Oasis: An Exhaustive History Of Liam And Noel Gallagher Hurling Insults At Each Other

2019 is quite the big year if you’re an Oasis fan. Not only is it the 25th anniversary of the release of their seminal debut album, Definitely Maybe, it also happens to be the 10th anniversary of the band’s disbandment after Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher had one final, deal-breaking spat.

So what better way to celebrate one of the greatest Britpop albums of all time and the end of one of the most popular bands ever by going through the long history of Liam and Noel’s spats?

Since the brothers have had more spats than a cowboy saloon spittoon, we’ve sorted out their insult-throwing history by year starting with 1994. This is not a definitive timeline by any means but it is an definitely exhausting one. Well, maybe.

Pre 1994

You don’t have a mad-on for your brother that’s lasted for four decades (and counting) if it didn’t begin with something big. Based on what we learned in the Oasis documentary, Supersonic, Liam kinda started the whole thing off.

“One night I come in pissed and I couldn’t find the light switch so I pissed all over his new stereo. I think it basically boils down to that.”

Yeah, pissing on your brother’s stereo when you were both poor teenagers is going to have a lasting effect.

1994

During an infamously terrible concert while on tour following the release of Definitely Maybe, Liam decided to change the lyrics of ‘Live Forever’ to “Maybe I don’t really wanna know/Why you pick your nose” just to annoy his brother.

Oh and he smacked Noel over the head with a tambourine before insulting the crowd so there’s that as well. No wonder why Noel quit Oasis (temporarily) after the gig.

But all that pales in comparison to the now-iconic NME interview the pair did where they basically spent the entire time arguing and telling each other to “f**k off.”

1995

Noel was in the studio recording the follow up to Definitely Maybe, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, only for Liam to crash the sessions with a large group of people he’d just met at the pub.

Naturally, the sensible thing for Noel to do was *checks notes* smack Liam over the head with a cricket bat. Revenge for the tambourine over the head I suppose but the pair did eventually kiss and make up.

For now anyway.

1996

After Oasis became the biggest band in the world following the release of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, the spats started getting worse/pettier due to the success. Not too surprising there, especially with two people as egotistical as Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher.

During a recording of MTV Unplugged, Liam pulled out due to a supposed sore throat and Noel was forced to sing. Clearly the sore throat wasn’t too bad or it healed miraculously quickly because he spent the entire taping drinking and heckling Noel.

1997 – 1999

Nothing happened that we know of publicly so I assume they were taking a breather.

That being said, Celebrity Deathmatch did lampoon Liam and Noel’s feuds by making them the subjects of a 1998 episode so that sort of counts.

2000

Things got really personal here and it makes the pissing on the stereo thing seem tiny.

During some downtime in Barcelona, the brothers got into another spat after drinking and Liam questioned the legitimacy of Noel’s child, which resulted in a physical fight.

Noel later said he’s never forgiven Liam for the incident because “he’s never apologised.”

2001

A rare, drama-free year. As far as we know anyway.

2002

Now we know why nothing happened in 2001: They were saving something for 2002.

It began when Liam threw his tambourine (a recurring symbol in this feud) to the ground during a concert in Japan and walked off stage. Noel would later quip that his brother throws “like a woman.”

Late in the year, Liam got into a fight with a police officer, which resulted in facial injuries and the need for dental surgery. Noel’s response to the whole thing? Not bothered would be an understatement: “All I’m bothered about is that he can still sing. My concern is for his voice.”

No love lost there between the pair.

2003 – 2004

Saving themselves for round 4235.

2005

In a rare move, Noel threw the first punches this round when he claimed that is Liam “frightened to death” of him and he can control his younger brother like “a slightly disused arcade game.”

Noel would later provide context for what he meant by that by revealing he used to screw with Liam – who is scared of ghosts – by moving stuff around and making him think spirits did it.

Classic brotherly shenanigans!

2006 – 2008

Nothing major other than Noel calling Liam a “f**king knobhead.” But this was the relative calm before the eventual storm that brought Oasis to an end.

2009

After yet an almighty spat that involved Liam smashing Noel’s guitar, Noel quits Oasis for good, bring the band to an anti-climatic end after 19 long, tumultuous years.

While the band is gone, the feud still kept going.

2010

During the BRIT Awards, Oasis were given an award honouring (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and Liam was the one who accepted it (Noel wasn’t present). While Liam thanked everyone in the band, he left out Noel, who played a major part in the group’s success.

Probably the least dramatic episode of the “Liam Gallagher vs Noel Gallagher” feud.

2011 – 2015

Twitter was quickly becoming a thing and Liam decided to use it to diss Noel for various things like his debut album (“snore patrol Noel Gallaghers high flying smurfs“) or for no reason at all (“I see Noel Katie Hopkins Gallagher is talking out of his slack arse again go and polish your SAXAPHONE Ha ha“).

Twitter being used to its full capabilities right there, folks.

2016

For some reason, Liam began calling Noel a “potato” and went on to tweet about his older brother being a spud several times over the course of 2016.

Seemingly mellowed out, Noel simply responded to Liam’s insults by saying: “I guess it was about him staying relevant. If you’re him, what else is there to tweet about?”

2017

The funny, low-stakes potato insults quickly gave way to an epic year, most of it instigated by Liam.

After Noel made peace with long-time rival, Damon Albarn, Liam tweeted: “That gobshite out of Blur might have turned Noel Gallagher into a massive girl but believe you me next time I see him there’s gonna be war.”

Then there was the One Love Manchester benefit concert held to raise money for the families affected by the bombing at Ariana Grande’s Manchester concert. Liam performed at the gig and took the time to call Noel a “sad f**k” because he was a no show.

It was later revealed by the One Love organisers that Noel was never going to perform in the first place, not that Liam cares.

Noel later started pushing back, starting with an interview where he called out Liam’s comments about the One Love Manchester concert, saying:

“He needs to see a psychiatrist. I don’t say that as a joke. Because young Mancunians, young music fans, were slaughtered, and he, twice, takes it somewhere to be about him. He needs to see somebody.”

Liam clapped back by starting up the potato jokes again by asking fans attending one of his concerts to bring potato peelers, which many obliged because why the hell not.

But Noel got the final laugh courtesy of a Pitchfork‘s “Over/Under” video, where he called Twitter “the playground of f**king idiots.” When it was pointed out Trump is on it, Noel replied “And so is my f**king brother.”

As a cherry on top, he signed off with “And quite literally, I’d put the pair of ‘em in a driverless car each so it f**kin’ ran into each other.”

Brutal.

2018

After such an incident filled 2017, 2018 was quite calm comparatively as all we got was Noel taking shots at Liam (among other artists) for enlisting an “army of songwriters” for their songs.

Oh, the 2018 Parklife Festival also banned potato peelers and Liam was set to perform there. Make of that what you will.

2019

And finally, we’re in the present and things aren’t cooling down yet.

After Noel entertained the idea of immortalising Oasis with a musical, Liam naturally responded in the only way he knows how: an all out tweetstorm.

Here’s hoping the pair don’t change because this lifelong “Liam Gallagher vs Noel Gallagher” feud they’ve got going is literally giving us all life.

As you were, lads.