With “Definitely Maybe”, Oasis, led by the Gallagher brothers, created a groundbreaking album 30 years ago. Since then, the band has caused a stir mainly with arguments. Now a rumor is electrifying the music world.
Rarely has there been a week in British music history that reflects the rise and fall of a band as much as this one. On Friday (30 August) it will be 30 years since Oasis released “Definitely Maybe”, an album that significantly shaped an entire genre – Britpop. And on Wednesday (28 August) it will be 15 years since guitarist Noel Gallagher left the group after a dispute with his brother Liam. Now, of all times, a new milestone could follow.
On Monday night, the brothers posted the date “27.08.24” and the time “8am” on social media. So will there be a big announcement this Tuesday at 9am German time (CEST)? British media are speculating more than ever about a sensational comeback.
Oasis was the finest guitar pop, but above all the two Gallaghers as frontmen. Confident, sometimes arrogant sayings, tousled hair, sunglasses. Two geniuses who complement each other: Noel the gifted songwriter, Liam the distinctive voice.
In the mid-90s, the guys from Manchester were the hottest music export from the homeland of the Beatles, Stones and co. Their second album “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?” from 1995 with the mega hits “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger” made them world famous. With Blur (“Modern Life Is Rubbish”) they started the “Battle of Britpop” – which band invented the style is still a controversial issue today.
Oasis have been on hiatus since 2009
Blur, with singer and guitarist Damon Albarn, is still playing. Oasis, on the other hand, fell apart because of a dispute between the extroverted Gallaghers. That was in 2009. Since then, you’ve heard of the brothers when Noel appears in the stands at his favorite football club, Manchester City, or when they take turns making jokes to each other or some other celebrity. Provocation has always been their thing.
Exactly 15 years after the split, there is now speculation about a comeback. Liam Gallagher gave a possible hint on X: “I never liked the word ‘FORMER'” – according to fans, he was referring to the phrase “former Oasis singer”.
“Don’t Look Back in Anger” – do the brothers really not look back in anger? They are secretly working on a reconciliation, reports the newspaper “Sun”, and in doing so, they are surprising friends and acquaintances.
The “Mail on Sunday” quotes an unnamed source as saying that Liam (51) and Noel (57) could be lured to headline the most important British music festival, Glastonbury, in the summer of 2025 and that they could play ten times at London’s Wembley Stadium – breaking Taylor Swift’s record just set. And the “Sunday Times” has heard that in addition to Wembley, several concerts could also take place at Heaton Park in Oasis’ hometown of Manchester.
The German music expert Frank Laufenberg is skeptical about a possible comeback. “It seems to me that Oasis has said everything musically,” he says. The ongoing dispute between the Gallagher brothers has rather annoyed him. “That had nothing to do with music. And now everything is all peace and harmony? It’s all very questionable,” says the 79-year-old radio pioneer and operator of the internet radio station PopStop in an interview with the German Press Agency.
No one has made an official statement. However, Liam Gallagher made a reference to it during his performance at the Leeds Festival at the weekend, writes the Sunday Mirror newspaper. “It’s pretty interesting, isn’t it? A very interesting situation we’re in,” he said, before playing the Oasis hit “Half the World Away”. According to the British news agency PA, he dedicated the song to his brother at a festival in Reading on Sunday evening. The video with the date was then played.
Rare praise for the brother
Noel had previously surprised everyone with rare praise for Liam. “I can’t sing ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ and ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Star’ and all that,” he said. “Well, I could, but it’s not the same. It’s the manner or the voice and the attitude. I don’t have the same attitude as him,” Noel Gallagher said in an interview. “If I sang a song, it would sound good. If he sang it, it would sound great.”
Music experts emphasize that although Noel is the songwriter of many hits, it is Liam’s voice that attracts the masses. Noel is certainly successful with his band High Flying Birds. But his younger brother fills the larger venues like the O2 Arena in London.
Most recently, Liam released an album with John Squire, former guitarist of the Stone Roses. In typical loudmouth fashion, he praised himself: the record is the best album since “Revolver” by the Beatles.
It is not the first time that rumors about a comeback have been circulating in the media. A few months ago, some fans had hoped that the band could perform at Wembley Stadium this summer. But Liam Gallagher put an end to the speculation in April: “I never mentioned an Oasis reunion, it’s over, we all have to get over it for our own sanity,” he wrote on X.
Liam completed the 30th anniversary tour of “Definitely Maybe” alone. Will things be different in 2025? Like so many things with the Gallagher brothers, that too is “definitely likely”.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
