Divorce, money, peer pressure? A look at why the warring brothers could be reuniting
By Gemma Peplow, arts and entertainment reporter, and Jimmy Rice, live news editor
Rumours have come and gone over the years, propelled in no small part by messages from Liam Gallagher on social media. He often teased, but never made any secret of wanting to bring Oasis back. The sticking point seemed to be Noel.
When asked about Liam by a fan during one of his shows with his current band, the High Flying Birds, only a few weeks ago, Noel said his younger brother should be “thankful for my genius” and told the crowd: “Just remember who wrote all the f***ing songs.”
This has been Noel’s tone for years – and so, in 2022, Liam played gigs at Knebworth, the site of Oasis’s most famous, history-making gigs.
Earlier this year, he marked the anniversary of their debut album Definitely Maybe with his own solo tour – with no sign of the man who wrote the songs.
Liam doing these shows alone felt like it could be a death knell for a reunion.
Divorce?
But there have been whispers for months now, reports from industry insiders saying it was only a matter of time until the band reunited.
We can only speculate as to why it is happening now, but one theory doing the rounds is that a reconciliation has been made easier by Noel announcing his separation from wife Sara MacDonald in January 2023.
MacDonald and the younger Gallagher famously enjoyed a fractious relationship.
During Liam’s Glastonbury set in 2019, she said on social media that he was a “fat twat doing his tribute act, balancing a tambourine on his head”. The post was quickly deleted but there’s more evidence of their dislike for one another, with Liam previously calling her “proper dark” and claiming Noel was “desperate to get Oasis back… but his missus won’t let him”.
Money?
Professor Jonathan Shalit OBE, chairman of talent agency InterTalent, told The Sun yesterday that the band could rake in £400m for a one-off tour.
“With tickets, sponsorship, merchandise and filming, I would predict an income for Noel and Liam of over £50m each. This is a tour that could easily gross over £400m.”
According to celebritynetworth.com, Noel is worth an estimated £53m – suggesting he doesn’t need to do this even with the reported cost of his divorce coming in at £20m.
In 2020, Liam said Oasis had been offered £100m to reform – a claim quickly denied by Noel, who suggested the remark was a publicity move to promote a single.
But even before any announcement has been made, Liam was quick to put anyone suggesting this is only about the money in their place.
“Your attitude stinks,” was his reply to anyone questioning the motives.
Positivity received a different response, though.
Liam replied to upbeat comments about a reunion with comments like: “Your attitude is BIBLICAL.”
Peer pressure?
Liam hasn’t been the only voice appealing for Noel to set his differences aside over the years.
Last year, 1975 singer Matty Healy summed up what many Oasis fans have long thought: “I can deal with them dressing like they’re in their 20s and being in their 50s, but acting like they’re in their 20s — they need to grow up.
“They’re sat around in Little Venice and Little Highgate, crying because they’re in an argument with their brother. Grow up; headline Glastonbury.”
Healy added: “There is not one person going to a High Flying Birds gig, or a Liam Gallagher gig, that wouldn’t rather be at an Oasis gig.
“Do me a favour: Get back together; stop messing around. That’s my public service announcement for today.”
Gallagher Sr replied pretty much as anyone who has ever read one of his interviews would expect…
“Oh, that f***ing slack-jawed f***wit. What did he say?” said Noel when asked about the comments by an interviewer.
Upon being told, Noel continued: “He would never be able to imagine it. He needs to go over how shit his band is and split up.”
All of which does for the peer pressure theory, and with the younger Gallagher denying that money is in play, and the Sara MacDonald factor feeling a little bit “it was Yoko who broke up the Beatles”, it may just be that the brothers simply remembered that, as the lyric to their beloved b-side Acquiesce goes, they need each other.
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