Oasis in 1996: What’s the Story Behind the Britpop Giants’ Lone Year of U.S. Pop Stardom?
Have you heard? Oasis is back! The Brothers Gallagher have reunited to head out on their first tour in 15 years — bringing them to stadiums all around the world, including five sold-out nights in America. Elsewhere in the world, Oasis spent a decade or longer as massive pop stars, but in the U.S., their ability to fill the country’s biggest venues can mostly be tied to one year: 1996, when the Manchester quintet became the first band of the Britpop moment to really break America — with a best-selling album, a trio of signature hit singles and videos, and enough reckless behavior to both cap their short-term prospects and guarantee their long-term immortality.
On this week’s supersized Vintage Pop Stardom episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by his longtime partner (and an even-longer-time Oasis superfan) Lisa Ebe to relive all things 1996 Oasis, a year in which the biggest band in the world was finally at least in contention for being the biggest band in America. We follow the lads through their meteoric rise as stateside alt-rock stars — which, in the Alternative Nation of ’96, also equated to them being pop stars — while taking over radio and MTV, playing numerous legendary and/or infamous live dates, before largely imploding on tour in the U.S. at year’s end and retreating back to their home country.
Along the way, we ask all the most important questions about Noel, Liam, Bonehead, Guigsy and Whitey at their ’96 peak: What made “Wonderwall” the first Britpop song to finally penetrate U.S. top 40? Are we bothered either by Noel’s proclivity for lyrical nonsense or his shamelessness in swiping from rock history? Was Liam’s Unplugged no-show a blessing in disguise? Can we narrow down Noel’s year of incredible media quotes to a mere top 10? How do the band’s two historic gigs at Knebworth hold up decades later? And what allowed these songs to be so impossibly enduring, to the point where Oasis can still play stadiums around the world, including to millions of fans who weren’t even alive for its original run?
Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of the most important moments from Oasis’ 1996, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!
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