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The Sun
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I partied with Oasis & was blamed for triggering split…why their £400m tour is biggest band reunion there will ever be
IT'S now just four sleeps until the biggest British band reunion there will ever be. Yes, I'm calling it. The Oasis reconciliation has never been equalled — and will never be eclipsed. 5 5 It's not hyperbole or exaggeration — this is the reunion to top all reunions, after 16 years of rumours, insults, damned lies, sub-par solo records, bitter divorces and naked venom. Who else but Oasis could be kicking up a storm and a scramble for eye-wateringly exorbitant tickets and inserting themselves right in the middle of the national conversation yet again with a forthcom- ing tour-we-thought-might-never-be dominating news bulletins and column inches for almost a year? As Liam Gallagher wrote on X: 'Oasis rehearsals get more coverage than most band's tours.' There are only two Beatles left — drum and bass — The Stones and The Who never really packed it in. Neither did U2 — and they're Irish anyway. Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant is 76 and Jimmy Page, 81, and their fans are dying out. The animosity between Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, 79, and Roger Waters, 81, appears insurmountable. Anyway, both groups — and I adore them equally — have already done it for peerless one-off shows I was privileged to witness in 2007 and 2005 respectively. The Stone Roses did it already. The Jam and The Smiths will likely never happen but could they really sell out stadia across North and South America, Japan, Australia, South Korea — and perhaps beyond — at the same speed and scale? Crowning moment for cool britannia Noel Gallagher gives update on Oasis rehearsals and breaks silence on Glastonbury rumours And the musical, media and technological landscapes have fractured so significantly over the past decades that I cannot envisage any group hereafter emerging with such impact and cultural significance, capturing the zeitgeist and empowering a nation. Legend will tell you that the Gallaghers never conquered America — yet they are playing two heaving mega-shows at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and the LA Rose Bowl, alongside Chicago's Soldier Field, their North American jaunt premiering with a brace of now-ticketless dates at the Rogers Stadium in Toronto, Canada. Spotify and streaming platforms have informed and educated new international audiences about the Mancs, who are now a more dominant global force than ever. So make no mistake, the Oasis Live '25 tour, which I and 74,499 others will be privileged enough to witness on Friday night at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, is the biggest British rock reunion of all time. Ever. Ad infinitum. End of. The Gallaghers also happen to be Catholic brothers — and their complex relationship began to resemble something of a holy tale, albeit latterly played out via X rather than the scriptures. Human beings have always been fascinated by sibling stories of rivalry and jealousy, not least Joseph in the Book of Genesis, which chronicles betrayal and ultimate reconciliation of the main man and his brothers. Sound familiar? Indeed, as Liam might say, biblical. It remains to be seen whether he will be wearing a coat of many colours on stage. These 41 Oasis dates are expected to bring in £400million with further dates in 2026 also being mooted, perhaps in Europe and also to tie in with the 30th anniversary of their peerless shows at Maine Road and Knebworth, but only if the brothers' truce holds. There have also been various band and solo brand deals with Adidas, Burberry, Stone Island and Clarks shoes since the reunion announcement, swelling the divorce-laden Gallagher coffers even further. Merch deals include £40 branded bucket hats, shot glasses, jigsaw puzzles, Oasis-themed tote bags and even baby grows. Curiously, Oasis rivals Coldplay are actually playing more sold-out dates at Wembley Stadium this summer, but with little fanfare. They will perform a record-breaking ten nights at the home of English football after the initial Oasis run of five (with two extra Gallagher shows in September). That will take Coldplay's career total to 22 dates at Wembley, compared to 12 for the Mancunians. 5 5 Chris Martin — who Liam once said looked like a geography teacher — may be trying to get one over on his northern counterparts. Coldplay announced their run soon after Oasis, pointedly spurning dynamic pricing structures which had caused such controversy when the brothers' dates went on sale. They also agreed to commit ten per cent of proceeds from their British dates to the Music Venue Trust, a UK charity which supports grassroots music venues. And, in a further wrestle for the moral high ground, Coldplay's gigs will be the world's first stadium shows powered by 100 per cent solar, wind and kinetic energy. Oasis won't care for such nonsense, but I'm told relationships between the bands, particularly their main songwriters, are not as amicable as they once were. But while Coldplay may be the most-played British group of the 21st century on UK radio and TV and are a bigger band in terms of global commercial success, they don't have anywhere near the cultural and societal impact of Oasis. Oasis played a significant role in shaping '90s British media and politics, assisting the ushering in of Tony Blair as Labour Prime Minister in 1997. The 1996 Brit Awards were very much the crowning moment for this emerging Cool Britannia movement, with its cast all assembled for the one and only time, under the crumbling roof of Earl's Court: Oasis, Blur, Robbie Williams, a then-unknown Spice Girls, Chris Evans, Supergrass, Pulp, of course, Radiohead, Massive Attack and Creation Records Svengali Alan McGee, the man who signed Oasis less than three years earlier. Nervy PM-in-waiting Blair would present a lifetime achievement award to David Bowie — and Noel, upon receiving one of the band's three awards that night, told the crowd: 'There are seven people in this room who are giving a little bit of hope to young people in this country. That is me, our kid, Bonehead, Guigs, Alan White, Alan McGee and Tony Blair. And if you've all got anything about you, you'll go up there and you'll shake Tony Blair's hand, man. He's the man! Power to the people!' Ounces of cocaine next to the blairs Afterwards, the Blairs approached the Oasis table, stacked high with cigarettes and alcohol — and a little more. 'There were literally ounces of cocaine, just a couple of feet away from them,' Creation Records MD Tim Abbot later confided. And rhythm guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs — now back in the band he helped found — recalled: 'They were very sheepish. Cherie Blair was like, 'Would you mind awfully signing something for my kids? They're very big fans.' We just went, 'Waaaargh'. We were f***ed.' This typified the Oasis attitude which the British public largely embraced — they just didn't care about who they offended. About how they behaved. Or what they said. They were a journalist's dream, a consistently controversial band on whom I would forge my career. But, forget not, Noel's songwriting was incomparable at that moment in time, too — paeans like Live Forever and Slide Away would resonate from Bognor to Burnage pub jukeboxes throughout the glorious '90s. In a post- Thatcher Britain, walls were crashing down and our country was modernising, creatives flourishing with fashion, the punkish Young British Artists, the UK restaurant business with eateries like St John, Quo Vadis and Aubergine emerging, handsome football, a more tolerant politics and the mood-capturing, mega-selling media fusing to make Britain great again. Oasis may have led this charge but the band's crowning glory at the Brits and what followed must be looked at in context. Sprinting out of the Acid House movement of the late '80s emerged a Madchester sound, forged by Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and The Stone Roses, who all looked like they had just stepped off the football terraces and whose influence on the Gallaghers cannot be underestimated. Hand-in-hand, England's progress at the Italia '90 World Cup and Gazza's tears helped drag football out of hooliganism, spawning the Premier League in 1992. Rupert Murdoch's Sky splashed out for the rights and the modern game was born, its players' wages detonating, ushering in a new generation of rock star 'ballers who, later, almost delivered in the domestic Euro '96 championship, with heroic Gascoigne again at its heart and Three Lions echoing around a decaying old Wembley. The spirit of British music and football became enmeshed, emboldening a young working class, tired of a grubby Conservative government and wielding a desire for swift and radical change. Two deaths in 1994, the year of Cool Britannia's fertilisation, would transform the musical and political landscapes irrevocably. In April, as a fledgling 24-year old journalist for the Sunday Mirror, I would write the obituary of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain's — largely because nobody else there really knew who he was. And, just weeks later, Labour leader John Smith's premature passing would stun us all. They were very sheepish. Cherie Blair was like, 'Would you mind awfully signing something for my kids? They're very big fans.' We just went, 'Waaaargh'. We were f***ed Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs These deaths paved the way for the twin emergence of a young, homegrown Britpop movement, New Labour and an equally youthful politician named Tony Blair, just 43. My first live encounter with Oasis came in August 1994 during a ferocious show at London's Kentish Town Forum. A provocative, surly, agitated, subversive, volatile performance, clearly signalling that we were witnessing a bombastic new chapter of British rock. Little did I know then what influence this band would have on our lives and my journalistic career. Within months of that embryonic onslaught, the mad-fer-it brothers would begin to determine the way Britons dressed and cut their hair, even the language they would use — and how they might even vote. At Knebworth House, less than two years later, 250,000 shaggy-haired lads and ladettes, boldly clad in England football tops, checked shirts, baggy jeans, Clarks Wallabees, cargo trousers and Adidas, packed that holy, sun-baked field and chanted Noel's council estate hymns dedicated to Britain's youth, excited for their futures and sensing a transformative and more tolerant British society. Life felt more fun and colourful Chris Martin is certainly a mighty talented songwriter, but how many people really want to dress like him or copy his haircut? My passion and journalism throughout this period, working closely with both Oasis and Coldplay, in print, digital and broadcast media, would ultimately combine and contribute to my rise to become The Sun's Editor and my appointment was announced on August 26, 2009. Strange timing because, two days later, Oasis would implode and split up in France, dominating those early papers. But, in a 2017 interview with GQ magazine, Liam would claim that it was my presence in the band's dressing room, before the Paris show, which sparked an incendiary row with Noel, ending the band. Dead forever. Or so we thought. I was mortified. He recalled: 'I saw Dominic Mohan and some other fing clown from The Sun waltzing around backstage, necking our champagne. Not having it.' As if I would be ligging backstage, sipping the Gallagher bubbly, just as I'd landed the biggest job in British journalism. Yes, I've been fortunate enough to witness Oasis live on more than 25 occasions — in Manchester, Tokyo, California, Milan, Oslo, Majorca and even Exeter — but never Paris. It was a case of mistaken identity. I was not there. Sixteen years on, these monumental 2025 congregations and the soul-stirring anthems which will reverberate around Britain's most cavernous venues shall serve to remind us all of a less complex time, where life felt more light-hearted, fun and colourful. A pre-pandemic, analogue world where all our dreams were made before we were chained to an iPhone and a Facebook page.
Daily Mirror
03-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
‘I caught British rock stars on film raw and up-close before they were famous'
Six decades ago photographer Gus Coral went on tour with a penniless band and took hundreds of candid photos. Now the band are global superstars and the unseen snaps have gone on show at a new exhibition When photographer Gus Coral looked under his bed he unearthed a treasure trove of unseen pictures of The Rolling Stones – stashed there more than 60 years ago. Fans of the rockers will undoubtedly feel the six decade wait was worth it when 100 candid pictures go on display in London from Friday June 6 in a new exhibition, Rolling Stones Unseen '63. The snaps from 1963 show The Stones' first ever UK tour, before they achieved global fame, documented by photographer Gus Coral. Now 87, Gus, of Camden, North London, was just 26 when he first encountered the then penniless blues loving band, touring as the support act for their idols Little Richard, Bo Diddley and The Everly Brothers. Gus tells The Mirror: "I have almost 200 hundred images of The Stones in total which I took after I was invited to photograph them on their first British tour. "Aside from showing a few photos to some friends over the years, the majority of these photographs have never been seen before because they have been under my bed for all those years. "It was only thanks to one of my children who said one day, 'Shouldn't you be doing something with those?' that this exhibition has come about. "So here we are. We will be having 100 photos on show for this exhibition and I am excited to see them on public display for the first time. 'Some people have asked why I have hung onto them for so long, but my philosophy about photography is that I wanted to take photos that were going to be important in the future and of historical importance." Gus's black and white images capture a baby faced Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts launching their first UK tour, which took in tiny music halls in places including Cardiff, Watford, Southend-on-Sea, Hanley, Wolverhampton and Cheltenham. The Stones performed two 10 minute sets at each venue and the tour was organised and promoted by Sharon Osbourne's late father, music impresario Don Arden and gave the band the exposure that helped make them global stars. Gus says: "I got to meet The Stones through my friend, film-maker Dick Fontaine, who was working for ABC Television at the time. We had been to see The Stones at The Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, west London, where they were the resident band. "Dick thought they were really good and he wanted to try and convince ABC to make a television film with them. He'd already filmed The Beatles, so he had a very good track record. "Cardiff was the nearest time we could catch them. It was their first national tour and I think Cardiff was the second date. So off we went. "But there was no hassle in getting access to them back then. We just went into the theatre, no press, no "access all areas" passes needed and all that stuff. "In fact, the guy on the stage door at Cardiff's Capitol Theatre told us they were in the cafe around the corne,r so we went and met them there. And then backstage and during the show I had complete access, no other photographers were there." By the end of the 30-date tour, the band's first single, a cover of Chuck Berry's Come On, reached number 21 on the UK chart and Gus knew The Stones were on the cusp of greatness. "When I took those photos I was 26. A little bit older than them, maybe 10 years older than some. But The Stones look incredibly young in these photos. So did I back then," laughs Gus., "Mick Jagger has a baby face in these images, but it was all there. You know, like the seeds of what he was to become. At that time they were a blues band. It wasn't rock n roll, it was blues and I was a real fan. The blues kind of just hit me, got my soul. 'After I photographed them in Cardiff they invited me to see them recording at a studio in Holborn, in central London." Just two two years later, in 1965, the The Stones took the music world by storm with (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, penned by Jagger and Richards, gave the band their first number one in the UK and the US. Now, after selling 250 million albums worldwide and amassing $2.9 billion from ticket sales during their 63-year-long career, The Stones are still rocking. And Mick, 81, Keith Richards, 81, and guitarist Ronnie Wood, 78, are back in the studio in London recording the follow up to their 2023 album Hackney Diamonds. Gus says: "I knew they would make it but nobody could have guessed how big they would have become. When I took the pictures of the band in 1963 The Stones had no money but Mick Jagger had great energy. "It is phenomenal they are still going, as touring is hard work. But I guess it is all down to Mick. He has always had a fantastic image. Without him it would not have happened in the way it did.' Excited about hopes of transferring his exhibition to New York after his London showcase, Gus adds: "These photographs have been a closely guarded secret for over 60 years, seen only by a handful of people. "They capture The Rolling Stones in a way the world has never witnessed, raw and ambitious. I'm thrilled to finally share them with the world. • The Rolling Stones Unseen '63 exhibition runs at Dockside Vaults in London's St. Katharine Docks, from Friday (June 6) to September 10.
Perth Now
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Blur don't want to be a band beyond their 'sell-by-date'
Blur don't want to still be a band beyond their "sell-by-date", says drummer Dave Rowntree. The Britpop legends reunited in 2023 for the new album 'The Ballad of Darren' - their first in eight years - and a series of shows, including two sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium in the July, for what marked their first UK headline gigs since 2015. And while discussing the future, Dave said he believes they are "quite a way before we're in our dotage", but they would never want to still be onstage when they are unable to remember their lyrics and "wheeled on in our bath chairs". He told NME: 'I've just turned 61. When I was 21, the idea of 61-year-olds making albums, touring and being in the charts would have been laughable. I wonder if that's how 21-year-olds feel about me now? There's going to come a time when we're too old to do it, but we'll have probably decided to throw the towel in before then anyway. Nobody wants to go on past our sell-by-date.' The 'Parklife' hitmakers are only drawn back to the band when there is a "an interesting idea" for new music and would never get back together just for the sake of it. Asked if there is still a desire to keep going, he explained: 'Yes, it takes an interesting idea now to tempt us back into the studio. The last one was Wembley Stadium [in 2023]. You can't say no to that. It was the party at the end of the Olympics in 2012 that got us out before, the Hyde Park shows in 2009 before that. As long as people are coming up with interesting ideas for us to do it again, then I'm sure we'll go for it. "There will come a time when we'll go, 'Is there anything left to say? Is there another good Blur album to make?' I think that'll be quite a way before we're in our dotage and unable to remember the songs when we're wheeled on in our bath chairs. But then, look at The Stones – they're still touring aren't they?" Bassist Alex James recently suggested their future could look like an ABBA-style avatar show - or "respectfully" dipping in and out of playing together. Speaking to Ken Bruce on Greatest Hits Radio, he said: "We got back together in 2023, made a new record and I think did our best ever run of shows. It's incredible how the music has endured and it was the first time we'd ever got to the end of an album or tour without at least one of us saying 'that's it, never again.' We didn't do many shows and I think that was probably a good place to leave it. There's two ways to go either the ABBA thing and stop at the top and just let it take its own course and make avatars of yourself when you were 27 and beautiful. Or treat it respectfully and dip in and out occasionally and it's a really wonderful thing to be able to step back into – that all those years of playing together is a gift actually. As long as you don't overcook it or annoy the guitar player or singer too much…" Dave was speaking to promote his new photobook, 'No One You Know: Dave Rowntree's Early Blur Photos', set to be published on September 9.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iconic Rock Singer, Rolling Stones Muse Dead at 78
Marianne Faithfull, the singer-songwriter who became one of the leading female voices of the 1960s British Invasion, has died at the age of 78. Faithfull's death was confirmed by a representative in a statement to NBC News. "Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family," they said. "She will be dearly missed." In the 1960s, Faithfull became synonymous with the hedonism of rock 'n' roll thanks in part to her relationship with rock star Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. Her best-known song, "As Tears Go By," made a splash on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964 and went on to be covered by The Stones; their version went on to peak at number six on the chart. For years, Faithfull was romantically linked to Jagger and became wrapped up in the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. In 1967, she was taken into custody after a drug bust, earning the title of "naked girl at Stones party" by local tabloids, according to The Associated went on to enjoy an exhilarating comeback in the late '70s. In 1979, she released her album Broken English, which marked a major comeback after she'd suffered from drug abuse, homelessness, and anorexia for years. It went on to earn her her first nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In total, Faithfull released more than 20 albums throughout her more than five decades in the music industry. She continued to release music up until recent years, with her final album She Walks in Beauty dropping in 2021.
