Former Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll has opened up about the band’s reunion in a new interview.
READ MORE: Who was Oasis’ first drummer?
Earlier this week, it was announced that the Gallagher brothers are set to reunite in a series of 14 comeback shows entitled Oasis Live ’25, with Liam and Noel performing together for the first time in 16 years. Yesterday, tickets for all their UK and Ireland shows sold out.
McCarroll joined the band in the ‘80s, performing first with the band when they were called ‘The Rain’, before Noel joined. Once they formed Oasis, McCarroll drummed on their first two albums, ‘Definitely Maybe’ and ‘(What’s The Story?) Morning Glory’. He was sacked from the band in 1995 and later sued them for royalties.
Speaking to MailOnline, the drummer said he held no grudges and isn’t upset about potentially missing out on the tours, which are expected to pull in an estimated £400 million next year.
He told the outlet: “I’m happy for Noel and Liam. Really happy for them…And I’m dead happy for the fans more than anything and for those generations who haven’t seen Oasis.”
He also revealed that the band hadn’t been in touch with him about the reunion plans, saying: “’They haven’t reached out yet and to be honest I’m not holding my breath.”
Tony McCarroll CREDIT: Des Willie/Redferns
McCarroll famously clashed with Noel and the pair repeatedly argued. In his lawsuit, McCarroll eventually settled and accepted an out of court settlement for £550,000 and gave up all claims for future royalties.
There is currently talk about which previous Oasis members could be joining Liam and Noel on the road in 2025, with co-founder Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs reportedly on board. Previous reports claimed that “no other original Oasis member is expected to join the reunion”, and that “the members of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will step in”.
Speaking about whether or not he could be involved in the upcoming tour or not, he said: “Would I consider being involved? I don’t know. At the end of the day I’m not the only ex-member left behind, so I’ll just crack on.”
He added: “I haven’t made up my mind if I’m going to watch them play next year either. I was at their last ever gig in the UK at the V Festival. It’s weird and ironic that I was there at the first and last gig.”
“I think we all knew it was going to happen and it had to happen…Whether it’s been a blag for 15 years I haven’t got a clue. They’re brothers at the end of the day – maybe their mum Peggy clashed their heads together and said ‘sort it out’.”
Group portrait of British rock band Oasis at Nomad Studios in Manchester, United Kingdom, 29th November 1993. L-R Noel Gallagher, Paul Arthurs (aka Bonehead), Paul McGuigan, Tony McCarroll,Liam Gallagher. (Photo by James Fry/Getty Images)
He also revealed that he saw Liam last year: “I last saw Liam just before Christmas and it was all hugs and kisses with him. We’re not on the phone to each other but the relationship is amicable, we’re all good.”
“I’ve not spoken to Noel in a while,” he added, “but I’d love to see all of them again. It would be lovely if something nice happened, but I don’t expect anything. If it does, then great, nice ending to it all.”
Concerts are scheduled to take place at Manchester’s Heaton Park, London’s Wembley Stadium, Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Dublin’s Croke Park, and Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium. Mid-week, extra gigs were confirmed for Manchester, London and Edinburgh in response to “unprecedented demand”.
Tickets for the gigs went on sale yesterday morning (August 31) at 9am here for (UK), and here (Ireland). Ahead of the sale, fans online reported issues with both Ticketmaster’s main website and the app apparently “crashing” ahead of the sale as they received “503” errors – alongside long queues just to access the site, such was the demand for tickets.
Elsewhere, some fans complained about being kicked out of the queue after being mistaken for bots, while those attempting to purchase accessible tickets reported being unable to get through to the phone lines, despite some fans calling the designated number over 400 times.
Ticketmaster outlined its strict rules for purchasing tickets earlier this week – confirming that customers will only be able to order four tickets per household and card. Additionally, Oasis have partnered with resale platform Twickets where fans can buy unwanted tickets for no more than face value (plus booking fees).
However, many fans were also left frustrated yesterday following Ticketmaster’s controversial dynamic pricing system whilst attempting to buy tickets.
Oasis’ 2025 UK and Ireland tour dates are:
JULY
04 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
05 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
11 – Manchester, Heaton Park
12 – Manchester, Heaton Park
16 – Manchester, Heaton Park – new date
19 – Manchester, Heaton Park
20 – Manchester, Heaton Park
25 – London, Wembley Stadium
26 – London, Wembley Stadium
30 – London, Wembley Stadium – new date
AUGUST
02 – London, Wembley Stadium
03 – London, Wembley Stadium
08 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
09 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
12 – Edinburgh, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium – new date
16 – Dublin, Croke Park
17 – Dublin, Croke Park
Ahead of the reunion, the band also unveiled a series of shirts to commemorate the occasion. Alongside their collaboration with Levi’s announced on August 28, two new shirts have been announced exclusively to buy on Amazon Music.
There are whispers of a potential new Oasis album too, and plans are now “underway” for further concerts outside of Europe.
Fans have also been revisiting the group’s final setlist from 2009 to get an idea of what they might play next year. See NME’s dream setlist for the forthcoming massive gigs here.
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