‘I can’t stand his voice’: A tribute to the most biting barbs made by the battling Oasis brothers

CNN
 — 

There have been some pretty incendiary public family feuds through the decades, but none more infamous than that of Liam and Noel Gallagher, the brothers behind ’90s Britpop band Oasis.

After all, who else can say that they argued with their sibling for 15 minutes about who is more rock ‘n roll during a 1994 interview with NME, the audio of which went on to be released as a single called “Wibbling Rivalry”?

The pair have publicly traded barbs for decades, at least until earlier this week when they announced that “the guns have fallen silent” on their 15-year feud for a long-awaited Oasis reunion.

So while you continue to strategize about how to nab tickets to next summer’s reunion tour, or while listening to “Don’t Look Back in Anger” on repeat, here’s a look back at some of Noel and Liam’s deepest cuts at each other.

Liam to Spin Magazine in 2005: “Noel and I don’t speak to each other. That’s probably best. We see each other, but I’ve got nothing to say to him. He’s got nothing to say to me. We make music and that’s it. Or we have the odd drink together and that’s it. That’s the way I like it.”

Noel to Spin Magazine in 2005: “I’ve kind of learnt that instead of arguing stuff out with him and ending up in a fight, I work on his psychology and he’s completely freaked out by me now. He’s actually frightened to death of me… I can read him and I can f—ing play him like a slightly disused arcade game.”

Noel in 2009: Noel was quoted as saying that Liam is “the angriest man you’ll ever meet. He’s like a man with a fork in a world of soup.”

Hilariously, in 2019, Liam referenced the decade-old jab in a video of himself talking about his solo tour while eating soup with a fork. “I want to thank all my brothers and sisters for buying tickets for the tour, I really appreciate it. You’ve made a very so-called angry man very, very happy,” he said in the video posted to his X page. Great stuff. No notes.

Noel on the Oasis website in 2009: After Noel notoriously quit Oasis, he released a statement that appeared on the band’s website, which read, “It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”

Noel in 2016: In the 2016 documentary “Oasis: Supersonic,” Noel said that “Oasis’ greatest strength was the relationship between me and Liam. It’s also what drove the band into the ground in the end.”

Liam to the Guardian in 2017: “When I think about it, being in a band with him bores the death out of me.”

Liam to BBC Sounds in 2019: “I guess it’s always one bad egg in the family, you know what I mean?”

Liam on X in 2019: “Me growing my hair long is more exciting than anything noel gallghers high flying pretend spaced out pancakes will ever do.” (The quip was in reference to Noel’s post-Oasis solo band Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds)

Noel to The Guardian in 2019: “I liked (my mum) until she gave birth to Liam.”

In that same interview, Noel later said he doesn’t listen to Liam’s solo albums “because I can’t stand his voice. But I hear it on the radio… I think it’s unsophisticated music. For unsophisticated people. Made by an unsophisticated man. Who’s giving unsophisticated orders to a load of songwriters who think they’re doing the Oasis thing.”

Liam to The Guardian in 2022: “I’m sure Noel’s very happy in his world. He wrote some great songs and I sang them. It’s the voice that people want to hear. I could get someone to play Noel’s guitar parts 10 a penny. Noel can’t get anyone to sing like me.”