This week’s episode of the EPL Talk Podcast features a special segment on famous musicians and the teams they support. Here are the starting eleven plus a very large and growing substitute’s bench:
- Julio Iglesias (Real Madrid). Did you know the famous Spanish singer was once the goalkeeper for Real Madrid’s junior squad? Strange but true.
- Luciano Pavarotti (AS Roma). The Italian opera singer is near and dear to the heart of soccer fans after The Three Tenors performed so many incredible songs for Italia 1990.
- Brian Johnson (Newcastle United). The lead singer from AC/DC is a massive Newcastle United fan, so much so that he played a cameo role in “Goal: The Movie” wearing a Toon shirt and saying a few lines.
- Paul Oakenfold (Chelsea). The Chelsea fan and the world’s most famous DJ has a studio in LA named after Stamford Bridge, and has traveled the world to watch Boca Juniors.
- Joe Elliott (Sheffield United). Def Leppard’s lead singer is a die-hard Blades fan, while bandmate Rick Savage supports Sheffield Wednesday.
- Rod Stewart (Celtic). The Scottish singer still kicks soccer balls into the crowd at his concerts, and has travelled the world following Celtic.
- Steve Harris (West Ham United). The Iron Maiden founder and bass guitarist loves the Hammers so much that he often plays a guitar onstage that’s designed with West Ham colors, and wears a Hammers scarf in concert.
- Robbie Williams (Port Vale). One of the most successful solo artists in the world (”Feel,” “Rock DJ”) is such a big Port Vale supporter that he’s also a shareholder. His album, “Sing When You’re Singing” pictures Williams wearing a football kit.
- Ian Astbury (Everton). The lead singer of The Cult has played with Hollywood United FC in southern California, and released a remix version of a song from his solo band Holy Barbarians entitled “Dolly Bird (Goodison Park Shuffle).” (see video here)
- Liam Gallagher (Manchester City). The Oasis vocalist played a massive concert at City’s former ground, Maine Road, in 1996.
- David Gray (Manchester United). Famous for the single “Babylon,” Gray recently helped commentate the Arsenal against Man United match for BBC radio. Substitutes:
- Steve Jones (Chelsea). The former Sex Pistols guitarist is a die-hard Chelsea fan.
- Billy Duffy (Manchester City). The lead guitarist from The Cult (”Fire Woman,” “She Sells Sanctuary”) has been known to wear Man City shirts on stage, and also plays for Hollywood United FC with other celebrities in southern California.
- Chris DeBurgh (Liverpool). Recently profiled on The Game Podcast from The Times, DeBurgh (who is famous for the single “The Lady In Red”) supports the team in Red from Merseyside.
- Noel Gallagher (Manchester City). The mad Man City fan was rumoured to be interested in purchasing half the pitch and many stadium seats from City’s old ground, Maine Road.
- Johnny Marr (Manchester City). The former guitarist of The Smiths had trials at Manchester City and was approached by Nottingham Forest to play football.
- DJ Judge Jules (Arsenal). The Gooner fan remixed the Premier League anthem, which is currently played around football grounds in England and on the EPL Review and Preview shows.
- Fatboy Slim (Brighton). The famous DJ owns 12% of Brighton & Hove Albion.
- Elton John (Watford). The former chairman and director still has a significant financial investment in the club.
- Simon Le Bon (Manchester United). Although Duran Duran’s lead singer is from Birmingham, he’s an avid Man United fan.
The question is: Who are we missing? Tell us your stories or personal encounters with famous musicians and the football clubs they adore. Click the ‘comments’ link below.
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi,
Placido Domingo is a huge football/Barcelona fan and he actually schedules his singing arrangement in a way so as to not interfere with the World Cup games.
I recall seeing an FSC “Hi, I’m ??? and you’re watching the Fox Soccer Channel” segment involving two singers from Depeche Mode. I can’t remember their names but one was a Chelsea supporter and the other was for Arsenal.
They’re not an EPL team but actor Patrick Stewart is a hard-core Huddersfield Town (HTFC) fan. On one occasion he went on the pitch at the Galpharm Stadium to wave to the crowd and was greeted with a chant of “Picard is a Town fan” and the Vulcan salute.
- Brett
There is a Canadian musician, Matthew Good, who is a die-hard Arsenal supporter. He’s done segments on MuchMusic (Canada’s MTV) wearing an Arsenal jersey and even once did an interview at a local stadium where he made the VideoJockey play footie with him.
Too bad he’s an irrepresible c***, otherwise, I’d probably be a big fan of his.
Bill Bragg is, unfortunately, a West Ham supporter.
lets not forget andrew lloyd webber is a huge Leyton orient fan !
In the Fox Soccer spot with the two Depeche Mode members, the Arsenal fan is Martin Gore, and I believe (but am not certain) that the Chelsea fan is David Gahan.
Not very famous but Andy from St. Andrew’s Cross & Mad the Swine is a huge Magpies fan
Johnny “Rotten” Lydon is a big time Gooner!
So is Roger Daltrey of The Who. He even sang during the last match at Highbury. How you missed them with some of the ponces that made this list is beyond me. I also think one of The Rifles is a Hammers fan as they had a West Ham Flag draped over one of their amps when I saw them in London last year. But we won’t hold it against them.
Pulled from a Bill Simmons article:
Waford – Once owned by Elton John.
Everton – Paul McCartney.
Chelsea – Michael Caine.
Arsenal – Gavin Rossdale, Spike Lee, Hornby, Dido, Roger Waters, Andrew Ridgeley (the other guy from Wham!), Ray Davies, Colin Firth, Will Wheaton, Freddie Prinze Jr., Kevin Costner, Jackie and Joan Collins, Queen Elizabeth, Price Harry, Fidel Castro, John Gotti, Michael Moore and Osama Bin Laden.
Newcastle – Tony Blair, and Sting.
Liverpool – Sporty Spice, Chris DeBurgh, Darren Clarke and Dr. Dre.
Tottenham Hotspur – Steve Nash, Salman Rushie, Ray Liotta, Grabriel Garcia Marquez, Jude Law, Bob Marley, Donal Logue, Shania Twain, Baby Spice and the head of ESPN John Skipper.
On the Star Trek theme, Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) is a Tottenham fan as well.
Anyone that watches socceram would see the whole thing where celebrities without clubs pick out of the hat.
I think Seth Rogan got Bournemouth and Evander Holyfield were on a few weeks ago can’t remember exactly think he got Tranmere.
Paul Greengrass is a spurs fan im pretty sure. He talked about bourne ultimatum and the possibility of a fourth edition on the Mayo etc with Damon…
To correct Lynne K’s post above (a year after she posted it but what the hell…):
Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore is not an Arsenal fan, he supports Chelsea.
Singer Dave Gahan is also a Chelsea fan, but he isn’t into football very much
Keyboardist Andy Fletcher is a Liverpool supporter.
Finally, Alan Wilder, who left Depeche Mode in ‘94, is a QPR supporter.
And yes, I am a *huge* Depeche Mode fan.
Eric Clapton is a Baggies fan, Robert Plant is a Dingle (Wolves supporter).
Damien Lovelock from the ‘Celibate Rifles’ is an Arsenal fan. He does commenatary in Australia now. His old man used to play for Arsenal. A good family for sure. Pretty funny though, his band was called ‘Celibate Rifles’ and his old man played for ‘Gunners’.
Aston Villa – Prince William of Wales
Bob Marley is a Spurs fan? SICK!
Jim Kerr of Simple Minds was part of a group trying to buy Celtic a number of years ago…..
Ian McCulloch and Will Seargent of Echo and the Bunnymen are both Liverpool ticket holders…
Snoop Dogg and Kobe Bryant(LOL, I know he’s not a musician) are reportedly huge Barcelona fans. In fact, Kobe is said to be good friends with Ronaldinho.
Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns is a huge Spurs fan .
Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls is said to be a huge Inter fan.
Yeah, there was a lot in the British media regarding Steve Nash after he said it was his dream to one day own Tottenham.
Pete Doherty (Libertines and Babyshambles) is a QPR fan.
Jarvis Cocker, Nick Banks and Richard Hawley (Pulp) are all Sheffield Wednesday fans.
Pete Tong ( king of British Dance radio) is a Gooner I believe as is Benny Anderson of ABBA and Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys!
As for my beloved Spurs, we have the following
Phil Collins, Bruce Foxton (The jam), Lush ( mid ninties indie band), Status Quo and Lemar.
Dont forget Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap, who supports Shrewsbury Town.
Surely the strangest is Jon Anderson, lead singer of Yes and Jon and Vangelis, who supports Accrington Stanley!!
the fellas from teh stone roses are massive united fans.
George Michael, Ricky Martin, Elton John, and Boy George are all man u fans.
i notice the trend.. lol
didn’t see Ian Mculloch of Echo and Bunnymen on the list for Liverpool.
Robert Smith of the Cure is a massive QPR supporter.
Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne from Black Sabbath are both Aston Villa fans, as is violinist Nigel Kennedy.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Saw this on your comments… I always find it funny who Morrissey supports… There was word that he liked Man U, even wrote a song about the Munich Air disaster.. Then he went on his Bobby Moore kick, and wore the West Ham Boys club. I think its more about being an east end hard man. And recently it was reported he supported Millwall of all teams. again wanting to line up with so called 'hard' men.
West Ham is the English team for Rod Stewart, David Essex, Nick Berry ( if you call his album music), John Cleese ( sang a bit), Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Roger O'Donnell of the Cure, Louise Wener of Sleeper, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, Chesney Hawkes, Keith Flint of the Prodigy, Jo O'Meara of S Club 7 ( yeah I know), Russell Brand ( he at least played a rock star)
and yeah and Obama ( they called him a rock star)
Warren Mitchell, Phil Cornwell, Paul Whitehouse, Patsy Kensit, Jerry Springer, Peter Cook and Paul Merton are all Spurs fans but seeing as this is about musicians then so are Jeff Beck, Donny Osmond, Bob Marley, Shania Twain, Chas 'n' Dave and the band 'Ride'.
Rod Stewart changed teams then, because in the liner notes for his “Footlose and Fancy Free” album, he specifically lists Celtic and Manchester United as his two clubs.
Gary Barlow – Liverpool
Sean Bean isn’t a musician but he’s an avid Sheffield United fan
Judas Priest( or three of them Ian, Ken(K.K.) and Glen) are big Baggies fans. {http://www.baggies.com/celebrities/}
Dunno who Rob and Scott support. Its kinda ironic that their single United is used by The Blades before kickoff. Wonder what the three think of when they sit in Bramall Lane for the away game:)
Must say they put on a hell of a concert. Pure Heavy Metal.
Interesting you list Elton John as a Man U fan… seeing as he is the world’s most famous Fulham supporter, not to mention an honorary board member and a shareholder. Just shows how much bull you can get away with on these sites… Bob Marley porbably wasn’t a spurs fan, it’s just a spurs fan saying that due to the whole shared cultural heritage of rastas and jews.
Cannot believe that you left out Ian Brown and Morrisey who are both Man Utd fans.
Elvis Costello is a huge Liverpool fan. YNWA