Lewis Capaldi vs Noel Gallagher: The trouble between troubadours

Noel Gallagher - Britpop superstar turned arch-enemy of Scotland

After 25 years in the music business, Noel Gallagher is no stranger to a celebrity feud.

He famously described Robbie Williams as the "fat dancer from Take That" and his veiled digs at his brother, Liam, are too numerous to recount.

Now the former Oasis star is at loggerheads with young Scottish upstart Lewis Capaldi.

The war of words escalated when the 52-year-old, whose wife Sara MacDonald is from Edinburgh, described Scotland as "like a Third World country".

But the blow to his wife's home nation paled in comparison with his cut-throat name-calling, as he branded Capaldi as "Chewbacca".

Unabashed by the High Flying Bird star's vitriol, Lewis has generally responded with kindness - including a T-shirt emblazoned with Noel's face inside a love heart.

Why are the two at war?

As excitement brewed for festival season in mid-June, Noel delivered a withering opinion on the state of modern music during an interview with Radio X.

Interviewer Gordon Smart pointed to the talents of young artists like Lewis in an effort to allay the star's concerns. "Who's this Capaldi fella?" was his response before branding the 22-year-old an "idiot".

Lewis' reaction tickled fans as, rather than responding with hatred, he claimed he had "peaked".

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He posted a video on Snapchat saying: "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. Happy Father's Day, Noel."

Unimpressed, Noel responded by posting a video of his son weeping to Lewis' hit track Someone You Loved, advising him to "find some joy" in his music.

The song later became one of the UK's best-selling songs of the year.

Days later, the Whitburn songwriter used an appearance on the Glastonbury stage to extend an olive branch to Noel, by wearing a love heart T-shirt during his performance.

Asked if Noel would be proud of his set, he said: "I hope so. Love you Noel, that's for you."

But friendship failed to blossom as he was later spotted posing for a photo with the star's sibling rival Liam.

(Probably) incensed by the move, Noel then launched his most bitter attack to date during an interview with Variety.

The BBC has chosen to replace all expletives with the word "Oasis" in the quotes that follow.

He said: "[Oasis] Chewbacca should enjoy his 15 minutes. The greatest day of his life that I slagged him off or called him an idiot.

"It's the greatest day of his [Oasis] life so far. He's just thinking, "Wow!" Well, I know you're Scottish and all that, but [Oasis] hell!

"It is like a third world country, but for [Oasis]'s sake, man, you must have had a better day than this."

Noel's allies continued to dwindle as his own daughter Anais told how she wanted to be Lewis Capaldi when she grew up.

Discussing Anais' tweet, Noel told Variety: "Well, she better be better looking than that [Oasis].

"I'm not going to allow that."

The comments came after Lewis' album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent became the best-selling album of 2019.

But it was water off a Wookiee's back as Lewis swiftly changed his social media name and profile picture to reflect Noel's Chewbacca comment.

Scottish fans have since thrown their support behind the singer's good humour and benevolence ahead of his TRNSMT performance this Sunday.

Many were outraged at Noel's "Third World" jibe - with some even calling for Nicola Sturgeon to intervene.

And Liam rushed to his young friend's defence, tweeting that he "adored" Scotland.

Irn Bru also weighed in by posting a Soundcloud playlist of Liam Gallagher's music - with the firm adding, somewhat vaguely, that Noel had been "cancelled".