Oasis has announced what many thought would never be possible: a reunion. The long-feuding brothers, Liam and Noel Gallagher, have decided to reunite after decades of fights and spats.
Four nights at Wembley are confirmed as part of a stadium tour, but there are also rumours that the band could headline Glastonbury in 2025.
“This is it. This is happening,” the brothers both wrote on their social media pages in a rare display of unity at 8am on Tuesday.
Confirming the Oasis Live 25 tour, they continued: “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”
To drive home how momentous an occasion this is, let’s journey back to 1994 and the beginning of the very public feud between the two brothers that ripped the iconic band apart.
29th September 1994
The first time that the public could spot division within the band was during a gig at the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles.
Liam started insulting the other members of the band and went so far as to throw a tambourine at his brother.
Noel disappeared for a couple of days in anger and, although eventually he returned, the spat sparked the song Talk Tonight.
November 1995
Liam and Noel were interviewed by journalist John Harris, and the chat was later released on vinyl and CD with the title of Wibbling Rivalry.
It was described as “14 minutes of verbal mayhem” and cemented the image of sibling in-fighting in the public eye.
May/June 1995
During the recording of What’s The Story, the second Oasis album, Liam supposedly invited a number of people to the studio where Noel was trying to work.
This escalated to Noel allegedly hitting his brother over the head with a cricket bat – which would later be sold at auction.
23rd August 1996
Ahead of Oasis performing on MTV Unplugged at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Liam pulled out due to illness.
Noel opened the show by saying: "Liam ain't gonna be with us 'cause he's got a sore throat, so you're stuck with the ugly four."
The band went on to play a 12-song set, with Liam seemingly well enough to watch the whole show and heckle them from the crowd.
27th August 1996
Another last-minute decision, Liam pulled out of a US tour, leaving Noel fronting the band alone.
Creation Records made a public statement: “Liam was called away at the last minute to sort out a personal matter.”
This emergency was later revealed to be due to the fact that Liam had sold his house but had nowhere for his wife to live.
He ultimately joined the tour three days late, only for it to be cancelled two weeks in.
21st May 2000
After a gig in Barcelona was cancelled after the drummer Alan White suffered an injury, the rest of the band went drinking.
Allegedly, Liam questioned the legitimacy of Noel’s daughter, prompting a physical attack from Noel and his departure from the band for the second time.
The European tour was completed without him.
1st October 2002
Two years on, the Heathen Chemistry tour was plagued with voice issues for Liam, with him leaving the stage after just four songs on one occasion.
Noel stepped in to sing for his brother but the tour ultimately ended with Liam getting into a brawl in Munich, kicking a German police officer and losing several teeth in the process. The rest of the tour dates were cancelled.
12th June 2005
During the Heineken Jammin’ Festival in Imola, Italy, Liam left the stage once again during Champagne Supernova.
In an interview about the event in October later that year, Noel said: “I’ve kind of learnt that instead of arguing stuff out with him and ending up in a fight, I work on his psychology and he’s completely freaked out by me now, he’s actually frightened to death of me.”
April 2009
One of Noel’s most notorious comments about his brother came in an interview with Q magazine, where he said: “He's the angriest man you'll ever meet. He's like a man with a fork in a world of soup.”
Later that summer, the brothers continued arguing on social media, with Noel writing: “Life would be easier without Oasis..."
23rd August 2009
This came to a head with Oasis being set to play the Chelmsford leg of V Festival but cancelling last minute due to reported laryngitis for Liam.
Noel publicly claimed that his brother was hungover, later leading to legal action from Liam that ended when Noel retracted his comments.
28th August 2009
While preparing to go onstage at the Rock En Seine festival in Paris, a fight between the brothers broke out where Liam reportedly used Noel’s guitar “like an axe”.
This was the final straw for the band, as they decided to cancel the show and the rest of the tour.
“It's with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight,” said Noel in a statement. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”
A few days later, Noel added: "The details are not important and of too great a number to list. But I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable.
“And the lack of support and understanding from my management and bandmates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new.”
It was later stated by Noel that the argument was centred over Liam’s clothing, specifically over a leather jacket.
“I am not even kidding,” he said. “I can dress it up more than this, but this is what happened.”
19th November 2009
A few months after the split, Liam announced that he would start a new band with former Oasis members Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock.
The band, called Beady Eye, would end up releasing two albums: Different Gear Still Speeding in 2011 and BE in 2013.
26th March 2010
Noel launched his career as a solo artist the following spring, with a show for Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
12th August 2012
Liam played Wonderwall with Beady Eye at the London Olympics and Noel claimed shortly afterwards that there was some back and forth about whether the band could play the Oasis hit.
“I did play a bit of cat and mouse with them for a few days,” he said. “I took it 'til Friday night at ten o'clock before I said yes and they were shitting it.”
21st November 2013
Noel quashed any rumours of a reunion while speaking to Rolling Stone, saying: "We are split up. You've heard that, haven't you? You must've heard... Yeah, so, ergo, band splits up, band is no more. There is no band. So, no, I won't be getting involved, anyway. If there is a reunion, I won't be in it."
25th October 2014
Beady Eye split, sparking fresh Oasis reunion rumours. It was even thought that they would play Glastonbury in 2015, a repeat of the rumour now circulating for 2025.
Noel told Radio X: "I'm available that weekend - it's not up to me though, is it?"
6th May 2015
More rumours abound but are ultimately quashed with both Noel and Liam’s teams issuing statements that it’s not true.
21st September 2015
Just a few months later, Noel said to Chris Moyles on Radio X: “One should never say never, should one look like a bit of an idiot somewhere down the road, when you’re waving a cheque for a quarter of a billion in The Sun!”
Wise words considering the recent news...
25th August 2016
Liam announced he’s working on solo material, with an album due for release in 2017.
22nd May 2017
For Noel’s 50th birthday, Liam wrote on Twitter: “Happy 50th rkid stay young LG”.
5th June 2017
Liam slams Noel for not appearing at the tribute concert at Old Trafford for the Manchester terrorist attacks that saw 22 people killed.
Noel’s team responded by saying the Mancunian musician was out of the country and had donated proceeds from Don’t Look Back In Anger to the fund for victims of the tragedy.
19th July 2018
Noel and Liam exchanged barbs online during the 2018 World Cup when Noel claimed that football wasn’t coming home.
Just a week later, Liam publicly asked his brother to get the band right together, writing: “I forgive you, now let's get the BIG O back together and stop f***ing about the drinks are on me LG x”
When Noel didn’t respond, Liam simply tweeted: “I’ll take that as a no then.”
21st November 2019
After numerous insulting tweets between the pair during the summer, Noel said that he took the comments seriously, telling Beats 1: “When I eventually see him, he'll realise it's not f***ing banter."
30th April 2020
In the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown, Noel released an unheard song recorded at an Oasis soundcheck in Hong Kong "about 15 years ago".
Titled Don't Stop, the tune includes Noel on vocals, which prompted Liam to say: "If you're gonna release old demos make sure I'm singing on it and Bonehead's playing guitar... if not, it’s not worth a w***."
May 2021
Noel said on The Jonathan Ross Show, Noel said that he would do a reunion for £100 million, after claims were made that he had turned down that sum.
"If anybody wants to offer me £100 million now, I'll say it now, I'll do it. I'll do it for £100 million," he said. "There isn't £100m in the music business between all of us."
As should be expected at this point, Liam couldn’t help chiming in, writing: "I'd do it for FREE".
March 2023
Noel appeared to speak more about a reunion in conversation with Radio X's Dan O'Connell in January 2023
"Look it’s the done thing now isn’t it?” he said. “Kind of everybody’s getting back together and Blur are playing Wembley stadium, everyone’s getting back together.
"I will say, and I’ve said it a thousand times, if Oasis hadn’t had reached their potential, and there was something left to do, it would be different, but I just don’t see what the point would be. It would make a load of money, I’ve got a load of money. To do some monumental [venue] I’ve already done them."
He continued: "It’s just not something that appeals to me. Now that’s not saying in 10 years' time it won’t appeal to me..."
18th March 2023
While responding to a fan on Twitter who asked if Oasis would ever get back together, Liam simply wrote: "It’s happening."
In follow-up questioning, Noel told a French news outlet: "He should get his people to call my people to call my people. They know who they are. They know where we are.
"He's got my manager's number. Call us. But you know what? He won't call. Stop talking on the f***ing internet and let's see what you've got to say."
24th August 2024
Reports started to circulate that Oasis would reunite for shows, including events at Manchester's Heaton Park and a ten-night residency at Wembley Stadium.
This was likely sparked by a statement from Liam during his headline set at Leeds Festival on Friday 23rd August, where he said: "It is very interesting innit? It is a very interesting situation we’ve found ourselves in.”
The younger brother later wrote on X: "I never did like that word FORMER."
27th August 2024
Oasis officially announced tour dates for 2025, almost exactly 15 years after the day they split.
The stadium tour will see Oasis play dates across the UK and Ireland, including Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium, London's Wembley Stadium, and some massive homecoming shows at Manchester's Heaton Park.
Tickets will go on sale very soon.
