Steve Earle has called Noel Gallagher ''the most overrated songwriter ever''.

The 'Copperheard Road' hitmaker has slammed the Oasis legend's lyrical ability and thinks his band rocketed to fame in the 1990s because they ''behaved badly'', but hailed fellow British musician Damon Albarn - who sang and penned tracks in rival group Blur - a ''real f**king songwriter''.

He told The Guardian newspaper: ''I dislike Man City because it is Oasis's club. Noel Gallagher is the most overrated songwriter in the whole history of pop music. They were perfect for the Brit press because they behaved badly and got all the attention. Blur were really great. That guy Damon Albarn is a real f**kin' songwriter.''

Noel wrote a string of top ten hits for Oasis including 'Don't Look Back In Anger', 'Wonderwall', 'Some Might Say', 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' and 'Live Forever', whilst Blur also spawned chart topping tracks 'Girls & Boys', Beetlebum', 'Parklife' and 'Charmless Man' as the two groups battled it out in on the Brit Pop scene in the 90s.

Nowadays the songwriters are firm friends and even teamed up together on Albarn's new Gorillaz's track 'We Got The Power', and Albarn even gushed about how ''great'' Gallagher was in the studio.

Meanwhile, Steve Earle also criticised most of today's male country singers apart from 'Tennessee Whiskey' singer Chris Stapleton, and said he's a huge fan of Kendrick Lamar.

He said: ''The best stuff coming out of Nashville is all by women except for Chris Stapleton. He's great. The guys just wanna sing about getting fucked up. They're just doing hip-hop for people who are afraid of black people. I like the new Kendrick Lamar record, so I'll just listen to that.''