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Noel Gallagher Credits Oasis Guitarist ‘Bonehead’ For Inspiring Reunion Tour: ‘None of This Would Have Happened’

During Saturday night's second show at Principality Stadium in Cardiff the band's co-founder gave props to his longtime bandmate.

Noel Gallagher Credits Oasis Guitarist ‘Bonehead’ For Inspiring Reunion Tour: ‘None of This Would Have Happened’

Oasis' Noel and Liam Gallagher walk out to perform at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, for night 1 of their Oasis Live '25 Tour on Friday, July 4, 2025.

Angus Jenner

Without the Gallagher brothers there is no Oasis. But during the second night of the band’s triumphant kick-off to its reunion tour, co-founder and songwriter-guitarist Noel Gallagher informed the 70,000-plus fans at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium that neither he nor his sibling and former rival, singer Liam Gallagher, could take credit for getting the band back together after a bitter 16-year break.

According to NME, while introducing the band members on Saturday night (July 5), Noel gave a nod to founding rhythm guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, saying, “On guitar, if it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened.” While Gallagher has not elaborated on what role Arthurs played in helping him to bury the hatchet with younger brother Liam, by all accounts the Gallaghers were elated to be sharing the stage with one another during the first two gigs of what is planned as a world tour.


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With no advance press or interviews to promote the reunion, the story of what brought Noel and Liam back together again remains untold, with the Gallaghers seemingly more than happy to let their anthemic songs do all the talking for now.

Joined by longtime guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell and veteran studio/session drummer Joey Waronker, the brothers smashed it, kicking off their first tour since 2009 on Friday night by striding onto the stage hand-in-hand as the traditional show-starting song, “F–kin’ in the Bushes” blasted out over the P.A.

The band then proceeded to tear it up, playing a 23-song set heavy on beloved hits — “Hello,” “Acquiesce,” “Morning Glory,” “Cigarettes & Alcohol,” “Supersonic,” “Roll With It,” “Cast No Shadow,” “Live Forever,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova” — while also taking a moment to pay tribute to Liverpool football star Diogo Jota, who tragically died a day earlier.

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The Oasis Live ’25 tour will move on to their hometown of Manchester, U.K. next, playing a string of shows at Heaton Park on July 11, 12, 16, 19 and 20.

This story was first published by Billboard U.S.

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Noel Gallagher attends the 'Zoë Law: Legends' photography exhibition At the National Portrait Gallery on November 28, 2024 in London, England.
Dave Benett/Getty Images

Noel Gallagher attends the 'Zoë Law: Legends' photography exhibition At the National Portrait Gallery on November 28, 2024 in London, England.

Rock

Oasis’ Noel Gallagher Breaks Silence in First Interview Since Reunion: ‘It’s Great Being Back in a Band With Liam’

The football-mad songwriter/singer called in to his favorite sports chat show on Tuesday (Aug. 19) to talk soccer and how he's feeling after winding up UK shows.

So far, Oasis have let the music do the talking. Liam and Noel Gallagher have just wound up the first round of UK and Irish dates on their sold-out Live ’25 tour and in a testament to the breathless enthusiasm that’s greeted their first round of shows in more than 16 years they’ve hardly had to talk up the dates at all.

In fact, until Tuesday (Aug. 19) neither brother had sat down for a proper interview about the shows at all. But Noel, who like his younger sibling singer Liam, is simply mad about football, called in to his favorite drive-time sports chat show, talkSPORT with Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent, to chat about Man City, and, of course, how things are going with the formerly battling brothers.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.
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