Time flies…published at 20:02 British Summer Time 11 July
Chris Long
Digital Editor, BBC North West
As Oasis are about to take the stage and complete their triumphant return to Manchester, let’s take a moment to see – in the most whistle-stop of ways – how we ended up here.
In 1993, after Noel joined Liam’s band The Rain and they changed their name, Oasis signed to Creation Records. The following year, they released their debut single, Supersonic, followed by their debut album, Definitely Maybe, which went straight to number one.
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They went stratospheric very swiftly – in 1995, their second album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? spent 10 weeks at the top of the album charts and singles Some Might Say and Don’t Look Back In Anger also hit number one.
A year later, they headlined two now-legendary shows at Knebworth, playing to a combined 250,000 people across two nights.
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Tensions were never far from the surface in the band though, with Liam and Noel portrayed in the press as never far from fisticuffs.
Outside the brothers, the band also changed – drummer Tony McCarroll left early on, Alan White took over. Rhythm guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs and bassist Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan made it through third album Be Here Now, before departing as its follow-up Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants was recorded.
Heavy Stereo’s Gem Archer and Ride’s Andy Bell replaced them, playing on Oasis’s fifth album, 2002’s Heathen Chemistry.
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But the fans never strayed, and sixth album Don’t Believe The Truth, featuring Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr’s son, on drums after White left, and singles Lyla and The Importance Of Being Idle, were quickly propelled to number one in 2005.
Three years later, the band’s final album Dig Out Your Soul was released to critical acclaim and a number one slot on the album charts, but within a few months, the band finally fell apart – a bust-up between the Gallagher brothers at a festival in Paris saw Noel leave and Oasis were over.
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The brothers went their separate ways – Liam forming Beady Eye before performing solo, and Noel finding major success with his High Flying Birds. But neither managed to quite hit the highs of Oasis’s success and so the rumours swirled that they would one day reform.
And in August last year, those rumours came true…