An Oasis reunion has felt half the world away… until now.
Liam and Noel Gallagher, renowned for their fractious relationship over the decades, have both teased the announcement of a series of gigs together after each sharing a video on their X accounts showing the date “27.08.24” before it flickers to say “8am”.
The band first formed in Manchester in 1991 and went on to become one of the most successful to emerge during the Britpop era in the mid-1990s.
Here’s a timeline of the band’s story so far.
14 August 1991
A pivotal date in the band’s history is their first live performance under the name Oasis at music club The Boardwalk in Manchester.
At this point, the band was a four-piece made up of Liam Gallagher, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan and Tony McCarroll.
It wouldn’t be until 1992 when Noel Gallagher joined the line-up, according to The Oasis Timeline Project.
11 April 1994
After signing to independent record label, Creation Records, Oasis release their first single Supersonic from the forthcoming album Definitely Maybe.
The Definitely Maybe album cover. Pic: CBW/Alamy
In the build-up to the album release, the group started living up to the rocker stereotype, making headlines when they missed their first international gig in Amsterdam because they got deported back to the UK after getting caught up in a drunken brawl on the outbound ferry.
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29 August 1994
Oasis’s debut studio album Definitely Maybe is released. It became the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history at the time and features hits including Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, Cigarettes & Alcohol and Live Forever.
A week into recording their second studio album – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? – the Gallagher brothers get into an altercation at a pub in Monmouth, leading to Noel famously hitting Liam with a cricket bat.
24 January 1995
Oasis win awards for best new band, NME album of the year and best single for Live Forever at the NME Brat Awards in London. The ceremony would mark one of the first head-to-head battles between Oasis and Blur.
Blur picking up a Brit Award in 1995. Pic: Fiona Hanson/PA
The rivalry between the two bands would go on to dominate subsequent award ceremonies and the UK charts, including the 1996 Brit Awards, when the Gallagher brothers performed a taunting version of Blur’s Parklife after beating the band to win British group of the year.
2 October 1995
(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? is released, propelling the band to worldwide fame and selling over 12 million copies worldwide. The album has since become the fifth-biggest-selling album of all time in Britain.
It contained some of Oasis’s biggest hits including Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova.
Liam Gallagher of Oasis in concert on stage at Knebworth House in 1996. Pic: Stefan Rousseau/PA
The band released a further five studio albums, four of which went to number one in the charts, while 1998’s The Masterplan peaked at number two.
10 August 1996
The band plays the first of two sell-out nights at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire. The concerts attract 125,000 people each night and include support acts like The Bootleg Beatles, The Charlatans, Manic Street Preachers and The Prodigy.
Liam and Noel at the Oasis Knebworth gigs. Pic: Times Newspapers/Shutterstock
Noel Gallagher (second left) with fans at the world premiere of Oasis Knebworth 1996. Pic: PA
The gigs would be the focus of a documentary film, Oasis Knebworth 1996, released in November 2021.
9 August 1999
Original member and guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs announces that he is leaving the band to “concentrate on other things”.
A few weeks later, original guitarist Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan also announces he is leaving, in more dramatic fashion compared to his bandmate – by famously sending a fax.
(L-R) Liam and Noel at a press conference after Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan quit the band. Pic: PA
28 August 2009
Noel quits Oasis after an argument backstage with brother Liam who began swinging around a guitar before playing the Rock en Seine festival in Paris.
A week before, the band played what would become their last performance together at V Festival in Stafford.
In interviews, Noel revealed that he made the decision to leave the band when sitting in the back of a car outside the music festival in France.
Noel with his band Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at Twickenham Stadium in 2017. Pic: Reuters
Speaking on Sky Arts programme Noel Gallagher: Out Of The Now, the guitarist said: “And the driver pulled off and that was it. I didn’t feel a sense of relief because I knew there was a shitstorm coming. And there was going to be a lot of nonsense talked about it.”
He also admitted he feels their break-up helped cement their legacy as one of the greatest British bands of all time.
Since their split, Liam has enjoyed success as a solo artist and Noel formed his own band, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, which has experienced commercial success, with their first three albums all reaching number one in the charts and the most recent record, 2023’s Council Skies, peaking at number two.
Liam performing his Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary show at the O2 Arena in London. Pic: Dan Reid/Shutterstock
But the feuding brothers have often taken digs at each other in the media or at shows.
At the NME Awards in 2018, Liam said that his brother was the villain of the year, claiming “he’s the biggest liar and biggest faker in the business”, while Noel said three years earlier that he would “never forgive” his brother for walking out on the band during a series of live shows before they broke up.
Earlier this week, however, the tone seemed to change after Noel paid Liam a string of compliments in an interview with music journalist John Robb at Manchester’s Sifters Records in honour of their debut album’s 30th anniversary.
As part of the celebrations for Definitely Maybe, Liam has been touring the UK this summer playing the record in full, even dedicating Half The World Away to his brother, saying he is “still playing hard to get”.
Source Agencies
