Gary Numan facts: Age, real name, songs, wife and children of the new wave icon

27 June 2025, 15:17 | Updated: 28 June 2025, 12:10

Gary Numan is a post-punk survivor who has always done what he wants in his own way.

The heady days of punk and the new wave after it spawned hundreds of acts who had been inspired by Sex Pistols gigs at the 100 Club, Lesser Free Trade Hall and elsewhere.

Some stuck around. Many didn't. One who has kept on keeping on through all the years, doing their thing without compromise, is Gary Numan.

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But how much do you know about Gary Numan?

Do you know his real name? Which major stars he collaborated with? Or about the time he flew a plane around the world?

Read on for all the fast facts you'll ever need.

How old is Gary Numan and what's his real name?

Gary Numan was born Gary Anthony James Webb on March 8, 1958. He celebrated his 67th birthday in 2025.

He was born in Hammersmith, West London to mum Beryl and dad Tony, who later became his manager.

Gary went to Town Farm Junior School in Stanwell, Surrey, Ashford County Grammar School and Slough Grammar School. He claimed to have been expelled before he could get any O levels.

He went to Brooklands Technical College in Weybridge, Surrey, before joining the Air Training Corps.

Gary had a bunch of jobs in his early years, including a Heathrow Airport bus driver like his dad, as well as a forklift driver, accounts clerk and air conditioning ventilator fitter.

How did Gary Numan get into music?

Bombers

Gary's dad bought him a Gibson Les Paul when he was 15. Like the rest of his generation, punk was an obvious influence.

He played in various bands, and later claimed to have auditioned for The Jam before they were established. He didn't get the job, and later suggested that it was for the best.

"I'd have had a fight with Weller within about two weeks!" he told the Huffington Post. "You just can't have two frontmen in the same band with the same forceful personalities and both wanting to get their own way."

He instead played in a punk group that apparently went through the names Riot, Heroin, and Stiletto, before Numan was kicked out.

They then changed their name to Mean Street and their song 'Bunch of Stiffs' featured on both the Live at the Vortex compilation and Vortex 7", though it seems as though Numan had left by that point.

Numan then joined The Lasers, which is where he met bass player Paul Gardiner. The band morphed into Tubeway Army, and his uncle Jess Lidyard joined on drums.

In the days of "Johnny Rotten", "Sid Vicious", "Rat Scabies" and the like, they needed punk names, and Webb renamed himself "Valerian", Gardiner "Scarlett" and Lidyard "Rael".

They started playing punky gigs and got signed to Beggars Banquet, releasing the singles 'That's Too Bad' and 'Bombers'/'Blue Eyes'/'OD Receiver' in 1978.

Gary Numan /Tubeway Army - OGWT "Down In The Park"

Three were lineup changes, a tweak in sound and a decision to eventually give up violent punk shows for the safety of the studio.

The original Tubeway Army trio swiftly recorded the Tubeway Army album, with all of its 12 tracks written by Gary, who had renamed himself Gary Numan shortly before its release.

It's claimed that he found the name in the Yellow Pages, supposedly adapted from a plumber called "Arthur Neumann".

Follow-up Replicas featured the singles 'Down in the Park' and 'Are 'Friends' Electric?'. The latter went to number one, and soon after its release, Numan would emerge as a solo artist, even though he continued to work with the same musicians as his backing band.

What are Gary Numan's biggest songs?

Tubeway Army Are Friends Electric Very Rare Unbroadcast Complete Version 1979

Gary Numan has released 300-plus songs across his career, with more than 20 top 40 singles.

We couldn't even begin to list them all here, but we'll recommend the excellent Electric Friends podcast, which looks at his songs, one by one.

Below, we round up just his very biggest and best numbers:

• That's Too Bad (Tubeway Army)
• Bombers (Tubeway Army)
• Down in the Park (Tubeway Army)
• Are 'Friends' Electric? (Tubeway Army)
• Cars
• Complex
• I Die: You Die
• M.E.
• This Wreckage
• She's Got Claws
• Music For Chameleons
• We Take Mystery (To Bed)
• White Boys and Heroes
• Warriors
• Sister Surprise
• Berserker
• Your Fascination
• This Is Love
• I Can't Stop
• New Anger
• Heart
• The Skin Game
• A Question of Faith
• Absolution
• Rip
• Crazier
• In a Dark Place
• Intruder
• My Name is Ruin

What are Gary Numan's biggest collaborations?

Fear Factory - Cars (Remix) [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

Gary Numan was the boss of Tubeway Army, is clearly a singular talent, and as we've said, is a headstrong artist who doesn't compromise.

With all that said, he's also been more than happy to collaborate with other artists, coming up with some pretty incredible work.

His most eye-catching hookups include songs with Robert Palmer, ('I Dream of Wires', 'Found You Now' and 'Style Kills') Shakatak's Bill Sharpe (as Sharpe/Numan), Fear Factory ('Cars' and 'Obsolete'), Dubstar ('Redirected Mail'), Andy Gray ('Ancients' and 'For You'), Afrika Bambaataa ('Metal'), Little Boots ('Venus in Furs' and 'Stuck on Repeat'), Battles ('My Machines') and Jean-Michel Jarre ('Here For You').

Numan has collaborated live with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Foo Fighters, while his songs have been heavily sampled over the years.

Most famously, Basement Jaxx sampled 'ME' and 'The Wreckage' for 'Where's Your Head At', 'Cars' was sampled by Armand Van Helden for 'Koochy', and Sugababes lifted the riff from 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' for 'Freak Like Me'.

When did Gary Numan become a pilot and did he really fly all the way around the world?

As well as music, Gary has always been a big fan of flying and considered becoming a pilot from a young age.

He got his pilot's licence on December 17, 1980 and bought his first plane the very next day: a Cessna 182 Skylane for £12,000. Less than six months later, he formed his own charter flight company.

He called it: Numanair.

Numan continued to buy planes and fly them, and tried to fly all the way around the world. It was a feat he achieved in a Piper PA-31 Navajo with co-pilot Bob Thompson in November and December 1981

He gave up flying in 2005, after a number of his colleagues and friends died in different accidents, and Numanair ceased operating in June 2013.

Is Gary Numan married and does he have any children?

Gary Numan has always been a family man, with his beloved mum Beryl running his fan club and his dad Tony being his manager. His brother John also joined his backing band.

That family focus continued in his later years.

Gary married Gemma O'Neill, a former member of his fan club, in 1997.

"I met Gemma, my wife, when she was 12," Gary told The Guardian. "She had a schoolgirl crush on me and her dad had arranged for her to meet me.

Gary Numan - My Name Is Ruin (Official Video)

"Later, she started coming to my concerts, but I only got to know her well after her mother died. I rang to see how she was, and that's how it started.

"She's incredibly thoughtful and intelligent. I was riddled with self-doubt when we got together and thought my music career was finished – she got me to accept that a lot of people liked what I did."

They've got three daughters together, with one of his daughters, Persia, singing on his 2017 song 'My Name is Ruin' when she was just 11. His other children are called Raven and Echo.

Raven has started making her own music, releasing her debut EP in 2024.