Noel Gallagher Became Obsessed With Sneakers After Giving Up Drugs

When Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher ditched drugs, he found a new, safer addiction. In 1998, Gallagher stopped using and quickly began collecting sneakers.

In a new interview with The Independent, the singer says he began a never ending quest for Adidas trainers. According to Noel:

“When I gave up drugs I had to obsess about something, and I’m not into cars, not into jewelery and all that kind of thing, and I had loads of guitars, so I set off on a quest to collect Adidas trainers.”

His obsession with Adidas’ line of sneakers eventually led to a collection of more than 100 pairs. Noel Gallagher has since reduced his collection, noting:

“I kept the best ones back, I’ve probably got about 20 or 30 real vintage pairs, and I put the rest back out there – I gave them to charity shops… Funnily enough when I go to Camden market I still see some of my pairs there and I’ve been very tempted to buy them back.”

While many celebrities take advantage of swag bags and other freebies, Noel says he likes buying his own sneakers. The Oasis frontman says “it’s wrong” to take handouts, which he equates to illegally downloading songs and movies.

While Oasis is no longer the powerhouse group it once was, Noel Gallagher continues to receive praise. Recently he was awarded with a Novello Award for outstanding Song Collection.

Noel and his brother Liam were legendary for their cocky attitudes and very public sibling fights. Perhaps if Noel was spending his time collecting Adidas sneakers and not putting stuff up his nose, the group would have continued to remain atop the music charts.

Do you think collecting a massive collection of sneakers is a good way to spend time? I guess anything is better than doing drugs backstage at a concert.