correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly said Oasis is rereleasing its album “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” It is rereleasing “Definitely Maybe.” The article has been corrected.
The reunion tour from the Gallagher brothers was a surprise turn of events given how tumultuous their relationship has been since they emerged as one of the defining acts of Britpop and mainstream rock in the ’90s.
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Rumors of an Oasis comeback picked up steam after the Times reported Saturday that Oasis had lined up dates for Wembley Stadium.
Liam Gallagher also playfully indulged speculation on social media throughout the day Sunday. When asked by a fan when tour dates would be announced, Gallagher replied, “Nxt Friday,” while telling one reunion denier, “See you down the front.” He also told supporters of the reunion, “Your attitude is biblical,” while telling the naysayers and trolls, “Your attitude stinks.”
Oasis formed in 1991 and rose to stardom with 1994’s “Definitely Maybe,” which featured the hit song “Supersonic,” and 1995’s “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?,” which included the singalong smash “Wonderwall.”
While “Definitely Maybe” made the band a massive act in the United Kingdom, “Morning Glory” turned them into a global success story, selling more than 22 million copies worldwide. The album’s breakout single, “Wonderwall,” cracked the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 — the band’s only song to do so — and was a clear hit in the United States.
In all, Oasis earned eight No. 1 singles in Britain and multiple honors at the British NME Awards. In 2007, the band was honored with the BRIT Award for their contribution to music.
But the Gallagher brothers’ squabbles and jabs made the pages of British tabloids, and they publicly feuded with another Britpop band, Blur. Liam and Noel both took time off from the band at various points over the years, but it wasn’t until 2009 that they split for good.
Oasis had been on a several-city tour when Liam and Noel reportedly had a fight backstage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris. (Screens on either side of the stage reportedly confirmed an altercation.) According to multiple reports, Liam damaged one of Noel’s guitars at the show, leading to his exit. Noel’s departure forced them to cancel a handful of dates across Britain and the United States.
“People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer,” Noel said at the time, according to the BBC.
Liam and other Oasis band members continued on as the band Beady Eye, while Noel went solo as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. (Both brothers worked with Oasis bandmate Paul Arthurs over the years, too.)
Their fractured relationship has often spilled into public. Liam called Noel “a sad little dwarf” and a “potato.” Noel, meanwhile, said, “I liked my mum until she gave birth to Liam” and has suggested that his brother is an angry man — or, as he put it, “a man with a fork in a world of soup.”
When Liam accepted an award for Oasis in 2010, he didn’t thank Noel and then tossed the award into a crowd of fans. In 2011, Liam sued his brother for comments Noel made about why they canceled an Oasis show before they split. (Noel later apologized, and the lawsuit was dropped.) Seven years later, Liam claimed that Noel’s ex-wife Sara was the reason Oasis hadn’t reunited. (Noel and Sara reportedly divorced in 2023.) And in 2022, Liam accused Noel of blocking the use of Oasis songs in a documentary about the band.
Noel once teased that to link up with his brother again, it would cost $130 million for him — or for Paul McCartney to write the band a single.
Despite the brothers’ grievances, Oasis’s music persisted in pop culture. The band’s songs continued to be highlights of any show headlined by Liam or Noel. Though the band itself was dead, the Oasis energy still flourished in Britain and abroad.
This year, Noel appeared to soften up on his brother in an interview with a British publication, saying, “What he did was inspire the kids at the front to do something, do you know what I mean? ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’ And he’s still doing that now.”
And Sunday, at the Reading Festival, Liam dedicated a song to his brother and playfully told social media followers that he didn’t like the idea of being a “former” Oasis member.
“This is it, this is happening,” the band said Tuesday in a social media post announcing the tour dates.
So it seems, at least for now, Oasis is back … after all.
