Oasis had ‘no idea’ if Liam Gallagher was going to show up for MTV Unplugged session

An MTV Unplugged session could have been a disaster for Oasis as they had “no idea” if Liam Gallagher was going to show up.

Though the frontman did arrive at the performance, he was deemed unfit to play by the rest of the band, with Noel Gallagher carrying out the set himself. It’s a surprisingly strong performance given the stress at the time, with the songwriter more than holding his own without Liam on stage. It’s a moment Noel Gallagher would reflect on years later, noting they had no idea if or when Liam was going to show. Once he did show, though, he looked “fucking dreadful” and was told he wouldn’t be playing. Instead, he spent the entire gig drinking, smoking, and allegedly heckling his brother. It’s one of many moments highlighting the fractured years of the band, which seems to have been resolved as the pair continue their Live ’25 tour. Fans remain hopeful of further tour dates, though it remains to be seen whether these are announced.

Noel Gallagher would recall the MTV Unplugged performance, saying that his brother would eventually try and come on stage to perform, though it was too late into the set. Noel said: “The day of the performance, he hadn’t turned up and there were rumours that he’d been out drinking for a couple of days… and nobody knew where he was.

“About an hour before we were due to go on, he turned up, absolutely shitfaced. We said, well look, let’s see if you can sing a couple of songs, and it was fucking dreadful. As they said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Oasis’, we walked out and he wasn’t there. He said, ‘I’m not doing it’. I thought, thanks a lot!”

Though Liam had put the band in a rough spot, Oasis pulled out a solid performance on stage, with Noel Gallagher taking over as lead vocalist. He added: “The least you could do is show a bit of support!” Producers then asked Noel Gallagher for another take of Hello, at which point Liam tried to join in.

Noel recalled: “Liam comes on and he wants to sing. After we’d played for an hour and a half or something! So we just told him to fuck off. And he went off, sulking.” It’s a moment which would underscore the fractured feeling within the group, one which would grow over the course of a decade and eventually lead to the band breaking up.

Despite the unprofessionalism of Liam in this instance, the singer would be at his best in the recording studio, with the Gallagher brothers unlike anything producer Owen Morris had seen.

He recalled: “Liam was extraordinary and they had this freaky thing where Noel would play the song once on acoustic guitar in the control room to Liam, give him the words, and he’d fucking sing it. Noel would listen to it once to check Liam’s got the phrasing for the entire song that he’s only just heard the once. Noel would go, ‘Nice one, Liam’.”