Nearly 15 years after their breakup, the Gallagher brothers have announced that they will reunite next year with their band Oasis for a series of concerts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. “The guns have gone silent,” read a statement on Oasis’ website, referring to the long-standing and seemingly never-ending feud between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. “The stars have aligned. The great anticipation is over. Come and see it! There will be no TV broadcast.”
Initially, the Gallagher brothers will perform 14 concerts in the UK and Ireland in July and August next year, and later in the year, they will venture to other continents. An estimated 1.4 million tickets will be available for the concert series, though not many remain since sales started on Saturday. Although the relationship between the brothers has always been tumultuous, Oasis officially broke up on August 28, 2009. Their relationship was marred by physical and legal disputes and numerous verbal altercations.
The band was formed in 1991 in Manchester by Liam Gallagher (vocals), Paul Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass), and Tony McCarroll (drums). A few months later, Liam invited his brother Noel Gallagher (guitar, vocals) to join as the fifth member, finalizing the lineup. Noel quickly became the band’s de facto leader, taking over songwriting duties on their first four albums. Stylistically, they were primarily influenced by The Beatles and other British bands from the 1960s, and alongside groups like Blur, Pulp, Supergrass, and Suede, they are often regarded as one of the most defining and globally successful bands of the Britpop genre.
In 1993, Oasis signed with Creation Records, which released their debut album Definitely Maybe (1994). It immediately topped the UK album charts and quickly became the fastest-selling debut album in British history. The follow-up came quickly, with (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) released a year later, featuring a new drummer (Alan White). The success was even bigger, topping the UK charts for ten weeks and becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time, both domestically and internationally (the best-selling album of the 1990s in the UK). The Gallagher brothers were regular tabloid fixtures in the 1990s due to their public arguments and wild lifestyle. In 1996, Oasis performed two nights at Knebworth in front of 125,000 people each night, which at the time was the largest outdoor concert in UK history. In 1997, they released their highly anticipated third studio album, Be Here Now, which was critically less well-received but became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history. To date, Oasis has sold over 75 million records worldwide, ranking among the most successful UK artists, with eight number-one singles and eight number-one albums. They have also achieved triple platinum status in the U.S. and won 17 NME Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards, and six Brit Awards, including one for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2007 and one for “Best Album of the Last 30 Years” for (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, which turned 30 years old this year.