When Did Oasis First Show Public Signs of Their Rivalry?
Oasis is nearly as well known for their years of intense rivalry as they are for their music. The band, made up of siblings Noel and Liam Gallagher, recently announced plans for a reunion tour. This comes after decades of the bad blood that broke up the band in the first place. The first public signs of trouble between the brothers surfaced years before their split.
Oasis began showing signs of their rivalry in 1994
In 1991, Oasis was formed in England. Three years later, in 1994, they released their debut album to enthusiastic reception. They became one of the biggest bands in the United Kingdom and quickly found international success. Their achievements did little to quell the disagreements between Liam and Noel, though. As early as 1994, they publicly showed signs of tension.
That year, the band traveled to the United States for the first time. Ahead of a show at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, they unknowingly took meth.
“I don’t know who f***ing got it but it was there and we all thought it was coke,” Liam said in the documentary Oasis: Supersonic (via Louder). “We’re doing big f***ing lines of it and it just kept us up for f***ing days. The band were not in the right place.”
Throughout the performance, the band took the setlist in several different directions at once and yelled at the audience. At one point, Liam shouted at his brother before hitting him on the head with a tambourine. After the show, Noel quit the band for two weeks.
Oasis’ rivalry broke them up in 2009
Fifteen years — and many onstage incidents — later, Liam and Noel had one final argument as bandmates. At the Rock en Seine festival in Paris, Noel claimed Liam tried to wield a guitar against him “like an axe” (per Rolling Stone). That same night, Noel quit the band.
“It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight,” he said. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”
While they had had temporary splits in the past, this breakup was seemingly permanent. The brothers pursued solo careers.
They recently announced that they were getting back together
Fifteen years after this fight, Oasis announced that they are getting back together. The band will play 14 shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland starting in July 2025.
“There has been no great revelatory moment that has ignited the reunion – just the gradual realization that the time is right,” they said in a press release (per Variety). “Yet the timing must be a subconscious influence. This Thursday represents 30 years to the day since their electrifying debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’ was released, while 2025 will see the equally essential second record ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’ reach that same anniversary.”
Tickets for the tour will go on sale on Aug. 31.
