Blur’s Damon Albarn says the road is clear for Oasis reunion: “I expect an excellent new record to accompany it”
Blur have a new album out on Friday themselves.
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Blur frontman Damon Albarn has said the “road is clear” for an Oasis reunion.
The long-running feud between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher has been well-documented over the years, but in May Albarn said he’d “put money on” Blur’s Britpop rivals reforming.
As Blur began a comeback of their own, which included two nights at Wembley Stadium earlier this month, their 55-year-old frontman told The Sun: “I can guarantee they’re going to reform. In fact, I’ve put money on it.
“They’re brothers and it would be wonderful to see them reconcile.”
And in a new interview with Consequence, he discussed the possibility of an Oasis reunion again. He said, “Well, of course they were gonna. The road is clear for them to do that now. I think that’s great. You know what I mean? Obviously, I expect an excellent new record to accompany it.”
Oasis split in 2009 after they cancelled a V Festival appearance due to Liam’s laryngitis. Noel claimed Liam actually had “a hangover” and Liam subsequently sued him, before Noel apologised and the lawsuit was dropped. Five days later, Noel quit the band.
While Blur and Oasis were bitter rivals in the 1990s, culminating in the infamous ‘Battle of Britpop’ as both bands competed to hit the top of the charts in 1995, the rivalry has cooled in recent years.
Noel joined Albarn and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon for a show in 2013, while Albarn told The Sun in 2018 that he values his friendship with Noel because “he is one of the only people who went through what I did in the Nineties”.
And Blur’s new album, The Ballad of Darren is out on 21 July 2023 via Parlophone.