After weeks of gradually escalating rumours, it looks like a long-awaited Oasis reunion could be imminent – on Sunday, Liam and Noel Gallagher, the famously feuding estranged brothers without whom Oasis couldn’t exist, posted the group’s logo with the date Tuesday and “8am” (GMT) on social media.
Though the brothers’ disagreements ultimately turned bitter, their arguments were often as entertaining as the band’s music — one classic early exchange during an interview was even released as a bootleg single — and the friction between the two was no doubt part of the band’s charm. With hit albums like the band’s debut, “Definitely Maybe” — which marks its 30th anniversary on Thursday — and “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory” and hits like “Live Forever,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger” and “Champagne Supernova” — there’s something about the brothers’ work together that their solid solo releases don’t.
Oasis broke up 15 years ago, after Noel left the band he founded and for which he wrote most of the songs. Even if a reunion did happen, it wouldn’t be brotherly love: If, unlike most sensible people, the Daily Mail is to be believed, the brothers “have not buried the hatchet,” according to an unnamed source, but the reported $530 million in assets speaks louder than any sibling grudge.
If the news is true, there are more fights to come. But in the meantime, here are our views on the 10 best fights between the Gallagher brothers.
It starts with a spray…
Noel is six years older than Liam, now 51, so it’s hard to pinpoint when the fight first broke out in their Manchester home – although given that the brothers had to share a bedroom (older brother Paul got his own room), it probably started earlier. However, Liam has his own take on the lasting impact of a later incident: in Matt Whitecross’s 2016 documentary Supersonic , he cheerfully recalls: “I came home one night angry and couldn’t find the light switch, so I peed on his new stereo. I guess that’s what it boils down to.”
“The Fluctuating Competition”, 1994
Oasis had barely released their first single before the brothers' feud nearly eclipsed their music in popularity. The brothers' raucous exchange during an interview with NME magazine in early 1994 became so legendary that it was released as a 14-minute single (“Wibbling Rivalry”, released as “Oas*s”) the following year.
What was the controversy? Which of the brothers was more rock and roll? The discussion quickly descended into Liam calling Noel an “idiot”, a “fucking priest”, a “bum” and a “heretic”. Along with several “f***ing you” statements, things got even more heated when Liam told Noel to “put a thousand pounds up your f***ing arse until it comes out of your f***ing big toe” and growled: “You think being thrown off a ferry is rock and roll. It’s not… If you’re proud of being thrown off a ferry… why don’t you just quit my band and become a football fan, huh?”
Drum Clash, Los Angeles, 1994
After releasing “Definitely Maybe” in August, the band played the legendary Whiskey a Go-Go in Los Angeles on their first full US tour the following month. There, Liam mocked Noel in the song—changing the lyrics of “Live Forever” to “Maybe, I don't really want to know, why you picking your nose”) before hitting his brother over the head with a tambourine, taunting the audience, and leaving the stage before the end of the show. Noel left the band the following day, only to return shortly after.
Cricket bats brawl, Wales, 1995
During a 1995 recording session for the band's classic second album, “(What's the Story) Morning Glory?”, the brothers got into a fight after Liam brought a group of strangers he'd just met at a local pub to watch Noel try to record. After the inevitable argument ensued, Noel hit Liam over the head with a cricket bat that was sitting in the studio. “The whole studio was destroyed, everything was blown to bits,” Liam recalled. “I was probably the one who didn't give a damn while he was trying to write the damned song 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' and I said, 'Oh shit, let's play it.'” The end result of the fight? They sold the bat with a certificate of authenticity.
Brother is offline
Shortly after Oasis played the biggest show of their career—in front of 250,000 fans at England's Knebworth Park in August 1996—the band were set to record an episode of “MTV Unplugged” at London's Royal Festival Hall. However, Liam backed out with an alleged case of laryngitis, leaving Noel to continue vocal duties. Liam, however, appeared on the balcony of the Royal Festival Hall, smoking, drinking and heckling his brother with little evidence of a sore throat. When Liam tried to jump on stage to re-record several songs, Noel told him to “go away.”
Priorities…
During a 2002 interview, Noel told NME about an incident where Liam was in a fight with police and lost several teeth, the only sympathy he could muster was “All that bothers me is that he can still sing.”
mind control
During a 2005 interview with wrapNoel Gallagher says of his brother Liam that their whole relationship was like a brainwashing session in The Manchurian Candidate. “He’s actually scared to death of me,” Noel says. “I can read him and play with him like an abandoned arcade game. I can make him make decisions that he thinks are his decisions, but they’re actually mine.”
fork in the road
The year leading up to the band's eventual split in 2009 was filled with some pretty funny comments. Responding to a previously published interview, Noel told the Herald Sun: “I don't know who the guy is who's in these interviews – it sounds really cool, because the guy I've been in the band with for the last 18 years is an idiot.” Shortly after, Noel outdid himself in Q magazine, describing Liam as “the angriest man you'll ever meet. He's like a man with a fork in a world of soup.”
Ten years later, because a grudge is only a grudge if you can keep it forever, Liam responded to Neil on Twitter with a video of himself eating soup with a fork.
High flying…something
Ever since his brother started releasing records under the name Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Liam Gallagher has had something to say. First, “Shitbag” came in response to Noel's 2011 solo debut, along with the band's renaming as “High Flying Turds.”
In 2016, Liam began posting photos of his brother Noel with the caption “potato” on each one.
Then in 2020, on the occasion of Noel releasing a demo of Oasis' “Don't Stop…” without Liam's vocals or guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthur's work, Liam allowed Noel to say, “Tofu boy if you're gonna release old demos make sure I sing on them and Bones plays guitar or they ain't worth jerking off to,” with the trademark, “Like you were LG x.”
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame… Bombshells?
In 2024, the brothers were still bickering, even as the possibility of being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame loomed. Contemplating having to reunite with his brother Noel, Liam wrote on X/Twitter: “Fuck the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it’s full of BUMBACLARTS,” (a Jamaican insult of choice) before turning his attention back to his brother. “Little guy loves hanging out with celebrities so he’ll probably go; me, I’m washing my hair and getting a pedicure and a manicure.”
If all goes as expected, there could easily be a whole new list of top 10 teams before 2025…
