Even when Oasis was on top of the music world, Noel and Liam Gallagher were at each other’s throats.
Both Noel, 56, and Liam, 51, were known to be firebrands from the get-go, often taking shots at their rival groups like Damon Albarn’s Blur in the press – when they weren’t clashing with each other. Even as the band was blowing up, the brothers always seemed on the verge of mutually assured destruction. Ultimately, it got so bad between the Gallagher brothers that Noel quit for good in 2009 and hasn’t looked back.
Since then, relations between the Gallagher brothers haven’t improved – and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon. In 2024, fifteen years after Noel walked away from Oasis, Liam will tour in honor of the 30th anniversary of the band’s debut album, Definitely Maybe, without his sibling
“I’m bouncing around the house to announce the Definitely Maybe Tour,” Liam said. “The most important album of the ‘90s, bar none. I wouldn’t be anywhere without it and neither would you, so let’s celebrate together.” What makes this tour contention is that the songs on the album are all written by Noel. Liam would also say that he asked his brother to be a part of the celebration, but “he’s refused.”
So, with a full Oasis reunion nowhere in sight, here’s a look at some of the highlights (lowlights?) of the Gallager brothers’ beef.
Noel Quits Before Oasis’s First North American Tour
Oasis was formed in 1991 in Manchester, England. Early singles “Supersonic,” “Live Forever,” and “Whatever” helped establish them as Brit powerhouses in 1994, but the group almost fell apart right as they hit the States.
Oasis was formed in 1991 in Manchester, England. Early singles “Supersonic,” “Live Forever,” and “Whatever” helped establish them as Brit powerhouses in 1994, but the group almost fell apart right as they hit the States.
“It was Liam’s birthday as we crossed the International Date Line on the way from Japan to LA to start our first proper American tour,” Noel told Uncut. “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—d off to San Francisco.”
Liam reportedly insulted the band and chucked a tambourine at Noel’s head. The band’s record label was able to smooth it out and talk Noel into rejoining the group, but this was just the start of the problems.
‘Whibbling Rivalry’
After Definitely Maybe established Oasis as one of the top bands of the day, the follow-up, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? would cement the band as one of the top groups of a generation. The album gave the group its first No. 1 song on the UK charts (“Some Might Say”) and its first major hit in the US (“Wonderwall”).
However, a single attributed to Oas*s was published months before the album was released. The 14:32-long release was taken from a recording from a 1994 interview between the brothers with then-NME journalist John Harris. The tracks – “Noel Side” and “Liam Side” – are full of profanities and arguments between the brothers. It revealed the contentious relationship at the heart of one of Britain’s most popular bands.
Strangely enough, “Whibbling Rivalry” charted, reaching reaching No. 52. It’s still the highest-charting interview release.
Noel Reportedly Plays Cricket With Liam’s Head
During the recording of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, Liam reportedly brought a group of drunk people he met at a local pub back to the studio mid-Spring 1995. Angry at the disruption during the recording session, Noel told the entourage to leave, causing Liam to “lose it” and attack Noel and his guitars. Noel responded by using a cricket bat against his brother. Writer Paolo Hewitt saved the bat from the rubbish pile, and it was later sold at an auction.
Liam Bails On ‘MTV Unplugged’
“As they said, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Oasis,’ we walked out and [Liam] wasn’t there,” Noel recounted to Far Out Magazine about the group’s now-infamous MTV Unplugged taping in 1996. “He said, ‘I’m not doing it. I thought, ‘Thanks a lot.’”
Oasis was booked to play the revered MTV series and had two weeks of rehearsals before going into the taping. Liam reportedly only appeared at three rehearsals, and during the first, he pointed to his throat to indicate he couldn’t go on anymore. Liam allegedly didn’t want to rehearse too much in case he damaged his voice, though Noell remembers it differently.
“The day of the performance, he hadn’t turned up, and there were rumors that he’d been out drinking for a couple of days,” he said, per Far Out. “And nobody knew where he was. About an hour before we were due to go on, he turned up, absolutely s—tfaced. We said, well look, let’s see if you can sing a couple of songs, and it was f—king dreadful.”
Noel would take over singing for the taping, while Liam spent the performance sitting in the balcony, heckling his brother while drinking and smoking.
Noel Quits – for Good
In 1997, Oasis released Be Here Now, an album that would mark the group’s peak success in the States. Subsequent releases – 2000’s Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, 2002’s Heathen Chemistry, 2005’s Don’t Believe The Truth and 2008’s Dig Out Your Soul – would produce a series of chart-topping hits in the band’s native UK.
However, by the end of the 2000s, Noel had enough of his brother.
“I’ve kind of learned 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,” Noel told told Spin magazine in 2005. “I can make him make decisions he thinks are his, but really they’re mine. Without fighting. It’s an art I’ve learned.”
Four years after that, Noel threw in the towel. “It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight,” Noel posted on the band’s website in August 2009, per The Guardian. “People will write and say what they like but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”
“The last tour was not happy. The other fella [Liam] is trying to rewrite history that it was all f—king great. It wasn’t,” Noel told the Daily Star (per NME) in October 2023. “It was a f—king dreadful last year of Oasis. You get one shot at life. Why be unhappy? Whether it be in your personal or professional life, why? You’re just wasting a precious thing.”
Liam Omits Noel at the 2010 Brit Awards
After Noel’s exit, Liam continued playing music with former Oasis members Gem Archer, Andy Bell, and Zak Starkey under the new name, Beady Eye. During the 2010 Brit Awards – held a few months after Oasis’s disbandment – Liam accepted the award for Best Album of the Past 30 Years for (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
“I wanna thank Bonehead [Paul Arthurs], Guigs [Paul McGuigan], [Former Oasis Drummer] Alan White and the best f—king fans in the world,” Liam said, referring to the members who founded the band alongside him and his brother. When explaining why he didn’t mention Noel in the acceptance speech, Liam said he was “sick of it all being about me and Noel,” and wanted to “mention the other lads who played on the album and the best fans in the world.”
A Decade of Trash Talk
Beady Eye would break up in 2014. By then, Noel was busy with his new band, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
Both he and Liam were also busy trashing each other publicly. Liam joined Twitter in 2009 and trashed Noel and Russell Brand’s short-lived comedy radio show. “What a pair of old housewife’s [sic].” He called Liam’s High Flying Birds “snore patrol Noel Gallagher’s high flying smurfs who said rock n roll is dead.” Liam also repeatedly called his brother “beige” as an insult.
In 2011, Noel told LA Weekly that an Oasis reunion wouldn’t happen. “I’d rather eat my own s—t than be in a band with him again. 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 tweeted out a photo of Noel with the caption, “POTATO.” It would be something he’d call his brother a dozen more times over the rest of the year.
“You Sad F—k”
Liam continued to taunt his brother over the years, but his tone turned serious following the 2017 terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena. Liam made a surprise appearance at the One Live Manchester benefit concert, including a touching version of “Live Forever.”
A day after the June 4, 2017, concert, Liam went on a tirade against his brother’s lack of involvement. “Noels out of the f—king country weren’t we all love get on a f—king plane and play your tunes for the kids you sad f—k,” he tweeted. “Get over what. 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.”
The £100M Dream Of An Oasis Reunion
Despite the falling out, Liam hasn’t given up hope for a reunion. “I forgive you now let’s get the BIG O back together and stop f—ing about the drinks are on me,” he tweeted in 2018. Noel, when speaking to Radio X, said Liam was being disingenuous If he’s in here, on camera, playing to the gallery, fine, good. Actually, when it f—king matters, when he’s abusing my wife and my kids, it’s like no no no no no, you don’t get to f—king do both, do you know what I mean?”
In 2021, Noel said he was open to reforming the band if there was an offer. “If anyone wants to offer me £100M now,” he said, per Louder. “I’ll say I’ll do it, but I think it’s ludicrous.”
However, during a January 2023 interview with BBC Radio Manchester, Noel hinted that his mood had changed. “You should never say never. It would have to take an extraordinary set of circumstances. That’s not to say that those circumstances would never come about.” Liam then tweeted that he got off the phone, “begging for forgiveness.”
However, when Liam announced the Definitely Maybe tour, he said his brother didn’t want to be a part of it. When a fan tweeted how Liam was “going to give us the surprise that Noel is going to join the DM tour or not,” he responded, “He’s been asked and he’s refused.”
