The One Band the Gallagher Brothers Can't Agree On: Noel Loves U2, Liam Hates Them
Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis have spent decades in lockstep on who to hate — Radiohead, Blur, Phil Collins — but a new roundup from Far Out Magazine highlights the one act that splits them completely: U2. Noel has been an open admirer of Bono's band for years; Liam has been taking shots at them since 2002.
Liam's two flashpoints
The first came in a 2002 interview with The Observer, where Liam was asked about rock stars keeping fit for tours. He said he drank too much to be caught doing sit-ups or jogging, and described seeing Bono running in Los Angeles with a bottle of Volvic water as looking "like a fanny" — adding that it might be more forgivable if it were vodka. Far Out notes the irony that Liam himself has since been photographed jogging around Hampstead, albeit in smarter outerwear.
The second came in 2017, when someone asked him on X (then Twitter) what he thought of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds opening for U2. Liam replied he'd "rather eat my own shit" than listen to them.
Noel, from Our Price to Twickenham
Noel's position is the opposite. In a 2011 NME interview he described his love for The Joshua Tree and recalled queuing at a Manchester Our Price record shop to buy the 1988 follow-up Rattle and Hum on cassette, even as his indie-scene peers mocked him for it — he said he "fought their corner" regardless.
On the 2017 Joshua Tree Tour, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds officially opened for U2. At the Twickenham Stadium show, Bono invited Noel onstage during the encore to sing Oasis's "Don't Look Back in Anger" together. Before the show, Noel posted on X, ending with a twist on his brother's signature sign-off: "AS YOU WEREN'T… KISS-KISS… NG."
Far Out argues the root of the divide is tolerance for stadium rock: Noel's songwriting has always embraced U2's kind of communal, arena-sized uplift, while Liam sees that widescreen production as the death of mystery. Even after Oasis's reunion following a 16-year hiatus, this particular gap in taste remains unresolved.