You don’t even have to be an Oasis fan to know that the Gallagher brothers are notorious for controversy. Their big personalities often conflict with others, especially the press, and even with each other. This is why the brothers didn’t speak, or remained heavily estranged, for 15 years after their initial 2009 breakup. Surprisingly, the brothers didn’t part ways in the 90s, especially after the debacle at their MTV Unplugged performance.
In the 90s, MTV Unplugged featured many of the top bands and artists at the time, performing stripped-down, intimate versions of their songs. This format highlighted their musicianship, giving many alternative acts a chance to be taken more seriously. As grunge bands such as Nirvana famously performed on the show and released live albums soon after, Britpop was next. On August 10 and 11, 1996, Oasis performed for 250,000 fans at Knebworth Park, a legendary performance for the band. Just two weeks later, on August 23, the band was expected to perform for MTV Unplugged at Royal Festival Hall in London.
During rehearsals, Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher only showed up during the last three days. On the first day, Liam began to complain about a sore throat. While practicing their song “Live Forever”, Liam pointed at his throat and walked away, leaving his brother Noel to handle lead vocals while playing guitar. On the second day, Liam only sang three songs to preserve his voice for the performance. Crew members were concerned on the third day after Liam showed up wearing the same clothes as the day before. He had been out drinking for days, with no one believing he’d be able to perform in this condition.
Liam Backs Out Last Minute
On the day of the performance, August 23, 1996, Liam Gallagher decided he couldn’t perform due to his sore throat. At the last minute, he backed out, leaving his brother to deal with the consequences. Noel deserves credit for what he did next. In a “show must go on” moment, Noel decided to sing all of the songs for the performance. The guitarist wrote nearly all of the songs anyway and had provided lead vocals on the hit “Don’t Look Back In Anger”. A member of the production team noted, “There was almost this feeling that Noel was enjoying the moment too, where he had this opportunity to sing his own lyrics.”
Liam didn’t leave the building, though. The frontman sat in the balcony, drinking and heckling his older brother Noel. During the performance, Noel even at one point told his brother to “shut up,” adding, “the least you could do is show a bit of support.” This awkward confrontation in front of a crowd and cameras would be surprising coming from anyone else.
Toward the end of the performance, Liam came down and tried to join on stage. Noel explained, “And of course Liam comes on, and he wants to sing after we’ve played for an hour or something. We told him to f*** off, and he went home sulking.”
Sadly, the performance never got an official release, though bootleg versions and footage have circulated for years. It was a moment for Noel to shine, and one that would predict the brothers’ falling out in 2009. In 2011, Noel launched a solo career with his debut album, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, peaking at No. 1 on the UK Albums chart.
Photo by Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Images
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