Listening to Noel Gallagher over the years, for a long time it didn’t feel like this was part of the masterplan.

He has spoken several times of the difficult decision he made to quit Oasis in 2009. The band was his life and the choice not made lightly, but ending things then was the best thing for everyone, he told Sky Arts a few years ago. The fact they didn’t continue was a big part of the reason they are now “up there with all the greats”.

The older Gallagher brother was well aware that the years apart – the brothers’ often funny but frustrating feud, the unanswered question of whether they would ever bury the hatchet and the hope that maybe, one day, it might just happen – all amplified their legend.

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.

But in 2022, Liam played gigs at Knebworth – the site of Oasis’s most famous, history-making gigs. Last year, he got in early to mark the anniversary of their debut album Definitely Maybe with his own solo tour, no sign of the man who wrote the songs.

Noel created the music; Liam brings it snarlingly, viscerally alive. Him doing those shows alone felt like it could be a death knell for a reunion. When asked about Liam by a fan during one of his shows with his current band, the High Flying Birds, last summer, Noel reportedly said his younger brother should be “thankful for my genius” and told the crowd: “Just remember who wrote all the f***ing songs.”

‘They hadn’t spoken in goodness knows how long’

Even last year’s new artwork for Definitely Maybe (pictured above), released for the 30th anniversary, showed a reworking of that famous album cover – shot at guitarist Bonehead’s house in Manchester – this time with the band members absent from the room. With no Liam on the floorboards, no Noel staring up at the spinning globe, it felt like a statement: Oasis really had left the building.

Designer Brian Cannon, who worked on the artwork for all of Oasis’s early music and now runs the Microdot memorabilia stores, says he was as surprised as anyone by the reunion announcement.

“A lot of people say to me, it’s all a big marketing ploy,” he says, of the brothers’ fall-out. “No, it isn’t, they genuinely hadn’t spoken to each other for goodness knows how long. And Noel’s got a very successful solo career that he’s very content with and doing very well. I didn’t see this coming, I really didn’t.”

Photographer Michael Spencer Jones, who captured the images for all the Oasis albums and singles in the band’s heyday, says the sibling rivalry was always there. “It’s such a major part of the potion that was Oasis.”

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But there had been whispers for months, reports from industry insiders saying it was only a matter of time. In January 2023, Noel announced his separation from his now ex-wife Sara MacDonald, who did not get on with Liam, leading to speculation he might become more open to making amends.

Then last year, following reports of shows booked for Wembley, fans once again pointed to teases from Liam on social media – “I never did like that word FORMER” he posted in the days before the announcement – and an interview given by Noel in which he spoke in complimentary terms about his little brother’s voice: “When I’d sing a song it would sound good. When he’d sing it, it would sound great.”

Neither of these things made a reunion a certainty. While Noel may not have liked his brother at times, he never underestimated the shared power their bristling sibling rivalry brought to Oasis. “I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without him, he wouldn’t have got anywhere without me,” he told journalists at an awards ceremony in 2019.

‘The stars have aligned’ – but statement gives little away

Oasis in their heyday were like no other live band. The shows were electrifying, the energy raw, in an era of optimism and fun in the 1990s that the Gallagher brothers defined. In later years, Noel may not have been a fan of the Cool Britannia tag, but that’s exactly what it was.

So now, will this reunion just be about the gigs? Will there be new music? Could the Gallagher brothers even be friends again?

The reunion statement gave little away. “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.” Further details said there was “no great revelatory moment”, but rather “the gradual realisation that the time is right” – but the Gallaghers have still not really addressed the small matter of not being on speaking terms for years. We want to know who reached out first? How did they finally come to an agreement? And what did their mum, Peggy, say about her sons finally getting their acts together?

Whatever has happened behind the scenes, the frost has definitely thawed. 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. The deal they have signed now is worth millions. But even before the announcement was made, Liam was quick to put anyone suggesting this was only about the money in their place.

“Your attitude stinks” was his reply to anyone questioning their motives. Positivity received a different response: “Your attitude is BIBLICAL.”

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You only have to look at the crowds at Liam’s solo shows – full of teenagers, as well as those of us who were there the first time round – to see how the music has filtered through generations. The singer has said several times he would like younger fans to see the full Oasis live experience.

Now, they just have to deliver.

“There’s two schools of thoughts on this and at one time I would have fallen into the latter,” says Cannon. “One being: great, yes, fantastic. The second: no, leave it be, let it lie, it’s gone, you might tarnish the past.

“But. We’re living through strange times in this country at the minute, globally as well. There’s a lot of division, recent events have been quite shocking. [A reunion] will undoubtedly bring a lot of happiness to a lot of people and I’m all in favour of a lot of people being happy. So, yeah, it’s got to be a good thing.”

“There should be an album, I think,” says Spencer Jones. “It would be great if there was more music to come.”

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of their second album, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Both Noel and Liam will be well aware of the expectation, how much these shows mean to fans.

Get them wrong, and there’s the potential for the legacy, the memories, to be spoiled.

Get them right, and Oasis live forever – all over again.

Actor Michael Madsen, who starred in a number of Quentin Tarantino films, has died at the age of 67, according to Sky’s US partner NBC News.

Chicago-born Madsen died on Thursday morning from cardiac arrest, his manager, Ron Smith said.

He appeared in dozens of films during a career that spanned more than 40 years, with screen credits including Thelma and Louise, Free Willy, Donnie Brasco and Sin City.

But he was well known for his collaborations with Tarantino, who cast him in Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Tributes poured in for Madsen, whose career started in the 80s.

Captain America co-director Joe Russo posted a picture of Madsen in Reservoir Dogs and said on X: “Michael Madsen ALWAYS had bite. RIP.”

“In the last two years Michael Madsen has been doing some incredible work with independent film including upcoming feature films Resurrection Road, Concessions and Cookbook for Southern Housewives, and was really looking forward to this next chapter in his life,” managers Susan Ferris and Ron Smith, and publicist Liz Rodriguez said in a statement.

“Michael was also preparing to release a new book called Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts and Poems, currently being edited. Michael Madsen was one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, who will be missed by many.”

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The BBC has said it will no longer show a live broadcast of “high risk” performances after the controversy over Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury gig.

It comes after it showed the punk-rap duo leading the crowd in chants of “death to the IDF”.

In a statement, BBC director general Tim Davie said he “deeply regrets that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to say sorry – to our audience and to all of you, but in particular to Jewish colleagues and the Jewish community.

“We are unequivocal that there can be no place for antisemitism at the BBC. I and everyone need to ensure that the BBC is a role model for inclusivity and tolerance and we all have a part to play.”

In a statement, the BBC said it was “clear that errors were made both in the lead-up to and during Bob Vylan’s appearance.”

The broadcaster said the duo were deemed “high risk” following an assessment process applied to all acts appearing at Glastonbury, but deemed suitable for live streaming with “appropriate mitigations”.

“Prior to Glastonbury, a decision was taken that compliance risks could be mitigated in real time on the live stream – through the use of language or content warnings – without the need for a delay. This was clearly not the case,” the BBC said.

“During the performance, the livestream was monitored in line with the agreed compliance protocols and a number of issues were escalated.

“Warnings appeared on the stream on two occasions and the editorial team took the decision not to cut the feed. This was an error.”

The corporation added that it would make “immediate changes to livestreaming music events”, including no longer broadcasting performances deemed high risk live.

In a statement on Instagram on Tuesday, the band said they were “not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people,’ rather, they were for the “dismantling of a violent military machine”.

In their statement, the group said they were a “distraction from the story” in Gaza and that whatever “sanctions” they received would also be a distraction.

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