The History Of Oasis' Split And Reunion Explained

News hit in late-2024 that the most British of Britain's pop rock bands, Oasis, was getting back together. And when we say that "the band" is getting back together, we mean that forever nemeses and brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher are stowing their decades-old antagonization long enough to do some shows and make some cash. As of this writing, they've scheduled a handful of gigs in the U.K. for a short tour in July and August 2025. According to the BBC, ticket prices range from £73 to £506. There was also a ballot-based pre-sale that allowed diehards to get their tickets on Friday, August 30, one day ahead of general sales. Got it? Okay, now on to the family drama.

We say "family drama" because there's really no way to talk about Oasis, the band, apart from Oasis, the bitterest of sibling rivalries. The group skyrocketed into the stratosphere of fame, wealth, and success during a very slim window of three albums over three years, from 1994's "Definitely Maybe" to 1997's "Be Here Now." Yes, they released other albums after that, but none of those albums contained heavyweight hits like "Wonderwall" or "Champagne Supernova." Oasis were such a smash hit that they still have over 24 million Spotify monthly listeners as of this writing, 15 years after they officially broke up in 2009. Back then, Noel called it quits because of alleged violence and harassment from Liam, his notoriously loud- and foul-mouthed brother, whom he called "the angriest man you'll ever meet," per Express. Or as Noel said, And now, they're getting back together.

At this point, Noel and Liam Gallagher have done a lot more fighting over the years than making music. In fact, just as much time has passed from the band's breakup up to the present — 15 years from 2009 to 2024 — as from the band's debut album to their breakup — 15 years from 1994 to 2009. One could easily make the case that the Gallagher brotherly rage not only boosted Oasis' popularity to begin with, but also helped keep them relevant since their mid-90's zenith. As Vogue recently wrote, the Gallaghers embodied the "art of the public feud," as it benefited them both no matter how genuine.

But back in the '70s and '80s, Liam and Noel were just two rough-and-tumble neighborhood kids in Manchester, often-cited as England's prototypical "working class" city. Noel was the older of the two, and they had a third, eldest brother named Paul. On The Telegraph, Liam spoke highly of his childhood neighborhood Burnage, calling it "a great place to grow up" and not "posh as p***" like nearby Heaton Moor. 

By all accounts, the brothers had it tough at home. Liam said their father was "out all the time, fighting, beating my mam up, beating Noel and Paul up." Eventually, one night while their father was out, their mom packed up all their stuff and left with the pair. It's against this childhood backdrop that the two younger Gallagher brothers formed Oasis in 1991. But despite the hopeful tranquility of the band's name, conflict followed hard and close. 

When Oasis blew up in the mid-90s, the Gallagher brothers brought all their dirty laundry with them. Liam and Noel were in the news for their hooliganism as much as their music. Their mutual resentment always seemed difficult to define and without a specific origin aside from their shared upbringing and family. Even as Oasis' first three albums sold nearly 32 million copies in initial sales, the brothers were engaging in Tom and Jerry-like antics. One 1995 incident saw the pair smash up their recording studio in a fight that involved Noel taking a cricket bat to Liam's head. On BBC Sounds' "The Rise and Fall of Oasis Television" podcast, producer Owen Morris said that they were "literally wanting to kill each other." Variety has a top 10 list of such dust-ups, while The Standard covers seven.

Things came to a head in 2009 while getting ready for Paris' Rock En Seine festival. The two had gotten into (another) fistfight before touring and had started traveling to shows separately. Before the gig, Liam reportedly started swinging around a guitar "like an axe," per Far Out Magazine. "I'm not f****** kidding ... he nearly took my face off with it," Noel said. Per The Guardian, in a 2009 statement Noel called the incident the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back and said "the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable." For his part, Liam admits to having some alcohol problems, and he also criticized Noel for wanting to leave for a while because he was "not getting enough attention."

When Oasis broke up in 2009, the Gallagher brothers went their separate ways. Other band members lost their jobs, too, like guitarist Gem Archer and bassist Andy Bell, along with the "40 or 50 people working for Oasis," as The Guardian quotes Liam. "No," he said in 2024 regarding speaking with Noel. "There's been no chat. I haven't seen him, and we won't see each other."

Noel, for his part — whom the outlet called Oasis' "chief songwriter and creative force" — formed his own self-named band in 2010, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Eventually, Archer, Bell, and Oasis drummer Chris Sharrock got onboard the project, as well. While the band hasn't been nearly as wildly popular as Oasis, it's marched along steadily and continued to produce new music and put on shows with very little in the way of hubbub or controversy. The group's four full-length albums have sold about 1.5 million copies to date.

On the non-music front, however, Noel has been carrying on the family tradition of volatility. In 2023, he went on the record about pop icon Adele. Speaking of her, her band, and her music on the Matt Morgan podcast, he said, "They're f****** s***. It's f****** awful. It's f****** Cilla Black. I find it and that whole thing offensive." He also called London Mayor Sadiq Khan a "little weasel-faced c***," and said he "f****** hate[s] him."

While Noel Gallagher went one way after Oasis split up in 2009, Liam Gallagher went another. On The Guardian, Liam describes himself "sitting at home with no management, no office, and no one to really speak to" after Oasis broke up. He also characterized Noel as a hotshot manager in an office who still had everything.

Liam formed his own band, Beady Eye. "We were just trying to keep sane," he told the outlet. The "we" included Oasis band members Gem Archer, Andy Bell, and Chris Sharrock. They initially followed Liam to Beady Eye for a short-lived, four-year, two-album tenure from 2010 to 2014. Then in 2014, Liam took to X (then Twitter) and simply said, "Beady Eye are no longer. Thanks for all your support." Three years later, he told The Guardian that the group had trouble "connecting." 

Post-Beady Eye, Archer and Sharrock packed up and joined Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Even after Oasis died, the band existed in intermingled fragments, much like Noel and Liam's lives. On Guitar World in 2024, Archer praised Noel's songwriting abilities. He also spoke about the brothers' fractured relationship. "None of us will ever know the depth of where some of those emotions come from," the guitarist said. "It's better left between the two." As for Liam, he produced four solo albums, three live albums, and recently did a team-up with former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire. His recent 2024 tour, named after the Oasis album "Definitely Maybe," completely sold out. 

It took until 2024 for the Gallagher brothers to announce that their will-they, won't-they Oasis reunion is actually happening. The possibility has been brewing for years, hinted at by both brothers taking potshots at each other in various public forums. As Express recounted in 2023, Noel said on Talk Sport that he doubted Liam was serious about a reunion. "He's forever going on about it," Noel said. "You'd have thought he'd have a plan. He doesn't have to speak to me, I know he won't speak to me, he's a coward." Liam, meanwhile, had already mocked Noel publicly by saying, "We'd have to get someone to do Noel's parts, which wouldn't be hard." Over a year later, in early August 2024, Noel even cajoled the crowd at a High Flying Birds show, saying that he was not only tired of hearing about Liam but might not tour again with his current group, either.

And yet, less than one month later we got our official Oasis reunion tour announcement. Noel Gallagher's solo X account dropped its High Flying Birds moniker, and Oasis' X account now features a black-and-white shot of Noel and Liam standing side-by-side and not fighting each other. News of the reunion has spread, and no doubt every single Oasis show next year in 2025 will be sold out.

As for how the brothers agreed to the reunion? We've got no clue. But in addition to reprised renditions of "Wonderwall," fans next year might be on the lookout for a black eye or two.