Why Oasis is gonna live forever on our playlists

Band reunions are a dime a dozen these days, as one of the most effective (and lucrative) career strategies is breaking up for a while and then making a triumphant comeback. Sure, there are notable holdouts—including Talking Heads and the Smiths — but these groups are the exception rather than the rule.

Up until a few weeks ago, Oasis was also in the category of long-term reunion holdouts. The legendary Brits broke up just before a gig in 2009, the culmination of years of disagreements between brothers (and principal members) Noel and Liam Gallagher. But two days before the 30th anniversary of their debut album, "Definitely Maybe," Oasis announced a reunion tour centered on the UK and Ireland.

For many years, an Oasis reconciliation seemed improbable. The brothers traded sharp barbs online and in the press, with Liam memorably calling Noel a “potato” multiple times on Twitter/X and Noel tossing off casual insults such as “I don’t listen to the albums, because I can’t stand his voice.” Even the Gallaghers’ mom Peggy asking her sons to put aside their differences didn’t lead to a truce.

Of course, the Gallaghers’ disagreements were nothing new — a 1995 single “Wibbling Rivalry” detailed their squabbling during an interview and just missed the Top 40 in the UK — but the brothers were rather adamantly anti-reunion: In summer 2024, Liam even embarked on a tour celebrating "Definitely Maybe" on his own.

But the timing seems ideal for an Oasis reunion. As is the case with many groups, the band received a massive bump in popularity in the years they were apart. Oasis currently have over 30 million monthly Spotify listeners; “Wonderwall” alone has amassed a staggering 2 billion-plus streams; and another anthem, “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” is also closing in on the coveted 1 billion stream mark.

Of course, it also helps that both Noel and Liam have continued to tour separately and still play a healthy amount of Oasis songs. In the U.S., the former has also opened high-profile amphitheater tours for groups like Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage in recent years with the High Flying Birds.

In the UK, as a solo artist, Liam has become almost as big a draw as Oasis in the UK, given his two-night, sold-out 2022 gigs at Knebworth — where the band played a memorable 1996 gig — and headlining slots this year at the Reading and Leeds festivals. The brothers also still play with musicians who were in various Oasis lineups, so getting back into fighting shape as a band won’t be a stretch.

A big part of their ongoing popularity also stems from younger generations keeping the band’s music alive. That’s a testament to the ongoing resurgence of (and interest in) '90s rock, but also the ageless nature of the band’s albums. From a production standpoint, "Definitely Maybe" and the follow-up, 1995’s blockbuster "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?," don’t sound dated.

Both albums are certainly influenced by the melodic pop-rock favored by the Beatles — not coincidentally, the Fab Four are another band beloved by younger generations — but the LPs also take cues from classic British glam and swaggering psychedelic rock. Thematically, these albums especially feel timeless, covering the ups and downs of adulthood: ennui and uncertainty, deep longing and the exhilaration of being young. Oasis doesn’t sound like an oldies act steeped in nostalgia; they sound like the soundtrack to a time when life is full of possibilities.

Of course, Oasis is intimately connected to the mid-1990s Britpop moment, alongside groups such as Blur, Elastica, Supergrass and Pulp. Although a relatively niche movement in the U.S., Britpop can be polarizing elsewhere. Musicians and critics alike have noted the era’s undertones of sexism — and the misconception that the era ushered in gender equality.

In her wonderful memoir, “Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me from Success,” Lush’s Miki Berenyi notes, “The claim that Britpop celebrates sassy women in bands is a veneer,” and added, “The female-led Britpop bands sold a fraction of what the successful bloke bands did. Sure, the girls got a fair bit of attention, but it’s the blokes who ruled the roost.”

From the fan perspective, the perception that Oasis especially possesses a male-dominated fanbase lingers. Noel Gallagher’s daughter Anais noted that she wouldn’t tolerate gatekeeping within Oasis fandom. “One thing I won’t stand for is the ageism and the misogyny around people getting tickets,” she noted online. “Sorry, if a 19-year-old girl in a pink cowboy hat wants to be there, I will have my friendship bracelets ready.”

Anna Doble’s crucial piece in the Quietus, “Oasisters: Meet Liam & Noel’s 21st Century Female Fan Army,” also pushes back against the stereotype of Oasis fans being all boorish lads — and adds nuance to the perception of Britpop. “Britpop’s focus on working-class life and pushing back against American influence gave it a one and only style that was appreciated by many people, regardless of gender,” said a 22-year-old Brazilian fan, Bella Perozzi.

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Unsurprisingly, demand for Oasis reunion tickets was off the charts; in fact, the on-sale made the notoriously difficult ticket on-sale for Taylor Swift’s the Eras Tour on-sales look like a walk in the park. The touching part was the number of kids who secured tickets for their parents — as evidenced by the many TikTok videos of old-school Oasis fans crying tears of joy after being surprised with the news they were going to the shows.

There’s something quite poignant about parents and their kids sharing an Oasis show together — not to mention the band celebrating their legacy with a victory lap. By the end of their original run, the Oasis universe was riddled with drama and acrimony. (In a testament to these perceptions dying hard, people jokingly wondered if the band would break up before even getting to the stage next year.) Britpop certainly isn’t coming back; neither are the ’90s. But as Oasis themselves posited back in 1994, silver linings and second chances are possible if the stars align: “Maybe you're the same as me/We see things they'll never see/You and I are gonna live forever.”