Oasis have officially confirmed their long-awaited reunion. The announcement marks the end of a 15-year hiatus and signals the rekindling of one of rock music’s most tumultuous yet creatively fruitful partnerships between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher.
The reunion, set for the summer of 2025, promises to be a monumental event. The band has announced an extensive UK and Ireland stadium tour, encompassing 14 dates across five cities. Tickets for these highly anticipated shows go on sale this Saturday, 31st August at 9am BST (8am IST for the Dublin dates). The tour will see Oasis perform at some of the largest and most iconic venues in the country, including two nights at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, four nights at Manchester’s Heaton Park, four nights at London’s Wembley Stadium, two nights at Edinburgh’s Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, and culminating in two nights at Dublin’s Croke Park.
A press release confirms they’ll be “their only shows in Europe next year”, though refers to it as the domestic legs of their ‘OASIS LIVE 25’ tour, which suggests there’ll be other dates elsewhere to come. This seems to rule them out of a rumoured Glastonbury headline slot.
The band comment: “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”
The news follows a weekend of intense speculation. The spark was ignited during Liam Gallagher’s headline performance at Reading Festival, where cryptic video teasers were displayed following his set. Featuring only the date ‘27.08.24’, and a time of 8 AM, were simultaneously shared across the official social media accounts of Oasis, Liam, and Noel, creating a digital buzz that quickly spread across the globe.
The significance of this reunion cannot be overstated. Oasis’s split in 2009 was nothing if not dramatic, occurring while the band were still arguably Britain’s biggest. Their final performance together in Paris ended in a backstage altercation, with Noel Gallagher citing ‘verbal and violent intimidation’ as his reason for walking away. This incident seemed to slam shut any possibility of reconciliation, making the current announcement all the more surprising and momentous.
Liam Gallagher has been the more vocal of the two brothers regarding a possible reunion. His social media accounts have often been a source of both hope and frustration for fans, with cryptic messages and occasional olive branches extended to his estranged brother. Over the weekend, Liam tweeted, ‘I never did like that word FORMER’, a statement that many interpreted as a clear indication of the band’s impending return.
During his Reading Festival performance, Liam made what now appears to be a significant gesture towards reconciliation. He dedicated the Oasis classic ‘Half The World Away’ to Noel, hinting at the possibility of burying the hatchet after years of public feuding. Noel Gallagher, the primary songwriter and lead guitarist of Oasis, has traditionally been more reserved about the prospect of reuniting the band. Known for his often acerbic comments, Noel has frequently dismissed reunion rumours in the past. However, recent months have seen a slight shift in his stance. In a rare compliment, he described Liam’s voice as being like ’10 shots of tequila on a Friday night’, suggesting a thawing in their notoriously icy relationship.
The timing of this reunion is particularly poignant, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Oasis’s seminal debut album, ‘Definitely Maybe’. Released in 1994, ‘Definitely Maybe’ was a cultural phenomenon, breaking records as the fastest-selling debut album in UK history at the time. The album’s raw energy and Liam’s sneering vocals captured the zeitgeist of mid-90s Britain, establishing Oasis as frontrunners of the Britpop scene.
Oasis’s journey began in Manchester in 1991. Their rise to fame was meteoric, fuelled by a combination of undeniable musical talent and a brash, unapologetic attitude.
The band’s second album, ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’ (1995), catapulted Oasis from British sensations to global superstars, spawning several of their most enduring hits, including ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, and ‘Champagne Supernova’.
The success of Oasis extended beyond their music. They became cultural icons, embodying a particular brand of Britishness that resonated worldwide. Their swagger, fashion sense, and unfiltered interviews made them constant fixtures in the tabloids, blurring the lines between music and celebrity culture in a way that few bands had done before.
However, the band’s success was often overshadowed by the volatile relationship between Liam and Noel Gallagher. Their public spats and onstage clashes became almost as legendary as their music. The brothers’ contrasting personalities – Liam’s frontman bravado versus Noel’s more reserved, sardonic wit – created a dynamic tension that was both the band’s greatest strength and its ultimate undoing.
Despite the interpersonal drama, Oasis continued to produce commercially successful albums throughout their career. ‘Be Here Now’ (1997), while divisive among critics, was a massive commercial success, becoming the fastest-selling album in UK chart history at the time. Subsequent albums like ‘Standing on the Shoulder of Giants’ (2000), ‘Heathen Chemistry’ (2002), ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’ (2005), and ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ (2008) all reached number one in the UK, despite never quite capturing the raw energy of their earlier work.
The circumstances surrounding Oasis’s split in 2009 were as dramatic and contentious as any. The final straw came on 28th August 2009, just minutes before the band was due to take the stage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris. According to reports, a violent altercation erupted backstage between the Gallagher brothers. Noel later stated that Liam had come into the dressing room wielding his guitar ‘like an axe’, and that he had ‘nearly took my face off with it’. This incident proved to be the breaking point for Noel, who immediately left the venue and subsequently announced his departure from the band.
In a statement released on the Oasis website, Noel wrote, ‘It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer’. He went on to apologise to fans who had bought tickets for the cancelled shows but stated that he had been ‘forced’ to leave.
In the years following the split, both Gallagher brothers have made numerous comments about the possibility of an Oasis reunion, often contradicting each other and themselves. Their statements have ranged from outright dismissal to cautious openness, keeping fans on an emotional rollercoaster.
Liam Gallagher has generally been more vocal about his desire for a reunion. In 2017, he tweeted, ‘Earth to noel listen up rkid I hear you’re doing gigs where people can’t drink alcohol now that’s the BeZarist thing you’ve done yet I forgive you now let’s get the BIG O back together’. This tweet, like many of Liam’s public statements, combined a jab at his brother with an olive branch, encapsulating the complex relationship between the two.
In 2018, Liam made headlines when he tweeted, ‘I’m ready to go’, in response to a fan asking about a reunion. He followed this up with, ‘Now that you mention it, I’m ready to split it with my brother’, suggesting he was willing to share royalties from a potential reunion. However, the overtures were often met with either silence or dismissal from Noel.
Noel Gallagher, for his part, has consistently been more resistant to the idea of reforming Oasis. In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, he stated, ‘If I was ever going to do it, it would only be for the money. This isn’t me putting it down, it’s just that if you don’t need the money, you don’t do it. In any other business, that’s what they call it: money for old rope’.
However, Noel’s stance has shown signs of softening over the years. In a 2019 interview with The Sunday Times, he hinted at the possibility, saying, ‘I’ve often thought, “Let’s just do a gig.” But I realised I would only be doing it to shut this f***ing idiot up [Liam]’. While not exactly enthusiastic, the comment represented a shift from his previous outright refusals.
In 2020, amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, hopes for a reunion were briefly raised when Liam tweeted, ‘Rite sick of pleading begging etc no more olive branches I DEMAND an oasis reunion after this is all over all money going to NHS c’mon you know As we were LG x’.
The 30th anniversary of ‘Definitely Maybe’ in 2024 has long been seen as a potential catalyst for reunion. In a 2021 interview with NME, Noel addressed this possibility, saying, ‘The legacy of the band is set in stone. If people have seen us, they’ll understand what all the fuss is about. If you didn’t see us, then that’s tough cos I’ve never seen The Beatles or the Sex Pistols’.
Despite their often acrimonious public exchanges, both brothers have occasionally shown glimpses of the deep connection they share. In a rare moment of sentimentality, Noel said in a 2022 interview, ‘I do miss my brother as he was back then, and I do miss the band and I do miss these songs’. Similarly, Liam has often expressed admiration for Noel’s songwriting abilities, even in the midst of their feuds.
The journey towards a reunion has been marked by numerous false starts and dashed hopes. Fan petitions, media speculation, and even intervention attempts by fellow musicians have all failed to bring the Gallaghers back together – until now.
The years following Oasis’s split in 2009 saw both Gallagher brothers embark on solo careers. Liam formed the band Beady Eye with former Oasis members, releasing two albums before the group disbanded in 2014. He then launched a solo career, releasing three UK number one albums: ‘As You Were’ (2017), ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ (2019), and ‘C’mon You Know’ (2022).
Noel Gallagher, meanwhile, formed Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, achieving commercial success with four UK number one albums. His post-Oasis work has seen him experiment with different musical styles, incorporating elements of psychedelic rock and electronic music into his trademark songwriting style.
The announcement of Oasis’s reunion comes at a time when nostalgia for the 1990s is at an all-time high in popular culture. The band’s influence can be heard in countless contemporary artists, and their songs continue to be streamed by a new generation of music fans. The reunion tour will not only attract long-time fans but also introduce Oasis’s music to a younger audience who missed their original run.
The logistics of bringing Oasis back together are undoubtedly complex. Questions remain about the lineup – whether other original or later members will be involved, or if the reunion will focus primarily on the Gallagher brothers. There’s also obvious questions about potential new material, with fans obviously eager to hear what an Oasis album might sound like in 2025.
The choice of venues for the reunion tour is significant. Wembley Stadium, with its 90,000-capacity, is currently the largest stadium in the UK and has hosted some of the most memorable shows in British music history. Similarly, Heaton Park in Manchester, while having a smaller capacity, holds special significance as a homecoming venue for the band.
The dates in full read:
JULY
04 Cardiff Principality Stadium
05 Cardiff Principality Stadium
11 Manchester Heaton Park
12 Manchester Heaton Park
19 Manchester Heaton Park
20 Manchester Heaton Park
25 London Wembley Stadium
26 London Wembley Stadium
AUGUST
02 London Wembley Stadium
03 London Wembley Stadium
08 Edinburgh Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
09 Edinburgh Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
16 Dublin Croke Park
17 Dublin Croke Park
Leave a Reply