Noel Gallagher is no fan of wearing masks. Photo / Getty
British rock legend Noel Gallagher has gone on a furious rant about why he refuses to wear a mask, saying the "whole f***ing thing's bollocks".
Speaking to podcast host Matt Morgan, the Oasis singer said he had a good summer but "this f***ing virus bulls**t and the masks and all that is f***ing depressing".
Morgan asked, "So if you've been out and been in the shops you must have a mask?"
"I don't wear a mask, no," Gallagher replied.
"Aren't you meant to by law in a shop?" Morgan asked.
In most of the UK, face coverings are now mandatory in a range of indoor settings including shops and public transport.
"No, you're not, because the whole f***ing thing's bollocks," Gallagher told Morgan.
"You know, you're supposed to wear them in Selfridges yet you can f***ing go down the pub and be surrounded by every f***ing ****, and it's like, 'Oh we don't have the virus in pubs but we have it in Selfridges.'"
The 53-year-old musician described how he was on a train to Manchester recently when another passenger asked him to put a mask on, warning the Transport Police could get on and fine him £100 ($192).
"But you don't have to put it on if you're eating," Gallagher said.
"So I was saying, 'Oh right, so this killer virus that's sweeping through the train is going to come and attack me, but it's going to see me having a sandwich and go, 'Leave him – he's having his lunch.'"
Morgan explained that the point of the mask was "if someone's coughing next to you with coronavirus, the mask is going to lessen the dose you get".
"So if you breathe in a lot of it, your immune system, no matter how healthy you are, might be overwhelmed by it," he said.
Gallagher insisted "it's not a law" and that "there's too many f***ing liberties being taken away from us now".
"I choose not to wear one, if I get the virus it's on me," he said.
It's not on anyone else. So if every other ****'s wearing a mask I'm not going to catch it off them, and if I've got it, they're not going to catch it off me, so I just think it's a p***take. There's no need for it. Anyway, the science says they're pointless."
Morgan, who is friends with Gallagher, replied that "no, the science doesn't say that".
"Yes it does," Gallagher said.
"Listen, right. I read this thing today …" Morgan said.
"F*** off, you only read things that reinforce your own opinion," Gallagher replied.
Morgan began to explain the details of a recent article he read, but Gallagher cut in.
"I'm not f***ing interested," he said. "Why do you have to wear one when you're having a f***ing haircut but you don't have to wear one in a pub? Explain that."
Gallagher asked his friend what he thought of the man being pepper-sprayed in the train during a brawl with police after refusing to wear a mask.
"I think that's ridiculous," Morgan said.
"Right, well there you go then. End of f***ing argument," Gallagher said.
Morgan added, "But I'm saying, I would wear a mask around people just so if I caught it you're not going to get a huge amount of it."
Gallagher replied, "OK, well you'll be wearing a mask, knowing you like I do, probably for the rest of your f***ing life because you're a little cowardly f***ing germaphobe."
By contrast, Noel's estranged brother and former Oasis bandmate Liam said earlier this year that while he didn't like masks, "it's gotta be done".
The Australian site cited a 'heightened threat level' as the issue.