Oasis, the Gallagher brothers and the plum in Paris
Oasis split in August 2009 after a backstage fight in Paris that Noel Gallagher says started with a thrown plum. Fifteen years later the brothers announced a reunion.
Two brothers, one band
Oasis formed in Manchester in 1991. Liam Gallagher sang, and a few months later his older brother Noel joined on lead guitar and became the main songwriter. Their debut album Definitely Maybe (1994) became the fastest-selling debut in British history at the time, and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? made them one of the biggest bands in the world. In August 1996 they played two nights at Knebworth to about 125,000 people each night.
The brothers were famous for arguing almost as much as for their music. Interviews, tours and award shows were full of public sniping. For years, fans treated the bickering as part of the act. It was not an act.
The night in Paris
On August 28, 2009, Oasis were due to headline the Rock en Seine festival near Paris. They never went on. Mid-way through another band's set, the crowd was told Oasis would not be performing. Within hours Noel released a statement saying he was leaving the band because he could no longer work with Liam.
Noel later described how the fight began. In his telling, Liam threw a plum across the dressing room, things escalated, and a guitar was broken. Liam has given his own versions over the years. Both agree there was a serious argument backstage, and that it ended the band. The band's final show of that era had already been played six days earlier, at the V Festival in Staffordshire on August 22, 2009.
Fifteen years apart
After the split, Liam and the remaining members carried on as Beady Eye until 2014, and both brothers launched solo careers. For more than a decade, almost every interview included the same question: would Oasis ever come back? The brothers kept trading jabs in public, often online, which only made fans more curious.
By 2023 both had started to say a reunion could happen on the right terms.
The reunion
On August 27, 2024, almost exactly 15 years after the Paris split, Oasis announced they had reformed and would play the UK and Ireland in the summer of 2025. Demand for tickets was enormous, and the sale drew wide public criticism of "dynamic pricing," where ticket prices rise automatically when demand is high.
On July 4, 2025, Oasis played their first show in 16 years at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, the opening night of the Oasis Live '25 Tour. In 2026 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1991 | Oasis form in Manchester |
| 1994 | Definitely Maybe released |
| August 1996 | Two nights at Knebworth |
| August 28, 2009 | Backstage fight in Paris, band splits |
| August 27, 2024 | Reunion announced |
| July 4, 2025 | First reunion show, Cardiff |
What it teaches
- Small sparks, old fuel. A plum did not end Oasis. Years of unresolved tension did, and the plum was the last straw.
- Absence builds demand. Fifteen years apart turned the reunion into a once-in-a-generation event.
- Fans love a family story. Sibling bands carry extra emotion, which is why every argument became headline news.
- Pricing is part of the story. The ticket controversy shows how quickly a happy reunion can pick up a new layer of drama.
If you like stories of bands that broke up and found their way back, read how the Eagles kept a famous promise.
