A tambourine, threatening texts and a cricket bat: Oasis' Noel and Liam Gallagher's 15-year feud.

The rumours are true: Oasis are reuniting.

Speculation has been rife online this week, after brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher shared a clip of the date 27.08.24 in the Oasis logo style, along with '8am'. 

At Liam's headline set at Reading Festival on Sunday he sang Oasis track 'Half The World Away', dedicating it to his brother Noel. 

For the uninitiated, this is big news in the music world. 

Sure, reunions happen all the time, but if you had a bingo card, this would be the one reunion no one would expect. Why? Because these two brothers have publicly despised each other with a burning passion for decades. 

But now, it seems that while the war between the Gallagher brothers may not be over, they've at least formed some kind of temporary ceasefire.

Today, the band announced that it will play14 shows in mid-2025, including four at London’s Wembley Stadium and four at Manchester’s Heaton Park — Manchester being the Gallagher's hometown.

"There has been no great revelatory moment that has ignited the reunion — just the gradual realisation that the time is right," said a press release from the band. "Yet the timing must be a subconscious influence. This Thursday represents 30 years to the day since their electrifying debut album Definitely Maybe was released, while 2025 will see the equally essential second record (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? reach that same anniversary."

For their part, the brothers added: "The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised."

The statement also noted that the band planned to take the tour beyond Europe at a later date, presumably if Noel and Liam can maintain their truce through the first leg of shows.

Over the years, the media have fastidiously chronicled their famous feud since the band split, with both brothers lashing out periodically. 

For example, back in 2019, Noel, 52, gave an interview to The Guardian, where he made it clear there would be no reconciliation with Liam, 46, anytime soon.

“I liked my mum until she gave birth to Liam,” Noel brutally admitted.

“I can’t stand his voice,” he later added.

Noel also accused his brother of making “unsophisticated music” because he’s an “unsophisticated man”.

Yep, we all thought there was no going back from any of that.

Noel Gallagher on brother Liam’s new music from the Guardian interview today is genius pic.twitter.com/V6GLKzDpks

— Dan Wootton (@danwootton) August 5, 2019

So, how did we get here? 

Let's take a trip back through memory lane and explain the full history of the Gallagher brothers' feud, and potentially how they're going to turn that all around for what will surely be a majorly profitable sold out tour.

The history of the Gallagher brothers’ feud, explained.

The band behind the song 'Wonderwall' began in 1991, and by 1994, despite their enormous success, the brothers were publicly feuding whilst working together.

Oasis was started by Liam and consisted of guitar player Paul Arthurs, bassist Paul McGuigan and drummer Tony McCarroll. At the last minute, Liam asked Noel to join too, which he did on vocals and lead guitar.

They released their hit debut album Definitley, Maybe in August 1994 and a month later the band was playing at the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles. 

According to reports, Liam had begun causing trouble within the band, and threw a tambourine at his brother. Noel walked out, quitting the tour, but later returned. The band turned the incident into the song, 'Talk Tonight'.

In May the following year, during the recording of the band’s album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, Liam brought visitors to the studio, disrupting Noel, who responded by reportedly hitting his brother over the head with a cricket bat. The infamous bat was later sold at auction.

Oasis was to perform at the MTV Unplugged show in 1996, but Liam pulled out, citing the illness laryngitis. The band performed without him, and Liam, who was supposed to be too sick to play, sat in the audience, drinking his beer and smoking a cigarette as he heckled them.

With bad blood continuing to brew over the years, Noel and Liam then had a public fist fight in Barcelona in May 2000, after Liam questioned the paternity of Noel’s new baby girl, Anaïs, with his former wife Meg Mathews. Noel was so incensed, he didn't complete the rest of the European tour with the band and quit for the second time.

"I've never forgiven him because he’s never apologised," Liam told Q Magazine in 2005. "He's my brother. I hope he's reading this and realises that. He's my brother but he's at arm's length until he apologises for what he's done."

The band continued to play but the bad vibes festered. 

Reported by NME in 2005, Noel told Spin about how he used mind games to manipulate his younger brother. 

"I've kind of learnt that instead of arguing stuff out with him and ending up in a fight, I work on his psychology. 

"He’s completely freaked out by me now," Noel said. "I can read him and I can fucking play him like a slightly disused arcade game.

"I can make him make decisions that he thinks are his but really they’re mine. Without fighting. It’s an art I’ve learned."

Yep, it got pretty nasty.

Finally in August 2009, under mounting tension between the brothers, Oasis was forced to split.

They were due to play at Chelmsford, but cancelled as Liam reportedly had laryngitis. Infuriated, Noel announced that his brother was in fact "hungover", leading Liam to sue for defamation.

He dropped the legal action, but the damage was done, with the last straw being later that month in Paris, when Liam wielded Noel’s guitar around on stage like a weapon.

Noel said in statement: “I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”

The brothers have since pursued solo careers, and continued regularly bickering via social media. 

In 2017, Liam tweeted about Noel not performing at the Manchester terror attack tribute concert. Noel was forced to respond, explaining he was away, and had instead made a donation.

Manchester id like to apologise for my brothers absence last night very disappointed stay beautiful stay safe LG x

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) June 5, 2017

Noels out of the fucking country weren't we all love get on a fucking plane and play your tunes for the kids you sad fuck

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) June 5, 2017

In July 2018, Liam tweeted his brother that he wanted an Oasis reunion.

“I forgive you now let's get the BIG O back together and stop fucking about the drinks are on me LG x”.

Earth to noel listen up rkid I hear your doing gigs where people can't drink alcohol now that's the BeZarist thing you've done yet I forgive you now let's get the BIG O back together and stop fucking about the drinks are on me LG x

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) July 19, 2018

Noel didn’t respond.

In 2019, a texting scandal errupted where Noel accused Liam of sending threatening messages to his daughter Anaïs, 19.

On June 29, Liam was to perform at the Glastonbury Music Festival. The Sun reports that Noel’s wife Sara MacDonald wrote on Instagram: "Think I'm going to swerve that. The fat twat doing his tribute act, balancing a tambourine on his head is going to look pretty dated."

In response, Liam reportedly messaged Anaïs: "Tell your step mam to be very careful [sic]."

Liam then retracted the comment, and apologised on Twitter to "my beautiful mum Peggy and my lovely niece Anaïs for getting caught up in all of this childish behaviour."

In reference to the text to his daughter, Noel told The Guardian:

"That’s not the first time [Liam’s] sent texts to my daughter, or left threatening phone calls on my wife’s answering machine.

"When he’s threatening my wife via my teenage daughter, I’m thinking, you know, if you weren’t a rock star… you’d be getting a visit from the police."

At that stage, Noel had no plans to forgive his brother for the transgression.

“I’ve got one fatal flaw in my otherwise perfect makeup as a human being, which is I don’t forgive people," he explained.

"Once you start texting my children… and legitimise my wife being bullied on the internet, where she has to shut down Instagram accounts because of the vile shit being written about her and my daughter, then it ain’t happening."

And, just incidentally, what was Noel’s opinion on Liam’s Glastonbury performance?

"I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarrassed for a man in my entire life," he said.

How did Liam and Noel make up?

Since Oasis broke up people have been begging the band to get back together. 

In 2021, Noel told Radio X, "If anybody wants to offer me £100 million ($194,688,048 AUD) now, I’ll say it now, I’ll do it. I’ll do it for £100 million."

In 2023, Noel said he was just waiting for Liam to get in touch. 

"He's got my number, he's got my manager number. Call us"

Noel Gallagher about Liam Gallagher and an Oasis reunion pic.twitter.com/rCRBvizkpg

— Liam Gallagher Fans Club (@liamgfansclub) March 21, 2023

Perhaps that fated call did finally happen? Or perhaps an apology for indiscretions past?

At this point, we don't have all the details, but we certainly would do anything for a golden ticket to that concert.

Will the rest of Oasis get back together? 

If reunion rumours are true, fans will also be questioning which of the brothers' band members will return. 

The key members during the mid-90s would be the most popular choice, consisting of Liam, Noel, guitarist Paul Arthurs, bassist Paul McGuigan and Tony McCarroll on the drums. 

Arthurs has continued to work with Liam over the years, while his successor Gem Archer worked with Noel. 

McGuigan and McCarroll have been largely absent from the music industry since leaving Oasis, so their return to the big stage remains up in the air. 

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This story was originally published in 2019 and has been updated since.