It’s no secret that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher and Blur frontman Damon Albarn haven’t always seen eye to eye.
The trio clashed during the ’90s when their bands, Oasis and Blur, battled each other in the charts during the height of Britpop mania.
The battle for chart dominance wasn’t the only rivalry between the brothers and Damian, as their disputes eventually became very personal.
Noel once memorably remarked in an interview that he hoped Damon and his Blur bandmate Graham Coxon would “get AIDS and die”, but later insisted it was a “joke”.
But the feud was reportedly sparked by a notorious cocaine-fueled love triangle involving Liam and Damon.
Following news that Oasis have reunited for a new tour next year, MailOnline takes a look at the Gallagher brothers’ feud with Damon Albarn.
It’s no secret that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher and Blur frontman Damon Albarn haven’t always seen eye to eye (Damon and Noel in 2012)
The trio clashed during the ’90s when their bands, Oasis and Blur, went head-to-head in the charts during the height of Britpop mania (Liam and Damon in 1996).
According to Noel, the tension between the trio did not actually begin because of their long-standing musical rivalry.
Instead, she believes that the romantic rivalry between Liam and Damon is what sparked the feud.
Speaking in the book Don’t Look Back In Anger, Noel said: ‘Liam and Damon were sleeping with the same girl and there was a lot of cocaine involved.
‘There was an awards show where we were photographed with Blur and Liam was like, ‘Fuck you, you idiot, blah, blah, blah.’
Alan McGee, who signed Oasis to his Creation Records label, was reported to have backed Noel’s account at the time.
McGee said: ‘There was a situation with a girl. That created the Britpop wars. Damon slept with someone close to Liam. She was one of the many women Damon was friends with.
“Then he slept with her for one night and that created the problem. After that, everyone started provoking each other.”
Things took off from there, giving rise to the infamous Britpop battle for chart dominance between the bands.
Following news that Oasis have reunited for a new tour next year, MailOnline takes a look at the Gallagher brothers’ feud with Damon Albarn.
Neol believes that the romantic rivalry between Liam and Damon is what sparked the feud (Damon pictured in July 2023)
In his book Don’t Look Back In Anger, Noel said: ‘Liam and Damon were sleeping with the same girl and there was a lot of cocaine involved’ (Noel and Liam pictured in 2008).
The dispute came to a head in August 1995 when Blur moved the release of their single Country House to the same day as Oasis’ single Roll With It.
Until then, the bands had been respectful of each other in public.
But according to Damon, it was a cheeky dig from Liam that prompted his decision to release their singles on the same day.
Oasis scored their first number one with Some Might Say in April 1995.
Damon later told NME: “I went to his celebration party, you know, just to say ‘Well done’. And Liam came up and, being the guy, he said, ‘Number one!’, right in my face. So I thought, ‘Well, we’ll see…’
Noel and Liam had to admit defeat when Country House reached number one, becoming Blur’s biggest-selling single.
It was that year that Noel sadly said he hoped Damon and bandmate Graham “got AIDS and died.” He later retracted the comment, claiming he was “fucked up” on drugs when he said it.
The dispute was exacerbated in August 1995 when Blur moved the release of their single Country House to the same day as Oasis’ single Roll With It (Blur pictured July 2024).
Liam has blamed Oasis’s row with Blur on Noel making the comment and has denied his brother’s claim that it had anything to do with him and Damon liking the same girl.
Liam previously tweeted: ‘Just for the record, Dermot Oblong (Damon Albarn) and I have never fought over a girl or a boy…
“We always had a lot of fun thinking that things went sour when Noel Gallagher wished Dermot had gotten AIDS and died, not in Rkid’s (Noel’s) finest hour as LG x was.”
He also denied taking drugs with any of the members of Blur, saying: ‘And I’ve never done cocaine with any of that out of nowhere (Blur) Rkid (Noel) you and your bitch need to up your game.’
Although it was Blur who started the chart battle, Damon later admitted that he came to view Oasis as “bully’s”.
In the Blur documentary No Distance Left to Run, he said: “Noel Gallagher used to make fun of me constantly and that really hurt me at the time. Oasis were like the bullies I had to put up with at school.”
The feud between the Gallagher brothers and Damon had a happy ending.
Noel and Damon put the past behind them as Noel took the stage with Damon to perform Blue’s Beetlebum.
Oasis formed in 1991 and rose to worldwide fame before splitting up in 2009, while Blur formed in 1988 and are still together today after taking hiatus between 2004-2008 and 2016-2018.