Liam Gallagher has furiously hit back after some Oasis fans have slammed his and brother Noel's decision not to give young bands a chance to perform at their upcoming reunion tour.
On Monday, Richard Ashcroft confirmed he is supporting Oasis on their 2025 tour and said that Noel and Liam Gallagher "inspired" some of his best music. The former Verve frontman, 53, will be the main support act for all UK and Ireland Oasis shows next year.
Confirming the news, Richard said: “As a fan from day one I was buzzing for many reasons when the news of Oasis’s return was announced. I can say with no exaggeration that the songwriting talent of Noel and Liam’s pure spirit as a lead singer helped to inspire me to create some of my best work.
"It was the perfection of ‘Live Forever’ that forced me to try and write my own. They dared to be great, made the dreams we had real and I will always remember those days with joy. Now it’s time to create more memories and I’m ready to bring it. See you next summer. Music is power.”
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Simon Emmett)Richard has an association with Oasis going right back to when they first began in the early Nineties. One of Oasis’s first national tours was as support to The Verve back in 1993, often playing to just a few hundred people several months before their debut single ‘Supersonic’ was released.
They were back together again in 1995, with The Verve supporting Oasis at The Bataclan in Paris before featuring as special guests at the giant tent show at Scotland ’s Irving Beach.
While some Oasis fans were over the moon by the news of Richard, others hit out at the Gallagher brothers' decision to give the coveted support spot to an already well-known music star. Others argued that Liam and Noel should have helped boost a less well-known music star's career by giving them the honour of being the support act.
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@liamgallagher/X)However, Liam was clearly having none of the criticism as he took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to slam those arguing against his decision. "To all the folk who are crying about us not showing love to the young bands and not letting them support, there’s LEVELS to this game and I’m afraid 99 percent of ya are way off L F***ING."
Support act Richard, Liam and Noel have been firm friends ever since, and in 2021 Liam featured on a reworked version of C'mon People (We're Making It Now)’ from Richard’s reworks album ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol 1’.
Fans going to the gigs can expect to hear some classic Verve anthems like ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’, ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’, ‘Lucky Man’ and ‘Sonnet’ as well as solo highlights such as ‘A Song For The Lovers’.
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SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)Richard Ashcroft has been rumoured as a support act to Oasis for weeks along with Liverpool band Cast, but only Ashcroft is officially confirmed for now.
The full line up for Oasis on stage is also yet to be confirmed with Gem Archer, Andy Bell and original member Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs expected to be on stage with Noel and Liam. The tour kicks off in Cardiff on July 4 and finishes at Wembley in September. There are also now dates in North America and Australia next year.
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