In the list of rock bands considered least likely to bury their hatchets long enough to successfully reunite, the British group Oasis has always been near the very top.
At its peak in the 1990s, Oasis — led by the brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher — exemplified the soaring appeal of Britpop, with anthemic hits like “Wonderwall,” “Live Forever” and “Champagne Supernova” that could produce mass singalongs in any pub or arena. In 1994, the group’s debut, “Definitely Maybe,” rocketed to the top of the British pop chart and became a zeitgeist-defining moment for a new wave of English rock.
But the band kept crashing down to earth, largely through the fisticuffs — verbal and physical — of the Gallagher brothers. In 1995, a 14-minute unofficial CD was released of Noel and Liam getting sidetracked during a journalist’s interview to bicker with each other, loudly and ruthlessly if not quite comprehensibly.
The band split up in 2009 — “I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer,” Noel said at the time — and over the years the Gallaghers have continued to lob public insults at each other.
Now they seem to have reconciled sufficiently to announce a comeback tour in summer 2025, which is to include shows throughout Britain and Ireland, including at least four nights at Wembley Stadium in London. The band announced the tour on its website. In a statement, the band said plans were underway for dates on “other continents outside of Europe later next year.”
“The great wait is over,” the statement added: “Come see.”
The announcement was no surprise. Over the weekend, Oasis posted Tuesday’s date on its website and social media accounts, after days of gossip on social media and detailed reporting from anonymous “industry insiders” in the British news media about an imminent tour announcement. Liam Gallagher himself boosted those rumors. When one fan said he was “scared” about the news to come, Liam answered, “Your scared how do you think I feel.” Streams of the band’s catalog spiked in anticipation.
Tickets for the shows go on sale Aug. 31.
In Britain, Oasis was a phenomenon, selling tens of millions of albums and racking up six Brit Awards, and the Gallagher brothers’ antics guaranteed constant coverage in the news media. But the band never scaled the same heights in the United States. Perhaps that was a result of its quintessential Englishness. More likely, it was self-inflicted: In 1994, when the American rock press was buzzing about Oasis, it put on a notoriously debauched performance in Los Angeles and Noel abandoned the group for a few days.
Oasis has never won a Grammy Award. This year it was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the first time but was not inducted.
Since Oasis broke up, Noel has released four albums with his group Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Liam has released two with his group Beady Eye, three solo albums and one with John Squire of the Stone Roses.
This week, Oasis is set to release a 30th-anniversary edition of its debut album, “Definitely Maybe,” including early tracks that the band had long considered lost.
Alex Marshall contributed reporting.
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