Other performers can learn from the irreversible break-up that made Oasis one of the greats
In an age of celebrity blandness, where famous people usually decline to say much of interest in public, Noel Gallagher is reliably forthright in doling out his opinions. Last week, doing the rounds, he let rip at hard-to-hit targets such as Prince Harry (“woke snowflake”) and Little Mix (“not in the same league as Oasis”). So familiar are his “better in my day” grumbles that they’re essentially white noise now; they should make a relaxation app out of them, to soothe sleep-troubled woke snowflakes who are unbearably anxious about the prospect of Little Mix not winning a Brit next year.
But in among all the “Dad, put your phone down” stuff, there was wisdom. On the Sky Arts documentary Noel Gallagher: Out of the Now, he dug into the Oasis split, explaining that their break-up was “the best thing for me and for the band”. Prior to that, he said, they were “not lauded as one of the greats of all time”. I saw them trudge through a handful of joyless festival sets in the 00s, which were, like Little Mix, “not in the same league as Oasis”. Calling it a day made them into greats, because it meant they never quite had the chance to become fully spoiled.
