of much mud-slinging in the direction of his elder brother, his music and the Oasis legacy. 2019 has seen the animosity ramped up a notch, causing Liam to at one point to - gasp! - apologise. Well, to his mum, at least. But despite the mounting evidence that Oasis ain’t getting back together any time soon, one tweet has endured over the weeks, months and years for its sheer brazen randomness: “POTATO”.

  3. Van McCann Versus One Direction

    At the end of 2014 Van McCann and his band Catfish & The Bottlemen were going from strength to strength. Everyone was tuning in to the Welsh rockers; even Louis from 1D. Van McCann replied in his usual style: “Genuinely made up you like it but we're here to do us best to get u lids out charts & bands in. I promised Ma a jacuzzi see.” Ouch.

  4. Noel Gallagher Versus Ed Sheeran

    After it was announced that Ed Sheeran had sold out three Wembley Stadium shows, the former Oasis guitarist told NME that he "couldn't live in a world" where that kind of thing could happen. Ed took to Twitter to respond and proceeded to text Noel offering him two tickets to one of the shows. The pair soon buried the hatchet though, with Gallagher asking Sheeran to play a Teenage Cancer Trust show later in the year.

  5. Johnny Marr Versus David Cameron

    In 2010, former Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he liked The Smiths, prompting Marr to tweet the following… But Dave has refused to acknowledge the "ban" and presumably still throws on Hatful Of Hollow of an afternoon, now he's at a loose end.

  6. Gareth Gates Versus Young Fathers

    During the Glastonbury Festival TV coverage Pop Idol runner up Gareth Gates tweeted his outrage at Young Fathers' performance. What enraged him so about the Scottish band? We're not sure, but he was clearly very "offended." Did Young Fathers bite back? Of course they didn't.

  7. James Blunt Versus The World

    For reasons that have become unclear in the mists of time, You’re Beautiful hitmaker James Blunt has become some kind of hate figure in the music world. So much so that he’s turned his Twitter into an absolute banterfest of slapdowns, retorts and ripostes to people who slag him off. Blunt's timeline is littered with "This tweet is unavailable" messages as posts get deleted when they're comprehensively owned by the musician, but here are some that have been saved for posterity:

    But DO NOT CROSS THE BLUNT - as this fake account found out. Remember, this guy used to be a soldier.