Oasis confirm they are back together as new tour dates announced
One of the biggest bands in the world has made a huge announcement one day after a mysterious social media post.
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Could Oasis really be getting back together?
Definitely? Maybe?
Millennial rockers and Britpop lovers everywhere have been anxious asking What’s The Story? (Morning Glory) and hoping for the news they thought they would never hear again.
Now, it has been confirmed. Gallagher brothers Liam, 51, and Noel, 57, have finally let things Slide Away without looking back in anger...
The embattled duo announced on Tuesday what Some Might Say is the biggest music news of the last decade.
The Rock n Roll Stars are finally getting back together.
In a post on the band’s social media at 5pm AEST, Oasis confirmed they would be reuniting to play 14 major shows in five cities across the UK.
The band is set to play Cardiff, Manchester, London, Ediburugh and Dublin, with other possible dates yet to be announced.
“This is it, this is happening,” they confirmed, much to the delight of fans.
While many fans shared their excitement, a lot of social media was quickly awash with people suggesting the tour could be at risk considering Noel and Liam’s tumultuous relationship.
“Surely anyone who buys an Oasis ticket for any night apart from the opening night is taking a bit of a risk,” remarked one, with a second adding: “Even opening night is a risk!”
“Assume the gig isn’t happening until it starts, and even then keep your fingers crossed,” teased another.
A fourth commented: “Anything could derail this grand reunion between now and next summer!”
“Will be a miracle if they play half the setlist without coming to blows,” wrote another.
The Gallagher brothers been embroiled in a fiery sibling rivalry ever since their rise to global fame in the 90s.
Forming in Manchester back in 1991, they were signed to Creation Records in 1993 and released their smash hit first album Definitely Maybe (1994) the following year.
The hit record topped the UK Albums Chart and swiftly became the fastest-selling debut album in British history at the time.
The band’s second album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1995) was a major hit in Australia and New Zealand, having a five and eight week run at the top of the charts in both countries respectively.
The four times platinum record has been labelled by many as being one of the best albums of the nineties, with music journalist Rob Sheffield calling it “a triumph, full of bluster and bravado but also moments of surprising tenderness” in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) adding that it “capped a true golden age for Britpop”.
Propelling Oasis from being a UK-centric group into a worldwide rock icon, the group went on to create five more studio albums, including Be Here Now (1997), Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000), Heathen Chemistry (2002), Don’t Believe the Truth (2005) and their final record, Dig Out Your Soul (2008).
Sadly, the group would never produce another album.
On August 28, 2009, just before they were due to perform a Paris gig, the pair reportedly had a huge backstage fight, with Noel announcing he was quitting the band for good.
“It is with some sadness and great relief … I quit Oasis tonight,” he said in a statement.
“People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”
Rumours of a reunion
Back in January, Noel and his publicist wife, Sara, announced their shock separation after 12 years of marriage, noting that the pandemic and Covid-19 lockdowns put a strain on their relationship.
The pair, who met in 2000, share sons Donovan, 16, and Sonny, 14
According to reports, Noel forked out $20 million in their divorce settlement, causing fans to speculate whether it was a possible good reason to sign on for an Oasis reunion now.
Rumours of a reunion began circulating last year after Noel suggested he was open to the idea if Liam reached out to him.
“You should never say never, but it would take an extraordinary set of circumstances,” he said.
“That’s not to say those circumstances would never come about.”
This February, Liam told Mojo magazine he called Noel.
“Well, my people called Noel’s management team. We put an offer on the table for an Oasis thing – because we got offered it – and he said ‘no’.”
In a rare interview last week, Noel even offered his brother some rare praise about his musical abilities.
“I can’t sing Slide Away and Cigarettes & Alcohol and Rock ‘N’ Roll Star and Columbia and all that,” he said.
“I mean, I can do it but it’s not the same. It’s the delivery or the tone of his voice and the attitude. I don’t have the same attitude as him.”
At their height, Oasis played to 250,000 fans at Knebworth in 1996.
They still have 21 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Blur, their old rivals, have 11 million.
Following the mysterious post on the official Oasis social media accounts on Monday, Liam appeared to fuel rumours of a reunion by tweeting “I never did like that word FORMER”.
Responding to one version of the story about a reunion, he wrote: “See you at the front.”
Liam also dedicated the Oasis song ‘Half the World Away’ to his brother while performing at the UK’s Reading Festival on Sunday night.
The Sunday Times reported that the brothers are set to perform a series of concerts in the summer of 2025 at various venues, including London’s Wembley Stadium and Manchester’s Heaton Park.
The outlet, citing unnamed industry insiders, also claimed there’s speculation Oasis might headline Glastonbury Festival next year.
History of feuds
It was not the first time one of the brothers quit Oasis.
In 1994, the band was set to play their first ever US gig in Los Angeles. That night, there was a big fight and Liam was said to throw a tambourine at Noel’s head.
“It’s the first night of the tour at the Whisky A Go Go, and everyone but me were wasted on crystal meth, someone got hit in the face with a chair, there was a big fight, the press called us a bunch of drug addicts and I got the tour float, my passport and f**ked off to San Francisco,” Noel told Uncut Magazine.
He said the band’s record label eventually convinced him to return.
In 1996, just before a huge MTV Unplugged performance, Liam told Noel he was not going to go on stage, leaving him solo.
“As they said, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Oasis,’ we walked out and [Liam] wasn’t there,” Noel said to Far Out Magazine about the 1996 taping.
“He said, ‘I’m not doing it. I thought, ‘Thanks a lot.’”
According to Noel, his brother said his throat hurt during rehearsals and then stopped practising with the band before they taped the episode.
“About an hour before we were due to go on, he turned up, absolutely s**t-faced,” he recalled.
“We said, well look, let’s see if you can sing a couple of songs, and it was f**king dreadful.”
While Noel did the show alone, Liam sat on the balcony and heckled his brother.
In 2000, Noel quit Oasis briefly again after yet another fight with his brother while they were out drinking in Barcelona.
The Guardian had reported that Liam questioned the legitimacy of Noel’s daughter with ex-wife Meg Mathews, causing a brawl between the two.
“I’ve never forgiven him because he’s never apologised,” Noel said about the fight in 2005, per The Guardian, which stated that Liam eventually apologised.
Nine years later, Noel quit Oasis for good.
He told the Independent in 2021 that he made the decision while sitting in the back of a car outside the festival.
“The driver pulled off and that was it. I didn’t feel a sense of relief because I knew there was a s***storm coming. And there was going to be a lot of nonsense talked about it,” Noel recalled.
“One of the biggest bands ever imploded, finally. And I couldn’t go back to England because the press had descended on my house and my missus was there with my kids.
“So we had to kind of spirit her out in the middle of the night and they came to join me in France somewhere. And then when we eventually got back to England, of course all f**king hell broke loose.”
Oasis broke up after Noel quit, but Liam and the rest of the band stayed together under the name Beady Eye. They disbanded in 2014.
At the 2010 Brit Awards, Liam accepted the award for Best Album of the Past 30 Years for (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
During his speech, he thanked all his founding band members minus his brother.
He later explained his reason for the snub, saying, “I’m sick of it all being about me and Noel, the last couple of months has pretty much been all about me and him so I thought it was only right to mention the other lads who played on the album and the best fans in the world.”
In 2011, Liam ramped up his insults towards Noel during an interview with LA Weekly.
“I’d rather eat my own s**t than be in a band with him again,” he said.
“He’s a miserable little f**k, if you know what I mean. But if the fans want it, though, I’d do it.”
In 2016, Liam started referring to his brother as a “potato” on Twitter (now X).
He shared photos of Noel with the word “potato” written underneath it. When asked in an interview why he called Noel a potato, Liam said, “Because he looks like one.”
In 2017, Liam performed at the One Love Manchester concert following the terrorist attack at Ariana Grande’s concert.
The day following the event, Liam tweeted about his brother not being there.
“Manchester I’d like to apologise for my brothers absence last night very disappointed stay beautiful stay safe LG x.”
In a second tweet, Liam said “Noels (sic) out of the f**ing country weren’t we all love get on a f**king plane and play your tunes for the kids you sad f**k.
“F**k the reunion mate it ain’t about Oasis it’s about people helping other people and he’s once again shown his true f**king colours.”
In 2018, Liam made a passionate public plea to his brother to get the band back together.
“I forgive you now let’s get the BIG O back together and stop f**king about the drinks are on me,” Liam wrote on Twitter in July 2018.
When Noel didn’t respond, Liam tweeted, “I’ll take that as a NO then.”
–With the New York Post
Originally published as Oasis confirm they are back together as new tour dates announced
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